Billy House and William March
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez resigned Friday as chairman of the Republican National Committee after only 10 months.
The first-term senator sharply rejected talk he may be worrying about his political future and called such speculation, “politics as usual.”
Rather, Martinez said his decision to leave the RNC post was based more on his “internal clock” and that it was time to get back to his main job serving Floridians as their senator.
The Cuba-born Martinez had been President Bush’s hand-picked chairman after the party’s disastrous showing in the November elections, a move that placed a Hispanic face prominently in the role as the GOP’s main fund-raiser and agenda promoter.
From the beginning, Martinez had indicated he wanted to serve in the RNC job only about a year.
Still, Martinez’ departure comes months earlier than was speculated. He hadn’t been expected to leave until late January or February at the earliest, when it is likely to become clearer who the GOP nominee for president will be.
The abruptness of his announcement led to immediate and widespread speculation that concern about his own political fortunes was part of his decision.
Martinez doesn’t face re-election until 2010, an eternity in political years, but Martinez could face a tough Democratic challenge then.
Potential challengers who have been subjects of speculation start with Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer, but also include mayors Pam Iorio of Tampa and Buddy Dyer of Orlando, and state Sen. Steve Geller of Miami.
Meanwhile, Martinez’ job-approval numbers, never high throughout his career in the Senate, have dipped since the controversy over immigration reform, in which he backed President Bush’s proposals for a path to earned citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“At the time, I though he was nuts to (take the job),” said Jennifer Duffy, an expert on the Senate for The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan political newsletter. “He had low poll numbers to begin with. And If I’m a senator from Florida, I’d rather be out there building my own war chest to scare off the Alex Sinks of the world,” she said.
The Florida Democratic Party said Martinez had left the GOP post because of, “approval ratings in Florida dropping to Bush-like lows.”
Martinez said Friday that wasn’t true.
Responding only briefly to a question about whether he was resigning because of concern about his own political situation, he said he was not concerned and called the Democratic Party statement politics as usual.
But Democrats weren’t the only ones making that suggestion.
University of South Florida political scientist Darryl Paulson, himself a Republican, called Martinez’s resignation a recognition that he’s in some serious trouble in his re-election, and that he’s got fences to mend.
“His position as chairman probably put him in greater jeopardy in his own race,” Paulson said.
In a September poll by Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute, 38 percent of registered voters sampled said they approved of Martinez’s performance in his position, while 33 percent disapproved and 29 percent said “don’t know.” That approval rating was virtually unchanged from similar polls done in July and June.
In February, prior to the height of the controversy over immigration reform, the same poll gave Martinez 48 percent approval ratings and 22 percent disapproval.
Much of that drop in the polls came after Martinez had worked as one of about 10 senators who tried to shape a bipartisan compromise that could bring citizenship to millions of immigrants in the country, but the fragile deal could not muster enough support.
Martinez’ close ties to Bush also have placed him in the cross-hairs of foes.
Formerly Orange County chairman, he attained national notice when Bush named him Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2001. Bush then urged him to run for the Senate in 2004 – though Martinez had previously said he was more interested in running for governor – and asked him to take the party chairman’s post early this year.
Part of the reason Bush wanted Martinez as chairman was to enhance the party’s outreach to Hispanic voters.
But that outreach has fallen on hard times because of the GOP opposition to Bush’s immigration reform proposals.
That opposition also put Martinez on the opposite side of an argument with nearly all the candidates – one of whom will become the new nominal leader of the party when he wins the presidential nomination next year.
“I think the immigration debate certainly put him in an awkward position, and at odds with the party’s base,” said Duffy.
Martinez downplays all of that.
“It was my goal as general chairman to lead the party as it established the structure and raised the resources necessary to support our presidential candidate and ensure Republican victories next November,” he said. “I believe we have accomplished those goals."
The RNC by the end of August had raised $55.3 million in contributions and had $16 million in cash in the bank. The Democratic National Committee had raised $34.8 million and had $4.7 million in the bank and about $2 million in debt.
“He has more than fulfilled his mission,” Bush said in a statement Friday.
He added that Martinez had effectively communicated the party’s commitment to addressing the issues most important to all Americans. “His message of hope and opportunity has resonated throughout America and strengthened support for our agenda," the statement said.
Martinez has shared the chairmanship with Mike Duncan, a longtime RNC official who has been running the party’s day-to-day operations. With Martinez’ departure, the RNC will have a single chairman.
Said Duncan: "Our party has effectively laid the groundwork for the 2008 Republican presidential nominee thanks in large part to Senator Martinez’s efforts.
Predictably, Democratic National Committee officials saw Martinez’s “premature” departure differently.
"Under Mel Martinez’s leadership, Republicans have seen their Party brand diminished, voters leaving in droves and fundraising in a steep decline. But Mel Martinez’s departure will hardly solve the GOP’s problems," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney.
The first-term senator sharply rejected talk he may be worrying about his political future and called such speculation, “politics as usual.”
Rather, Martinez said his decision to leave the RNC post was based more on his “internal clock” and that it was time to get back to his main job serving Floridians as their senator.
The Cuba-born Martinez had been President Bush’s hand-picked chairman after the party’s disastrous showing in the November elections, a move that placed a Hispanic face prominently in the role as the GOP’s main fund-raiser and agenda promoter.
From the beginning, Martinez had indicated he wanted to serve in the RNC job only about a year.
Still, Martinez’ departure comes months earlier than was speculated. He hadn’t been expected to leave until late January or February at the earliest, when it is likely to become clearer who the GOP nominee for president will be.
The abruptness of his announcement led to immediate and widespread speculation that concern about his own political fortunes was part of his decision.
Martinez doesn’t face re-election until 2010, an eternity in political years, but Martinez could face a tough Democratic challenge then.
Potential challengers who have been subjects of speculation start with Alex Sink, Florida’s chief financial officer, but also include mayors Pam Iorio of Tampa and Buddy Dyer of Orlando, and state Sen. Steve Geller of Miami.
Meanwhile, Martinez’ job-approval numbers, never high throughout his career in the Senate, have dipped since the controversy over immigration reform, in which he backed President Bush’s proposals for a path to earned citizenship for illegal immigrants.
“At the time, I though he was nuts to (take the job),” said Jennifer Duffy, an expert on the Senate for The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan political newsletter. “He had low poll numbers to begin with. And If I’m a senator from Florida, I’d rather be out there building my own war chest to scare off the Alex Sinks of the world,” she said.
The Florida Democratic Party said Martinez had left the GOP post because of, “approval ratings in Florida dropping to Bush-like lows.”
Martinez said Friday that wasn’t true.
Responding only briefly to a question about whether he was resigning because of concern about his own political situation, he said he was not concerned and called the Democratic Party statement politics as usual.
But Democrats weren’t the only ones making that suggestion.
University of South Florida political scientist Darryl Paulson, himself a Republican, called Martinez’s resignation a recognition that he’s in some serious trouble in his re-election, and that he’s got fences to mend.
“His position as chairman probably put him in greater jeopardy in his own race,” Paulson said.
In a September poll by Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute, 38 percent of registered voters sampled said they approved of Martinez’s performance in his position, while 33 percent disapproved and 29 percent said “don’t know.” That approval rating was virtually unchanged from similar polls done in July and June.
In February, prior to the height of the controversy over immigration reform, the same poll gave Martinez 48 percent approval ratings and 22 percent disapproval.
Much of that drop in the polls came after Martinez had worked as one of about 10 senators who tried to shape a bipartisan compromise that could bring citizenship to millions of immigrants in the country, but the fragile deal could not muster enough support.
Martinez’ close ties to Bush also have placed him in the cross-hairs of foes.
Formerly Orange County chairman, he attained national notice when Bush named him Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2001. Bush then urged him to run for the Senate in 2004 – though Martinez had previously said he was more interested in running for governor – and asked him to take the party chairman’s post early this year.
Part of the reason Bush wanted Martinez as chairman was to enhance the party’s outreach to Hispanic voters.
But that outreach has fallen on hard times because of the GOP opposition to Bush’s immigration reform proposals.
That opposition also put Martinez on the opposite side of an argument with nearly all the candidates – one of whom will become the new nominal leader of the party when he wins the presidential nomination next year.
“I think the immigration debate certainly put him in an awkward position, and at odds with the party’s base,” said Duffy.
Martinez downplays all of that.
“It was my goal as general chairman to lead the party as it established the structure and raised the resources necessary to support our presidential candidate and ensure Republican victories next November,” he said. “I believe we have accomplished those goals."
The RNC by the end of August had raised $55.3 million in contributions and had $16 million in cash in the bank. The Democratic National Committee had raised $34.8 million and had $4.7 million in the bank and about $2 million in debt.
“He has more than fulfilled his mission,” Bush said in a statement Friday.
He added that Martinez had effectively communicated the party’s commitment to addressing the issues most important to all Americans. “His message of hope and opportunity has resonated throughout America and strengthened support for our agenda," the statement said.
Martinez has shared the chairmanship with Mike Duncan, a longtime RNC official who has been running the party’s day-to-day operations. With Martinez’ departure, the RNC will have a single chairman.
Said Duncan: "Our party has effectively laid the groundwork for the 2008 Republican presidential nominee thanks in large part to Senator Martinez’s efforts.
Predictably, Democratic National Committee officials saw Martinez’s “premature” departure differently.
"Under Mel Martinez’s leadership, Republicans have seen their Party brand diminished, voters leaving in droves and fundraising in a steep decline. But Mel Martinez’s departure will hardly solve the GOP’s problems," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney.