This website is an undergraduate assignment at Davidson College.
Why did Mel Martinez Win?
The national spotlight on Florida dictated the focus of the senate race. Martinez's ties to Bush and stance on terrorism, combined with his "embodiment of the American dream", resulted in support down the stretch. Martinez won the election because he kept the attention on national issues and his experience as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (www.melforsenate.com).
Martinez gained significantly from his attack on Castor's handling of accused terrorist, Sami al-Arian, at the University of South Florida. Martinez portrayed Castor's response to al-Arian's ties as dangerously soft. This issue was the premier question in a televised debate between Martinez and Castor, yet despite taking the strongest action allowed by law, Castor failed to justify her decision. Instead, Castor condemned the ads as "despicable", and requested that Martinez pull them from his campaign (Hicken). The soft response to Martinez's accusations put into question Castor's ability to combat terrorism. During this debate, issues regarding education, resounding strengths for Castor, were "notably absent" (Hicken).
Martinez's personal relationship with President Bush also enhanced his commitment to the war on terror and his values as an American. By aligning himself so closely with the President, Martinez created the assurance that he would be a more effective representative. By escaping from Communist Cuba at 15, Martinez was a spokesman for hard work and the embodiment of the American dream (www.melforsenate.com). Martinez created a persona that people could feel excited and eager about electing.
Did the Candidates Compromise Their Principles?
Martinez
Martinez has been criticized for stepping back from his highly conservative viewpoints after he was elected. He fell into the trap of taking a far right stance in the primaries in order to receive his nomination, but inevitably endorsing a moderate approach in the actual election. Many of the accusations stem from his claims that he is a representative for all Floridians; Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, despite running a strongly conservative campaign (Jones and Gedalius). Martinez was simply reassuring the people of Florida that he has their best interests in mind. His nature is to bring people together and build bridges that seek common ground (Jones and Gedalius). To imply that he is going to work to unite people of differing ideologies does not mean that he is going to ignore his conservative values.
Castor
The only way in which Castor compromised her principles was through negative campaigning. After the election, Castor told reporters that the negative attacks were not good for American politics, but they work, and that was unfortunate (Jones and Gedalius). By running such a negative campaign in the beginning of the race, Castor could have expected attacks on her stance on terrorism. Maybe her epiphany regarding negative ads impeded her ability to derail Martinez's efforts to exploit her weaknesses on terrorism.