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COVER STORY
Message Man
Senator Mel Martinez is helping the GOP woo Hispanic voters
Martinez's own campaign finance problems also provide ammo for Democrats. A Federal Election Commission audit of Martinez's 2004 campaign finance reports founded significant errors and irregularities, including $313,235 worth of contributions that appeared to exceed the legal contribution limits. Martinez was also the recipient of $11,000 in illegal campaign contributions that Tampa-based engineering firm PBS&J funneled through straw men in an illegal reimbursement scheme.
 Close to the Vest As RNC chairman, Martinez must avoid showing preference for one or another of the GOP candidates for the party's presidential nomination. He deflects the question of who he thinks the next president will be with a joke, mentioning only Barack Obama by name. "We don't agree politically on much, but I consider him a friend. I'm very excited he's doing what he's doing," Martinez says with a grin. Jokes aside, Martinez is close to Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain. The two worked closely on an immigration reform last year, and they share a personal distaste for the Castro regime. "I still remember my Cuban interrogator," McCain told four Cuban-American Vietnam War veterans who visited Martinez's office recently. The presidential candidate was referring to a Cuban agent who visited the North Vietnamese prison camp in Hanoi, where McCain was a prisoner of war. [Photo: Alex Wong / Getty] |
Given all the challenges, Martinez's friends wonder if taking the RNC job was such a good idea. What difficulties might the role create if the administration's policies are at odds with his votes in the Senate? Will the new job rob him of important time with friends and family? Will the RNC duties detract from service to his home state and its voters, who have their own issues? Political experts say the position could come back to bite him if he ends up needing Democratic crossover votes to win re-election in 2010. "I think it will be a challenge for him to serve the party and serve this bipartisan state as well," says Foglesong.
Martinez says he's aware that his primary job is "being the senator from Florida." He likens the RNC duties to "the days when I was a lawyer and I would be focused on my professional life, but I still took on a volunteer job in the chamber or with a charity or whatever."
He also points out that the RNC chairmanship enhances his clout in Washington. "I am now in the leadership circles of the Senate, which otherwise I wouldn't have been, and that gives you an extra voice and ability to shape the direction of what the Republican Caucus of the Senate will do and I think a voice even within members of the other party. It just enhances my visibility a bit in a way that I think is important."
John Sowinski, a GOP political consultant who worked on Martinez's campaign for Orange County chairman and his U.S. Senate campaign in 2004, says he believes the senator is keeping his balance. "I see him on CNN from Washington on Wednesday, and I see him at Mass on Sunday with (his wife) Kitty and his son, Andrew, in Orlando. He has stayed remarkably, remarkably grounded."
