Mel “Shamnesty” Martinez steps down

By Michelle Malkin  •  August 7, 2009 11:52 AM

Lots of buzz about the jockeying to appoint his placeholder.

RedState’s Erick Erickson wonders: “What will Charlie Crist do to screw Marco Rubio out of the Senate?”

More ruminations at The Hill.

He announced he was retiring last December.

I’ll repeat what I said then:

You may recall his pledge in 2006 not to work aggressively to defend conservative values as RNC chairman:

Sen. Mel Martinez, who will become the new general chairman of the Republican Party after it lost control of Congress, said on Tuesday he would not be an “attack dog” in the 2008 White House race.

…”One of the things that I made clear as I discussed this job role with the president is I was not going to be an attack dog, and I don’t intend to, and I wasn’t asked to be one,” he told reporters at the White House.

That strategy worked out well, didn’t it?

DLTDHYOTWO.

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Posted in: GOP

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Comments


  1. #1
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am, RedDog said:

    Let’s see who the RNC supports to replace him. That will be telling.

  2. #2
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am, Socky said:

    Will the left be screaming “quitter!” like they did with teh Sarah?

  3. #3
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:59 am, stillontheroad said:

    Bye Bye RINO – thanks for voting for Slagamitor before you leave. Please let the door hit you on the back of the head as you leave.

  4. #4
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm, moonsbreath said:

    When I first heard this this morning, I thought Crist would appoint himself. Time will tell.

  5. #5
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:05 pm, tommuck said:

    Great, Crist will think long and hard to appoint someone he can beat. Big conflict of interest here.

  6. #6
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:08 pm, Jaded said:

    Good riddance to bad rubbish and let Crist seat himself Floridians will VOTE HIM OUT in 2010!

  7. #7
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:08 pm, et said:

    Jeb Bush or even better Rush Limbaugh. Either will make the democrats heads explode but Rush could really ruin Stuart Smallies day.

  8. #8
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:14 pm, rambler said:

    One down – 99 to go! They should all be too scared to campaign for bankrupting the country.

  9. #9
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:20 pm, DanME said:

    Good riddance, but is Charlie Crist any better. He seems like a RINO.

  10. #10
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:29 pm, happyscrapper said:

    BUH BYE

  11. #11
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:31 pm, cheapseat said:

    another rino out the door. to be followed by another crist appointed rino.

  12. #12
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:43 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    Can Crist appoint himself?

    Speaking of Dedicated Denial of Service Attacks (as related to Ms. Bruce’s site yesterday) am I the only one finding MM’s site to be loading slower than molasses in January?

  13. #13
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:44 pm, Rogue Cheddar said:

    Good riddance and don’t forget to take those 25 million illegals with you!

  14. #14
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:45 pm, madmonkphotog said:

    He’s one Cuban who should be shipped back to Castro.

  15. #15
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:47 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:

    Slightly OT

    It is official, Treasury Bond auctions are a sham, Fed printing money to buy Federal debt and trying to hide it.

    IE, nobody is willing to get saddled with useless bonds to pay for Obama’s trillion dollar debts, so we are going all-out Zimbabwe now.

  16. #16
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:55 pm, right_on said:

    Hey…RINO Boy….Buh-bye! DLTDHYITAOTWO

    Crist…another RINO, and he also looks like a crooked used car salesman!

    Wonderful…Got snake oil?

  17. #17
    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:57 pm, right_on said:

    am I the only one finding MM’s site to be loading slower than molasses in January?

    No, I’ve had a few issues early on.

  18. #18
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:04 pm, Paul Revere said:

    Too bad Crist is a spineless wimp. If he had any sort of guts, he’d select Katherine Harris just for the sheer fun of seeing the Left go even more insane.

  19. #19
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:09 pm, Weary Citizen said:

    Adios muchacho!!! Another amensty supporting republican out the door. Hopefully, Lindsay Grahamnesty will follow. “Comprehensive immigration reform” support is one issue that will lose my support every single time. I still don’t get how anyone (regardless of race) can support amnesty or importing more 3rd world peasants knowing they are advocating the destruction of this country. How many people do we need here anyway? When is it enough? I mean really.

  20. #20
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm, historian said:

    local news is reporting he selected gov bob martinez as a replacement

  21. #21
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm, Hangfire said:

    {Ding, ding. Ding, ding}

    DoooooooohhhhhWHEEEEEEEEEooooooooooooooWHEEEEEeeeeeee…..

    “Milquetoast, departing.”

  22. #22
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:17 pm, 30 pcs of silver said:

    Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

    /sarc

  23. #23
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:18 pm, Surveyor said:

    Mel Martinez…ex-Senator

    Mel Martinez…another new lobbyist.

  24. #24
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:19 pm, bird said:

    I am immensely happy that Martinez has “stepped down” — but not as happy as I would have been had he done so before he voted for Sotomayor’s confirmation. Just had to do more damage before he exited.

  25. #25
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:25 pm, TheCorruptedLamb said:

    I personally am ecstatic. he hasn’t done anything for the Repubs here in FL
    for a long time. He had to wait till he voted for Sotomayer to leave. Adios from us constituents.

  26. #26
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:30 pm, right_on said:

    Mel Martinez…another new lobbyist.

    It was reported that he was looking for “opportunities” in the private sector…hmmm…let’s just see what boondoggle he has supported with his Senate vote in the last nine months or so. Don’t be surprised.

    Any guesses?

    Were it not for SCHIP, I might have thought he would have a leg up lobbying for the importation of Cuban cigars, if, that’s IF, Obama lifted the Cuban Embargo…you never know, it still might happen. If it does, and Martinez supported it, he wouldn’t get re-elected anyway, and he stands to gain financially from the lifting.

  27. #27
    On August 7th, 2009 at 1:54 pm, happyscrapper said:

    On August 7th, 2009 at 12:57 pm, right_on said:
    am I the only one finding MM’s site to be loading slower than molasses in January?
    No, I’ve had a few issues early on

    I am having a lot of trouble today.

  28. #28
    On August 7th, 2009 at 2:22 pm, iamsaved said:

    Will he be villified as a “quitter” like Sarah Palin was? The MSM should be going bonkers now.

  29. #29
    On August 7th, 2009 at 2:38 pm, ScottyDog said:

    Mel Martinez will probably get a job with MALDEF or La Raza.

    He never was a conservative but another phony republican.

  30. #30
    On August 7th, 2009 at 3:10 pm, ACHefty said:

    If I can get home and back in time to put a suit on, I will be discussing this on First Coast News at 6 p.m. tonight. Channels 12 & 25, and streaming on FirstCoastNews.com.

    But be warned. I have a face for radio.

  31. #31
    On August 7th, 2009 at 3:28 pm, bjc said:

    *Sidelining another RINO is a good thing, but expect the GOP to replace him with another RINO, which means they just don’t get it; The natives are restless, both conservatives and the center-right independents, for the GOP to start fighting back with conservative principles, but don’t hold your breath; Expect the party to be a footnote in history within 10 years.

  32. #32
    On August 7th, 2009 at 3:34 pm, AlohaGuy said:

    The circus used to feature elephants, now it’s rinos…

  33. #33
    On August 7th, 2009 at 3:48 pm, DubiousD said:

    We can also thank Mel Martinez for the Terri Schiavo media fiasco.

    According to MSM reports at the time, Republican congressional leaders floated a talking points memo instructing members on how to politically exploit Schiavo’s situation. Turns out GOP never issued such a memo. It was one of Mel Martinez’s aides. The aide in question cobbled it together, copying and pasting much of the language from a Christian web site, then handed it off to Martinez for his perusal.

    Whether Martinez ever bothered to read it we’ll never know. What we do know is that Martinez, like an idiot, immediately passed the memo along to Democrat Senator Tom Harkin. Harkin, realizing the propaganda bonanza on his hands, promptly handed the the memo over to Mike Allen (then still a reporter at WaPo). More importantly, Harkin concocted (and Allen bought hook, line and sinker) the story that similar memos (note the plural) were being passed all around Congress by the GOP leadership. The WaPo story went to press; by the next day, stories of cynical Republicans exploting Schiavo’s situation for partisan gain were all over the MSM — TV, internet, and print. Republicans ended up taking a very bad political hit as a result, all thanks to freshman senator Mel. By the time Powerline dug out the truth and WaPo was forced to issue a correction, the damage had already been done.

    At least Martinez’s aide had the good sense to resign immediately. We had to wait years for Mel to do likewise. Oh, well. Better late than never.

  34. #34
    On August 7th, 2009 at 7:24 pm, tre said:

    Buh Bye Smell Martinez! Come back when you can’t stay so long!

  35. #35
    On August 7th, 2009 at 8:59 pm, T-Bone said:

    Jeb Bush is the logical replacement. I like that choice also.

  36. #36
    On August 7th, 2009 at 9:29 pm, Lindsay said:

    DLTDHYOTWO, indeed. Adios.
    He knew darn well he wouldn’t get elected again. No way.

  37. #37
    On August 7th, 2009 at 9:37 pm, Virginia Patriot said:

    Amnesty RINO Mel will be replaced by another amnesty RINO. Jeb Bush fits that bill.

  38. #38
    On August 7th, 2009 at 9:54 pm, coffee said:

    This smells like another Rod Blagojevich back room deal. Damn these corrupt politicians whatever their party. Smell Martinez is gaming the system to prevent a real conservative like Marco Rubio from gaining the seat. The ONLY way I’ll believe anything else is if Crist appoints Rubio. I won’t hold my breath.

  39. #39
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:05 pm, SpeakEasy said:

    I doubt he is interested but Andrew Wilkow would be a welcome and effective defender for the conservative position. I would love to see any of the Dems go one-on-one with him in a debate.

  40. #40
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:07 pm, SpeakEasy said:

    It would also be nice to have an authentic person instead of a career politician. I hate, repeat hate, career politicians.

  41. #41
    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:22 pm, MarcoPolo said:

    On August 7th, 2009 at 11:58 am, Socky said:

    Will the left be screaming “quitter!” like they did with teh Sarah?

    I am not making this up: the left wants Crist to appoint himself and then change parties.

    It would be funny if there wasn’t a chance it could have happened.

  42. #42
    On August 8th, 2009 at 12:51 pm, Jimmie said:

    I think Colin Powell is the guy…he is working closely with James Carvil to keep the RNC as the best dogone minority party there everwas.

  43. #43
    On August 9th, 2009 at 10:40 am, zyzzyg said:

    Great, another quitter.

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