Posted on 10/20/2007 6:39:22 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON -- The Republican Party's highest-ranking Latino official abruptly resigned Friday, marking the latest casualty in the GOP's bitter internal fight over immigration and dealing another setback to President Bush's years-long effort to court Latino voters.
The announcement by Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida that he was quitting as general chairman of the Republican National Committee came after he had expressed frustration over the tenor of the immigration debate within his party. ...
"Mel Martinez was a symbol of the party's outreach to Latinos, and that seems to be disappearing," said Lionel Sosa, a longtime Republican strategist and advisor to GOP presidents since Ronald Reagan. ...
The White House had engineered the ascent of the Cuban-born Martinez over the objections of many conservatives as part of an effort to repair the GOP's image among Latinos. That image suffered when Republican congressional leaders and conservative activists stymied administration-backed measures that would have created a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
Some GOP strategists say the party's poor performance among Latino voters in 2006 helped ensure Democratic victories across the country. Now, some worry that Martinez's early exit from the RNC foreshadows more trouble in 2008.
Robert de Posada, president of the Republican-leaning Latino Coalition, said Martinez's departure is especially disheartening because it follows the resignation of another high-profile Latino in the GOP: former U.S. Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales.
"The message that it sends is Latinos are not welcome," De Posada said. "The radical conservative base has a temporary victory right now."
The RNC will be run by Mike Duncan, who shared the title of chairman and was responsible for the party's day-to-day operations.
--snip--
Bush issued a brief statement saying that Martinez "represented the best of the Republican Party and its core values."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I got a fund raising letter from the RNC and sent it back with the same word's—maybe they are finally getting the message and ‘ole Mel’ had to go-—good riddance in any event
I hope it was MY LETTER that pushed him over the edge.....LOL
Just don’t go into a fit like Angus, drop your pants to show off your flag underwear!
Resign? If this guy can't enforce and obey the law as he is supposed to, I want him deported.
Post#47: That album cover brings back a lot of memories from the good old days. You must have had to dig down deep to find that one.Sure miss them.
Good riddance.
Exactly right.
This will become, more and more, the prevailing attitude of most Americans as soon as they either 1) wake up from their lazy slumbers or 2) have their town runover by the cockroaches.
sacking people because they don’t agree with you?
Wow. That’s conservativism at work???
BTW, Fred’s a member of the globalist entity the Council on Foreign Relations....the very organization behind and pushing for a North American Union and, thereby, the destruction of American sovereignty.
I’ll NEVER vote for ANY globalist.
Add into that Grahamnesty.....the "Republican" who called conservatives "bigots".
Politicians got this so wrong——anti-illegal is a rare consensus issue that cuts across party lines.
Will be the defining issue for 2008.
You're sooooo right. Deja vu:
McConnell Says Immigration Doesn't Hurt Lawmakers' Re-Election
By James Rowley
May 25 [2007] (Bloomberg) -- Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the controversial immigration bill in Congress won't cost ``a single member of either party'' at the polls next year and predicted the bipartisan compromise will win Senate approval next month.....``This is a divisive issue'' for both parties, said McConnell, a Kentucky Republican. But, he said, ``I don't think there's a single member of either party next year who is going to fail to be re-elected over this issue.''
FOFLOL! McConnell's a traitor and an idyot.
Thanks for the links.
Anti-illegal is a crossover voting issue——just as opposition to gay marriges had religious Black voters crossover to vote for anti-gay Republicans.
Candidates with the right position on illegals will win handily.
yw and I think you’re 100% spot on.
QUISLING: a synonym for traitor, someone who collaborates with the invaders of his country.
U.S. Constitution, Article 4 Section 4:
"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,
1. The act of invading; the act of encroaching upon the rights or possessions of another; encroachment; trespass.
Excellent news bump.
OUTSTANDING FReeper comments/discussion. Thanks to everyone on this entire (read it all) thread. BTTT!
Good news!!! This guy has been a real deterrent to the GOP!! It’s not too late to regroup.
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