This page is part of an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College.
Florida U.S. Senate 2004
Message Strategy: Mel Martinez
Martinez on Martinez
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Martinez on Castor
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Castor on Castor
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Martinez relied on the most basic and fulfilling perception that voters share- the American dream (Steinhorn 2004). He repeatedly emphasized his story of immigrating to America and rising to serve on the President's cabinet. Martinez aligned himself with President Bush, stressing their shared values and ties.
Martinez' biggest policy focus was terrorism (Bousquet, 2004). Subsequently, his biggest criticism of Castor was her handling of the Al-Arian case at USF, implying her weakness on terrorism ("Castor" 2004). Castor's counterattack, however, revealed that Al-Arian campaigned with Bush in 2000, giving the professor access to the White House (Thomas, October 2004). Voters should question the ethical and strategic fairness of Martinez' use of the issue; Shea and Burton assert that, ethically, candidates cannot attack their opponents on an issue if both parties are guilty of misdeed (2001).
During the Republican primary, Martinez launched vicious attacks against rival Bill McCollum. After Martinez accused him of "appeasing the 'radical homosexual lobby,'" McCollum asserted that Martinez was "unfit" for office and resorting to "despicable campaign tactics." (Caputo 2004) Governor Bush asked Martinez to discontinue the ad (Hunt 2004). Though the media helped cast Martinez in a negative light, he won the nomination. He continued his attack strategy, running what Castor called the "nastiest campaign in the history of this state" (Thomas, November 2004).
A visit to Martinez' website leaves one with few questions about his message. He focuses on valence issues and forces interested websurfers to click through several layers before discovering positional arguments. Falling under the "stronger communities" umbrella, immigration was a huge issue for Martinez. Even when attempting to highlight the policy, he sneaks in the personal issue of his own immigration. The issues portions of his website speak in broad terms and are rarely controversial.
We will never know which parts of Martinez' message were most effective or what circumstances in the election played the greatest role. Did he win because he took many non-controversial policy stances? How big of a factor was his immigrant background? Could he have won if Bush had not? Given the negative tone of much of the campaign, Martinez likely drew support from voters who chose symbolic and descriptive representation. However, Martinez' coherent, consistent message highlighting his fulfillment of the American dream, woven throughout almost every issue the campaign addressed, cannot be disregarded. He connected with people.
Send comments, questions, and suggestions to Laura Beach
Created: 9/8/04. Last updated: 11/15/04.