ORLANDO SENTINEL June 30, 2007 Martinez rips those who voted to kill billJohn Kennedy/Tallahassee Bureau Chief Florida Republican Mel Martinez blasted fellow U.S. senators Friday for killing legislation that would have legalized millions of unlawful immigrants, but whose collapse was hailed by most of his party's presidential field.
"It wasn't real pretty there yesterday," said Martinez, the only immigrant serving in the Senate. "There were not a lot of profiles in courage written on the floor of the Senate."
Martinez, who spearheaded President Bush's push for the bill, sought to soothe bad feelings about its defeat before a conference of an influential Hispanic group at Walt Disney World.
All of the GOP candidates for president, except long shot Duncan Hunter, shunned the annual meeting that drew about 1,000 members of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Today, they'll host seven top Democratic contenders for the White House.
Except for Senate sponsor John McCain, most of the GOP presidential field joined with conservative talk radio in fanning fierce opposition to the immigration bill. But Martinez, who doubles as his party's national chairman, sought to spread blame equally on both sides.
"Democrats and Republicans alike voted yesterday to choose a road of inaction over a road of action," said Martinez, a former Orange County chairman who came to Orlando at age 15 from his native Cuba to live with foster parents. He pointedly challenged critics of the legislation.
"What will you do? How will you fix the broken borders?" Martinez said. "How will you improve the situation to make people's lives better?"
The Senate vote Thursday almost certainly eliminated any chance that immigration legislation will be revisited before the 2008 presidential election.
The measure would have strengthened border security and created a new guest-worker program. It also would have created procedures to allow more than 12 million illegal immigrants to gain legal status, a step derided by critics as "amnesty for illegals."
Many blame GOP for loss
Although it was seen as flawed by lawmakers on both sides, the legislation was embraced by many NALEO attendees, who tended to blame Senate Republicans for its defeat.
Senators voted 53 to 46 to reject a motion to end debate and move toward final passage. Thirty-seven Republicans voted to oppose the bill, while only 12 voted for it. By contrast, Democrats voted 33-to-15 in favor of the bill.
"The bill would have been good enough for now," said Jesus Silva, 43, a teacher and city commissioner from Fullerton, Calif. "Martinez was good on this issue. But he's in a tough spot leading this Republican Party."
State Rep. Juan Zapata, R-Miami, who helped bring the NALEO conference to Florida, said the immigration vote only worsens the already tough task Republican presidential candidates have in securing the Hispanic vote both in Florida and nationwide.
Zapata termed the decision by leading Republican contenders to campaign elsewhere this weekend "a huge missed opportunity. . . . They have to work for these voters."
Florida, the largest of the nation's swing states, has seen the influence of decidedly Republican Cuban-American voters erode as the population of Hispanics from Puerto Rico and Central America swells -- with many voting Democratic.
In a sign of that shift, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who addressed the NALEO conference shortly after Thursday's immigration vote, narrowly lost the Hispanic vote 50 percent to 49 percent while easily defeating Democratic opponent Jim Davis last year.
President Bush drew strong support from Hispanics nationwide during the 2004 election. But a new poll shows Hispanics, by an almost 3-to-1 margin, say they're now Democrats or leaning that way.
Hillary Clinton popular
Democrat Hillary Clinton is the clear favorite of Hispanics, garnering 59 percent support, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll released this week.
Clinton, who is among those speaking to NALEO today, seemed to reach out to Florida Cuban-Americans this week by lashing out at likely Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson for decrying the flow of illegal immigrants from Cuba.
"I don't imagine they're coming here to bring greetings from Castro," Thompson said. "We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb."
Martinez defended the former Tennessee senator Friday.
"I don't think Sen. Thompson meant what he said," Martinez said. "And I think if he reflects on it, he'll probably find a way to say what he said a little differently."
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