This page is part of an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College.
Terrorism and the Cinderella Story in Martinez's Victory:
Republican Mel Martinez beat Betty Castor by fewer than 100,000 votes. He used terrorism as a key issue, accusing Castor of being soft (National Journal). He stressed Castor reinstatement of Sami Al-Arian, who was accused of raising money for Islamic Jihad, while she was president of USF. According to Stuart Stephens, author of Martinez's advertisements, Castor's decision to preempt attacks about Al-Arian by issuing the first ad was fatal (Crowley). Castor's move allowed Martinez to attack her on the issue while claiming he was only responding to her ad. 24% of those polled in exit polls chose terrorism as the most important issue in the election, and though that is far from a majority, 80% of those people voted for Martinez (CNN poll). While there were other important issues, such as moral values and Iraq, these issues were more evenly divided between the two candidates (CNN poll). Castor was unable to bring education to the forefront; only 4% of people sighted it as the most important issue (CNN poll) and was unable to respond to Martinez on terrorism.
According to Stevens voters were drawn to Martinez because he was an immigrant who has been very successful in America (Crowley). Martinez used his Cinderella story throughout his campaign. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune highlighted his story as a key reason for his success. Martinez's rags to riches story, however, did not actually influence many voters. The majority of voters in lover income categories voted for Castor (CNN poll). Though this story should have attracted Hispanic voters, 39% of Hispanics voted for Castor (CNN poll).
Candidate's Principles in the Race:
Castor indicated throughout the campaign that she did not like negative ads. She ran an ad during the primaries ironically attacking Deutch for running negative ads. Even in her concession speech she claimed that she disliked negative campaigning but added that is seems to have been successful. In the first debate, Castor claimed she would not use negative ads if Martinez agreed, which he did not (Dunkelberger). Gov. Jeb Bush accused Castor of running a negative and deceptive ad when she tried to preempt attacks about Al-Arian (Follick). Both campaigns resorted to negative advertising despite Castor's disdain for the strategy.
Though he claimed that his views were not going to change, he had been known as a moderate while in the Orange County government, but went to the right in the primaries (Kumar). Martinez seemed have moved to the right in highly contested primaries, then moved back toward the center during the general election (The Frontrunner) indicating that his issue positions were only a reflection of strategy. Martinez may have shifted his ideology throughout the electoral process.
Lindley Swartz
liswartz@davidson.edu