U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez elected to be general chairman of Republican Party(Pro Amnesty)

WASHINGTON — Over a smattering of opposition, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida was elected today to be general chairman of the Republican Party.

Martinez, 60, a native of Cuba, is the first Hispanic to hold the largely honorary position that has not existed in recent years.

Mike Duncan of Kentucky was chosen to be the Republican National Committee's chairman and will be in charge of the party's day-to-day operations.

In accepting the position, Martinez said: "I am truly humbled by the opportunity that you give me and the responsibility that you place upon me."

A handful of delegates objected to Martinez' selection because of his support last year for legislation that would have allowed some illegal immigrants to obtain legal status and possibly citizenship. Members of the Texas delegation had taken a position that they would oppose Martinez.

Some delegates also objected to Martinez's past history as head of the Florida trial lawyers. Republicans have generally supported tort reforms that would reduce the impact of class action and malpractice suits.

Martinez's selection was an overt acknowledgement of the GOP's efforts to reach out to minority populations, particularly the growing number of Hispanic voters — many of whom turned away from Republican candidates last year in the wake of anti-immigration legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

A large part of his role will be to reach out to independent and ethnic voters, Martinez said earlier this week in an interview with Florida reporters.

"I talk about the message that the party of Lincoln, of (Theodore) Roosevelt and Reagan being a party that is very, very much a party that Hispanic Americans and that African Americans both can be very comfortable in and I hope that is the kind of message I can convey so that our party can be a majority party," Martinez said.

Noting that independents sharply turned away from GOP candidates last November and slightly turned away in 2004, Martinez said they also will be a prime target.

"When they begin to vote away from you, then that becomes a habit, and I think it is very, very important that we recapture the independent voters and get them voting with us," he said.

Despite the party's drubbing at the polls in November, Martinez said he did not think that represented a philosophical shift in the electorate.

"I think it was more about a combination of factors — Iraq and the obvious number of people who did not live up to their public trust — but we're still a right-of-center country and I think our party speaks to that right-of-center population."

Martinez admitted that the war in Iraq is a serious problem for Republicans, but said he hoped the public — and his fellow Republicans — would give President Bush's proposed troop increase a chance.

In agreeing to take on the role of general chairman, Martinez said he made it clear to Bush and other party leaders that his primary responsibility would be as Florida's junior senator and that he did not intend to travel around the country every weekend raising money and making speeches.

Martinez, who has a teen-age son, also said he wants to be home on weekends to coach basketball in Orlando.

But he said he did intend to make appearances at major party functions and on weekend television talk shows to promote the Republican viewpoint.

Martinez said his job would be "to deliver a message that conveys to the American people that we are a party that has renewed itself and that has answers to their everyday problems.

"And then, if we make that message be compelling, we will begin to be rewarded with the opportunity to govern again, in the Congress."

With numerous announced and potential presidential candidate jockeying for position, Martinez said he and Duncan would try to make sure the party remains neutral until a nominee is selected, but then be able to provide enough money to wage a winning campaign.

Martinez said he would not be involved in efforts by Florida and other states to move up their primary dates in order to have a greater role in the presidential selection process.

Florida could benefit from his position, Martinez said, because it puts him in the congressional leadership circle and boosts his status among his colleagues.

"It's going to be an opportunity for me to be able to play a more vital role in helping the White House shape policy and things like that. So from that standpoint, I think there are some real benefits that come from that that I did not fully realize at the time I said, yes, I'll do it."

Despite the party's drubbing at the polls in November, Martinez said he did not think that represented a philosophical shift in the electorate.

He's correct, but doesn't even know it. The shift was in the Republican Party in congress. And the people were fed up. Again, Iraq is a straw man, an excuse for the RINOs to stay in denial.

Martinez is very sad proof that any message voters sent to DC, the Republicans certainly didn't get it. And proof that, unless there is some kind of epiphany forthcoming (no reason to expect that), the Democrats will add the White House to their stable.

The Republican Party has been deceiving itself for years thinking that it was winning, and would continue to win, because it was better. In reality, it was winning because the DIMs were bigger losers.

Do you want to know what they truly believe at the upper levels of the Republican Party? They believe they lost because we, the electorate are stupid and unappreciative of our betters. IOW, it's our fault. So there is no purpose in self examination on their parts.

This Mike Duncan fellar who was chosen to be the Republican National Committee's chairman and will be in charge of the party's day-to-day operations.

Robert M. (Mike) Duncan
RNC General Counsel
Robert M. (Mike) Duncan was confirmed as General Counsel of the Republican National Committee in July 2002 and January 2005. He previously was elected Treasurer of the RNC in January 2001. Duncan, in his fourth term as National Committeeman from Kentucky, has served the party at every level from precinct captain, county chairman, state chairman, and national officer. He has been a delegate to the 1972, 1976, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004 Republican National Conventions and is one of the few persons ever to serve on the four standing convention committees. Duncan was elected chairman of the Convention Credentials Committee in 2000 after chairing the RNC Committee on Contests for the Convention. He served as General Counsel to the 2004 Convention.
Mike Duncan has worked for Republican candidates for local, state and national office for over thirty years. In 1998 he took a leave of absence from his business and chaired Jim Bunning’s winning U.S. Senate race. Duncan is a long-time supporter and fundraiser for Senator Mitch McConnell and has worked in various campaign positions for Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush. In 2000 he chaired the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. Duncan was the Central States Chairman for the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign, working in Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Duncan chaired the transition team for Governor-Elect Ernie Fletcher, the first Republican elected Governor in Kentucky in 36 years.
A civic capitalist, Mike Duncan is active in numerous professional and nonprofit organizations. He served as chairman of a state university and a private college. President Bush appointed him to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows in 2001 and nominated him to the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2005. Recently the U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointed Duncan to the Advisory Committee of the Strengthening America’s Communities Initiative. Duncan is a Trustee of the Christian Appalachian Project, the fifteenth largest private social services agency in America. Professionally, Duncan was President of the Kentucky Bankers Association and a Director of the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank Cincinnati Branch. In 1989-90, during a sabbatical, he worked in the Bush White House as assistant Director of Public Liaison. His public service has been recognized with several distinctions including honorary degrees from Cumberland College and the College of the Ozarks.
Mike Duncan and his wife Joanne are 1974 graduates of the University of Kentucky College of Law. They live in Inez, Kentucky and have one child, Rob, an Assistant United States Attorney in Lexington, Kentucky. The Duncan’s are the principal owners of two community banks with five offices in eastern Kentucky. Their student-mentoring program, in its twenty

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