Posted on 11/06/2008 2:41:29 PM PST by WilliamReading
Florida Rep. Adam Putnam, considered a rising star in the Republican Party, made a surprise announcement Tuesday, relinquishing his position as the third-ranking Republican in the House. "With the issues before us today come bipartisan opportunities and partisan differences," Putnam said. "My current role obligates me to the latter and too often excludes me from the former. I want to fight the battles worth fighting and lock arms to strengthen our nation whenever possible," said Putnam, 34, who added he came to his decision "reluctantly."
(Excerpt) Read more at smartbrief.com ...
The Republicans are going to get hammered in future elections on this immigration issue. It’s a God send for the Democrats.
I like Martinez myself, hope he runs again. We can’t keep writing off the Hispanic vote.
Crist will obviously run for reelection as Governor, and I doubt if Jeb would get into a primary fight with Martinez.
Jeb needs to change his last name and let people forget who his brother is.
Crist lost Florida for us and I don’t think that Jeb can run just yet given his last name as you point out. Not sure what Putnam is doing but maybe he has it covered?
Palin/Jindal 2012
Balderdash! We have much in common with the values of hispanic Americans. Highlighting that is the way to win their hearts. Pandering to them only alienates the conservative base and doesn’t bring them on board.
Look at McCain’s exit polls. McCain lost the Hispanic vote by something like 78-12. He lost 20% of conservative voters to Obama. Pandering to the illegal lobby was thoroughly discredited on Tuesday.
If we want to cater to the Hispanic community, we should step up outreach, by putting together a Spanish-speaking team of employees/volunteers to get our message out to their community. But we bring them in as Americans and as social conservatives, not as some phony attempt at a manufactured civil rights movement.
Yes...Martinez has low approval ratings, and would fare poorly in the general election, esp if the Dems run a anti-illegal candidate.
If Jeb were to run, he would win...even w GWB not being as popular. Crist may have problems due to Florida’s economy being in the tank, and the housing market collapse
Bill McCollum (current Atty General) would be a good choice, and would bring in Dems who liked his standing up to the insurance industry....while not compromising his conservative background.
John Mica (R-Longwood) has served in Congress for 8 terms, and, would be a darkhorse candidate who can win. He survived the Dem swing in the I-4 corridor...and is conservative...a real traditional conservative.
Regardless, Martinez probably will not be re-elected. Too RINO...and the Dems will link him to Bush/McCain
Jeb’s still popular in Florida.
He is but it will be tough for him given that the dems will tie him to W as best they can. There are still alot of dems that are mad about 2000 and even with obambi winning the Bush name is tainted for now.
If the illegal alien issue (I choose not to use the liberal media term “immigration”) was such a loser for the GOP....then McCain should have done much better with Hispanics...which he lost 2-1
A pro-illegal candidate has no chance
Running a pro-illegal candidate like McCain took the illegal alien issue off the table in 2008. This will not be the case in 2010...esp if the Dem controlled Congress passes an Amnesty bill
Also, Florida voters nixed the state constitution amendment (Amendment 1) that would have allowed illegals to buy property in Florida...by taking away the State Legislature’s role in preventing illegal alien property purchases. The illegal alien issue is still quite strong
Yah, but it’s two years from now. After 2 years of President Zero, they may feel a bit different about that. Besides, Jeb’s a good enough politician to deflect that kind of idiotic crap. He’s not John McCain.
You folks are so in denial! It was Crist’s fault. No.
One of these days you will wake up and realize that George W. Bush and his war in Iraq cost us the Presidency and control of Congress.
How many trillions of dollars did we spend there?
Maybe it will take a few months for you to figure that out.
nobody gets it. illegals are not your friend.
Kind of ironic considering your nic.
Not sure that is true. No real conservative would have voted for him. I think they weren't willing to hold their noses for McCain and stayed home.
Huh? Like what?
fair enough he definitely isn’t obama and he seems more levelheaded than his brother. We will see.
pro-life???????
pro-marriage?????????
Social conservatism???????
Excellent post....and yes the McCain results w the Hispanic community show that being pro-illegal is not the way to win Hispanic votes...and it costs conservative votes
Actually, it is kinda racist to think that, to convince Hispanics to vote for you, you must appease a law breaking element....and that many illegals are not Hispanic
The pro-illegal crowd will always claim that anti-illegal alien positions are losers...but they are not.
Crist changed the early voting rules and barely campaigned for McCain/Palin. How did he help? Obviously he had nothing to do with Colorado or Virginia but he did not help in Florida at all.
Well, it is also true that the Hispanic vote in Florida sealed the nomination for McCain.
Crist also lost North Carolina for McCain? How so?
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