Assignment 5
This page is a part of an undergradute assignment at Davidson College.
Mel Martinez's Success:
According to Voice of America and the National Journal, the race was marred by the hurricanes that ravaged the state during September. The VOA also commented that Floridians associated the effective hurricane relief efforts from Washington with the Republican Party and hence, Martinez. While this money is not the most compelling explanations, the relationship Martinez had with the national party and its leaders certainly was. Martinez had party support from the beginning and the strength the party gave him was extremely influential in his electoral success.
The other factor was Martinez’s story of success. Coming from Cuba and making a strong and prosperous life became the backbone of his campaign. It gave hope to Floridians who are struggling and who are looking for a better future with a stronger economy and better health care. These are platforms Martinez campaigned on and received a strong amount of support from PACs and corporations that helped his bid for the senate seat. It gave the residents hope that a new life, a better life, is within reach and that Martinez knew exactly how they felt and what to do to make it a reality.
Was it a fair fight?
In an article in the Tampa Tribune, neither Martinez nor Castor apologized to each other for the bitter battle for Washington. Negative advertising and harsh criticisms came from both camps, and so it is hard to determine if either side compromised principles. Castor came out early in the campaign against Peter Deutsch in "Proven" and said that attacks should be focused on the problems of the state and not each other. She then comes out strongly against Martinez in her “Shoes” ad, using newspaper quotes to defame his character and attack his campaign tactics.
Martinez, on the other hand, did very few ad spots, and instead filled his website with video from press conferences and endorsement announcements by prominent politicians during the campaign. It’s harder to say if Martinez strayed from his principles much due to this lack of produced ads directly against Castor. Earlier in the primary, he came out with a nasty ad against Bill McCollum which angered many Republican leaders and cost Martinez a newspaper endorsement. Though there does not seem to be any announcement from the Martinez camp about refraining from negative advertising, after the primary Martinez worked to reunite the Republican party, suggesting he was working to repair the damage from his earlier attack. After this, there seems to be no negative advertising from the Martinez camp. Deciding whether or not either candidate compromised principles on issue positions is more difficult to determine, as each alter their stances after the primary to realign with the national parties once they had the nomination.
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to emupchurch@davidson.edu
Created: December 6, 2004. Last updated: December 6, 2004