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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

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The Blog for Sunday, April 10, 2005

Marquez too Kind to Martinez

    As expected, Martinez booster and Orlando Sentinel house liberal (go figure), slaps Mel on the wrist for his latest transgression. I know it was hard for her to write this:
    this is at least the third time (and some of his political enemies could add a few more examples) in which the former Bush Cabinet member has come off as either clueless or, worse, cynical -- a puppet of right-wing political hacks or a devious partisan plotter himself.
    Actually we put it this way "Innocent Dupe or Empty Suit, or Both?"

    Marquez does make some interesting observations:
    Has Martinez's loyalty to Bush and White House political guru Karl Rove, who encouraged him to run for the Senate, so blinded him to partisan bullying that he doesn't see the unethical muck that's sinking his past reputation as a straight-shooter?

    When I spoke to him over coffee a couple weeks ago -- when the memo was all the Washington buzz -- he seemed disgusted that anyone would use Schiavo's suffering as a political strategy.

    Well, someone did, and if Martinez didn't know what his lawyer was up to, then the question begs: Who's really running things?

    It's one thing to surround yourself with political operatives sent by the White House during a hard-fought Senate campaign in a presidential election year. (Ask Bill Clinton -- both parties do it.) But once elected, Martinez promised to be his own man and seek bipartisan solutions, particularly on issues that affect Florida. So why the memo?

    A look at Martinez's staff reads like a who's who of political operatives and ideologues.

    Matthew Hunter, the personable former White House associate political director who worked for Rove, now heads Martinez's Florida offices as state director. Is Hunter's role to oversee constituent service -- the traditional job of a state director -- or to strategize how to unseat Nelson in next year's election? If not for Memogate, we wouldn't have to wonder.

    Martinez's legislative director is Tripp Baird, who ran Senate relations for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. He plotted GOP strategy with lobbyists and congressional staff members as part of the Conservative Working Group. The senator's chief of staff, John Little, came from an Alabama senator's office. [And then there's Mr. Darling]
    "Mel should get rid of political hacks".

9:17 AM

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