Dems see a pattern in Martinez blaming staff [View All]

[Cocoa]

http://www.dscc.org/news/News_Archives?&global.now=04-07-2005&main.id=32934&main.ctrl=newsmgr.detail&main.view=news.detail

This Isn’t the First Time Martinez Has Pled “Ignorance” To Something His Staff Did

The Schiavo political memo that Mel Martinez circulated on the Senate floor recently is just the latest example of how Republicans are abusing their power, using lowball political tactics to further divide the country:

In 2004, Mel Martinez’s staff dispersed off-color literature about former Senator McCollum accusing him of “catering to the radical homosexual lobby.” Martinez acknowledged after the debate that he did not review the flier or see its contents before it went out, even though the literature said "paid for by Martinez for Senate."

In 2004, Martinez denied responsibility for his campaign calling Federal agents “Armed Thugs,” said it was “Someone writing for the Campaign.” Asked about a comment in a Martinez campaign press release calling the federal agents who seized Elian Gonzalez “armed thugs,” Martinez denied responsibility. Martinez said, “I never said that. It was put out by someone in the office and immediately withdrawn as we saw what had happened…It's someone who was writing for the campaign and it's inappropriate that they should use the words. I would never have used them and I was in public life when that event took place and I never used language like that.”

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