I say good riddance Mel

Latino head of RNC resigns
Sen. Mel Martinez of Florida leaves his GOP post after frustration with the party's immigration stance.
By Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-martinez20oct20,1,5714629.story

Washington, DC -- 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. Martinez will remain in his Senate post.

'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. 'It is not a good day for Latino Republicans, that's for sure.'

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.

A statement by Martinez released by the RNC did not mention the immigration issue or the courtship of Latino voters, topics that dominated Martinez's inauguration as chairman in January. Instead, the senator lauded himself for his efforts to 'articulate the party's core values on vital national issues ranging from funding our troops to winning the war on terror to the promotion of fiscally conservative policies.'

Bush issued a brief statement saying that Martinez 'represented the best of the Republican Party and its core values.'

But Martinez's frustration was well known. He had warned that a continuation of the GOP's 2006 tactics -- airing anti-illegal immigration television ads that many believed used ethnic stereotypes -- could doom the party's hope of competing for the country's fastest-growing voter bloc.

Those tactics, strategists said, erased many of the gains achieved by Bush and his chief political advisor, Karl Rove, who had been assiduously courting Latinos since Bush's first run for Texas governor in 1994.

In 2004, after an intense bilingual campaign, Bush won an estimated 40% of the Latino vote, helping ensure his reelection. Republicans won just 30% of the Latino vote in 2006. Next year's election could be decided by Latino-rich states such as Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona.

'I believe that not to play this card right would be the destruction of our party,' Martinez said in a spring interview with the Los Angeles Times. 'Hispanics make up about 13% of our country, and by 2020 will be closer to 20%. It is a demographic trend that one cannot overlook.'

The debate over courting Latino voters has split the GOP, with each side charging that the other would destroy the party's hopes of regaining a majority.

Critics of the GOP's Latino outreach have accused Bush, Rove and Martinez of compromising core conservative principles in their support for creating a path to amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

Opinion leaders such as talk show host Rush Limbaugh have charged that loosening immigration laws would only hurt Republicans, because new immigrants tend to register as Democrats.

The party base appears to be winning the fight.

The top Republican candidates for president, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are promising to be tougher on illegal immigration.

Of the higher-profile GOP candidates, only Sen. John McCain of Arizona has accepted an invitation to participate in a debate sponsored by the Spanish-language television network Univision.

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Don't let the door....

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Sounds like REAL progress!

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I received a survey from The National Republican Senatorial Committee a couple of weeks ago.  Of course, at the end of the survey they were asking for a large donation. 

I filled out their survey and returned it in their postage paid envelope with a long letter (with the above picture at the top of the letter) reminding them of all their efforts to legalize the illegal aliens.  I, also, mentioned President Bush's appointment of Mel Martinez as the General Chairman of the Republican Party to bolster Bush's effort to get the amnesty bill through the Senate.

I ended the letter by saying, "I will not give one thin dime to The National Republican Senatorial Committee nor to the RNC."

Good riddance MEL!

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This is the part that irks me. I feel so betrayed by Bush.

"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. "

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I'm so glad!  I hope the rest of them leave too!  Good riddance!

Good Riddance, let the dorr slam him in the Ass as he leaves...We should send Him to mexico to live with his Amigo's

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Hasta la vista!

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I am an American of Italian/French lineage. Mel Martinez is a Latino who , unbelievably holds public office in America. I am going on a rant that some may wish to call prejudiced--well --prejudice away -- but it's true. A great number of Latino politicians are Latinos first and America second, Martinez is one, Villagairosa is another. I am not going to continue to list them--you all know at least two or three  that are like that. They are Americans --second--or maybe third--they should be recalled out of office.

I beliebve it is time for Draconian measures. There should be a litmus test for people to be able to run for and hold office. It is the renewal of their oath when they were installed in office. This is America, damn it, this is not Mexiico or Cuba. And what's with the Puerto Ricans recent uprising--did they catch fire because the illegal immigrants not only broke our laws, but paraded in our streets and tols d us what we owe them?  Is it the trampling on the American flag at their rallies??? Is it dutch courage brought on bu our elected officials who have announced themselves to be sanctuary cities and states?

To hell with it. I am ready to die now for my country,. I want it back and any son of a bitch that puts another country in front of ours should be removed from this country---immediately. I am particularly upset today because of that ass-kissing fool Harry Reid. He and his ilk who are first class traitors are bringing up amnesty again. They do not give a hoot what their constituents want. They sit their with their big salaries with little to do except to constantly defy the will of the people. I am so angry, I could spit.

I cannot keep up with them--I do not have the time or the money, and I am retired. We have to sit here and watch each day for the next sneaky trick Reid (spell that traitor)and his idiot Speaker Pelosi. (She went without approval to visit with an enemy dictator , kisses his feet and returns convinced she has done a great thing.) The coward (Reid) announces to the world that America is not in accord and all the terrorists have to do is wait, kill a few more Americans and Reid and his party will pull US troops out.

 Spare me!!!!!! 

Steve Elliot, if you read this--we cannot keep up the effort of faxing and calling every week or two. It is an emotional and financial strain. We need to find a way to spike a bill and not sneak it back in two weeks or months later. That is not what the majority of Americans want.

 I am so angry now, I want to kick those fools out of Washington and have special elections to replace every damn one of them. I have had it.

The email I just sent to Harry "yellowstain" Reid-----

 

"Sir, You are a disgusting traitor to this country. You are a sneaky, cowardly person. You do not have the right to give my country away. Who the hell do you think you are??. I cannot vote for you, but I sure as hell can help support anyone who challenges you. You do not have the courage to tell us why you wish to violate our Constitution and our immigration laws.
By the same token, your stance on Iraq is shameful. I do not blame you for holding your opinion, I blame you for waving it in front of the world. The message you send to the terrorists is "Just wait, old yellow stain Reifd will pull the troops out."
You are a blight on American politics."