Surname, it's more than that...he's an immigrant. He's Cuban, immigrated here when he was 16.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Martinez
It's more than that, even. He's too far left.
yeah, I had figured as much...Hispanic surname, from Florida, Republican...there's a 98% chance he's Cuban.
And his 2005 ACU rating was 100%. Not bad.
Those are excellent points. Operation Peter Pan, IIRC. I didn't look at site. That said - he better be able to go toe to toe with wacky Dean, if Dean will ver show up.
I don't agree with Martinez's politics at all and think the choice is not a smart one.
However, I must correct you, he's not an immigrant, he's a political exile. There is a glaring distinction between the two. He didn't come to this country to do the 'jobs Americans won't do'. He didn't come to this country to send money to relatives back home. He's not an economic migrant.
He came to this country in order to avoid becoming a minion in Stalinist Cuba.
Again, that being said, he was chosen to court the Latino vote in 2008 which is not a bright move. Appeasement stunts like this will not work, Mexicans and other 'Latinos' (with the sole exception of Cubans) will continue to vote Democrat.