Florida: GOP candidates, Democrats use trial lawyer tag against Martinez

[kskiska]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - As hard as Mel Martinez tries to highlight his experience on President Bush's Cabinet and as Orange County chairman, his opponents in the race for U.S. Senate keep pointing out another line on his resume: trial lawyer.

Now that Democrat John Edwards - also a trial lawyer - is on the presidential ticket, Democrats too are making note of Martinez's experience. They say Republicans who criticize Edwards' career choice are hypocrites.

It's an odd situation that bonds natural foes together against one man who many believe was recruited by the president to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Bob Graham.

Every time a Republican casts a stone at Edwards over his career, a Democrat picks it up and throws it back at Martinez, a former president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers who resigned as Housing and Urban Development secretary to run for Senate.

Other Republicans seeking the seat - former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, millionaire businessman Doug Gallagher and state House speaker Johnnie Byrd - are attacking Martinez because he was a trial lawyer.

more (registration req'd)…
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/9292996.htm

[Judi Lynn]

1. Oh, Jeez! Mel is simply so full of it.

He's _Bush's man, sent to Florida to take this Senate seat Bob Graham is leaving.

From the article:

It's an odd situation that bonds natural foes together against one man who many believe was recruited by the president to run for the Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Bob Graham.

Every time a Republican casts a stone at Edwards over his career, a Democrat picks it up and throws it back at Martinez, a former president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers who resigned as Housing and Urban Development secretary to run for Senate.
(snip)

Martinez says the attacks are unfair."Like any political attack, they always tend to not explain, but confuse," he said. "They're twisting my record. Edwards and I had a common profession. So did Bill McCollum and so did Johnnie Byrd. We were lawyers. That's where those similarities end."

Martinez said what goes ignored is that he gave free legal service to the poor, he was the first bilingual lawyer in Orlando and that he, too, agrees something should be done to reign in abusive lawsuits.

"I was someone who did good work in an honorable way, representing people instead of insurance companies, like some of the people who attack me did," Martinez said. "I don't walk away from my past profession. Quite the contrary. I'm very proud of what I did."
(snip/...)

So it's O.K. when a Republican is a trial lawyer, because he's a Republican, but it's goddawful if a Democratic candidate has been a trial lawyer.

HOW SMART IS MEL, ANYWAY?



Dumb, de dum dumb.

[soup]

2. need a Republican attorney?

Republican National Lawyers Association
http://www.rnla.org/

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Missions of the Republican National Lawyers Association

Advancing Professionalism.

Advancing Election Integrity. The RNLA seeks to upgrade the integrity of elections at all levels of American society in a non-discriminatory manner. It provides election operations training from preeminent election law professionals. It responds to requests for assistance from the Republican Party and its candidates.

Advancing Career Opportunity.

Advancing Republican Ideals. The RNLA further builds the Republican Party goals and ideals through a nationwide network of supportive lawyers who understand and directly support Republican policy, agendas and candidates.
http://www.rnla.org/AboutRNLA.asp


RNLA Newsletter
President's Message for July
-Mr. Harvey Tettlebaum

Dear Members:

ELECTION LAW SCHOOL

On July 16-17, 2004, a large group of Republican lawyers gathered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the annual RNLA National Election Law Seminar and School. This continuing legal education program provides Republican lawyers with information on the current state of statutory, regulatory and case law affecting elections. We had top-notch speakers on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, the Help America Vote Act and numerous other election law issues. Those in attendance came from all over the United States representing state political parties, continuing committees, and candidate committees. In addition, we had a number of lawyers who came just to get themselves educated to be useful in the event that their services were needed in the upcoming election.
http://www.rnla.org/Newsletter/ViewArticle.asp?ArticleID=121


Oh hey, this is fun. Think they're not ready for a fight? Check out upcoming Events and Education:
http://www.rnla.org/Events/Events.asp


Judicial Endorsements and Media Information

Welcome to the judicial advocacy section of RepublicanLawyer.com, the web site of the Republican National Lawyers Association (“RNLA”), the nation’s principal organization of lawyers associated with the Republican Party at all levels. The RNLA strongly supports the timely confirmation of the President’s judicial nominees, and will be issuing endorsement statements for each Court of Appeals nominee. Endorsement statements will be issued regarding all future Supreme Court nominees and selected District and special court nominees.
http://www.rnla.org/Speakers.asp

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Suggested Motto-
Lawyers are bad, unless they're one of us.

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Can we possibly be ready for what's coming? Found this site a few days ago, and my stomach just clenched. There's hope, and then there's reality. These cheneying SOBs are not going to let go. They are not going to let go.

[2Design]

3. my question..do we have a dem to run against this guy.

[Rebellious Republican]

4. I think I heard about Bill Nelson making a run for it, not sure though!

:shrug:

[2Design]

5. isn't he the one who ran when

the lady who was clintons spokesperson was running for governor... He was a disaster if that is the same person. He beat her out and then lost to jeb and then dropped from politics.

there were election machine troubles in the primary. I believe she could have beat jeb bush.

so I hope the dems find someone worth while to run.

[King of New Orleans]

6. Bill Nelson is a Senator

won in 2002?

Three Dems are competing for the Senate job. Betty Castor is the frontrunner. The other two are Rep. Deutsch and Miami-Dade Mayor Penellas

[jayctravis]

7. dammit...

Lawyers are either your best friend or your worst enemy depending on which side they're hired to argue for! It's their job!

They are debaters for hire!! I guess "trial lawyer" is now in the list of words to call someone snidely and askew such as "liberal" and "socialist".

Kerry and Edwards are on our side, so here's hoping he rips the current administration a new one.

Okay, venting over.

I listened to Laura Ingraham a bit today since I was in the car at an unusual hour of the evening. I switch between NPR and the FM Conservative Republican Radio station in the area. After countless hours of listening to Hannity talk simultaneously over the guest he disagrees with during my afternoon commute, her Democratic Convention coverage actually didn't seem as ridiculously stupid as some of the previous invective I've heard from her. Something wrong?

A caller said he was a Democrat frustrated at Kerry, and they snickered, advising him to get some sleep.

Ingraham had nothing but kudos for Obama, carefully mileaging her remarks, "If I were a democrat..." saying he gave the best speech next to Clinton.

Next to Clinton?

(pause for gravity check)

She also did a montage of convention speeches that I *think* were supposed to prove how the Democrats are contradicting each other but I didn't get it, realizing that the convention showcased the *entire* Democratic party and not every delegate philosophy dovetails neatly in their speeches. I assume I'm of average intellect, so I guess I'm one of the brainwashed liberals.

Perhaps I caught her on an off day.

(long way to 1000 posts, so forgive the digression)

[Judi Lynn]

8. New article on this Senate race in Florida:Senate rivals using TV as guide

Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004




FLORIDA SENATE RACE


Senate rivals using TV as guide
The candidates seeking to replace U.S. Sen. Bob Graham have come up with a political version of TV Guide to reach their targeted voters.

BY BETH REINHARD AND MARC CAPUTO

[e-mail]


If you watch Oprah or Dr. Phil, Democrat Peter Deutsch wants your vote. Republican Doug Gallagher is after fans of Sábado Gigante, the Spanish-language game show.

In Florida's U.S. Senate race, one of the most competitive and expensive in the country, candidates are carefully plotting their ads to coincide with voters' must-see TV.It's not so different from selling corn flakes, where corporations figure out who walks down the cereal aisle: Campaign strategists analyze past elections and current polls to pinpoint the two million people likely to vote in the Aug. 31 primary. Then the campaigns place ads in and around the television shows those voters like to watch.

''Television buys are an art and a science,'' said David Beattie, pollster for Democratic candidate Betty Castor. ``The science is that each television show has a group that watches it, a type of person that you can target. The art is that we don't know what percentage of people watching NYPD Blue, for example, are undecided about the election.. . . We just have to hope that our television buyer targets our advertising a little more effectively than theirs.''

Democrats know, for example, that more women than men vote in their primary elections.So the women who tune into The View and Regis & Kelly are likely to hear about Deutsch's healthcare plan. Castor makes her campaign pitch to the mostly female fans of All My Children and One Life to Live .

Primary voters also tend to be informed older folks with time to watch the news. So shows like 60 Minutes, Prime Time Live and Meet the Press are chock-full of appeals for the Democratic U.S. Senate candidates. Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, who has less money than rivals Deutsch and Castor, appears to be holding off on commercials until the crucial homestretch.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/9298688.htm
(Free registration required)

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Democrats really need a Democrat to retain Bob Graham's seat.