[AuH2ORepublican]

"Sen. Martinez has gone against the President on several issues since his election. One of them was on off-shore drilling. He opposed the Energy Bill which called for drilling 150 miles off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico. "

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Off-shore drilling is political poison in Florida. The fact that Republican Congressman Mica is in favor of it (probably because I think he used to be a lobbyist for the oil industry and feels strongly about the issue) was viewed as noteworthy by Michael Barone's Almanac of American Politics.

Being disappointed at Mel Martinez for opposing off-shore drilling is kinda like being disappointed in Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada) for opposing the Yucca Mountain nuclear repository. There are certain local issues that politicians are best served not messing with.

But I'm sure that Martinez has taken unfortunate stances since being elected; he is far from perfect, although I would posit that he's pretty good for a Senator from a state that Bush carried by only 5%.

[HostileTerritory]

It certainly helps Mica that the drilling is contemplated for the coast he doesn't represent.

[Naomi4]

We are not sure what kind of senator he is yet. We like his local staff. They are tops.

I do recall a telling moment soon after he was sworn in. An aide had given him an internal memo of background information. He was holding it in a stack of papers while talking to Sen. Tom Harkin. He voluntarily gave this paper to Harkin.

Harkin took the opportunity to get before the microphones and villify the nefarious Republicans over this memo. I need to look up the details but at the same my initial reaction to the memo's contents was, "So What?"

Martinez immediately fired the staffer who had composed the memo and given it to him.

I thought that was craven in the extreme. It was the staffer's job to prepare this sort of briefing memo. The staffer was not the one who leaked or gave away anything. It was the Senator himself.