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The Fix: Martinez To Retire
Hotline On Call Part Deux — ... Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) will not seek another term, creating the GOP's second open seat of the 2010 contest, reports The Washington Post's Cillizza. A source told the paper that Martinez's decision "was based on a desire for more free time and a less scheduled life." ...

Matt Lewis: Mel Martinez to Retire
Townhall.com Blog's TownHall Blog — ... | Issues | Get Magazine | Finance [image] [image] Hugh Hewitt | Mike Gallagher | Michael Medved | Mary Katharine Ham | Kevin McCullough | Matt Lewis | Radio Blogger | Your Blogs Directory [image] Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers Tuesday, December 02, 2008 Mel Martinez to Retire Posted by: Matt Lewis at 10:50 AM The Fix has more. [image] Email It | Print It | Comments (0) | ...

Florida's Martinez to retire after one term
Political Animal — ... this morning, and the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza added this report soon after. Florida Sen. Mel Martinez (R) has decided against seeking a second term, a decision he will formalize shortly in the Sunshine State, according to an informed party source. Martinez's decision was based on a desire for more free time and a less scheduled life, said the source. Just yesterday, State Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, widely considered the Democrats' strongest candidate for the race, said she ...

WaPo: Mel Martinez won’t run again in 2010
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... He wants “more free time and a less scheduled life,” which, given his approval rating, is probably what he would have ended up with anyway. I wonder how the GOP base will ...

WaPo: Mel Martinez to retire
Babalú Blog: an island on the net without a bearded dictator — WaPo: Mel Martinez to retire The Washington Post's politics blogger is reporting that Mel Martinez will retire at the end of his term in 2010. This leaves a vacancy to be filled. You probably ...

Mel Martinez Retiring From Senate
DownWithTyranny! — ... about which Senators up for re-election in 2010 would be most vulnerable. No list is complete without listing Florida Republican Mel Martinez. Obama's victory there, a demographic shift towards the center and away from the extreme right has placed a big fat bullseye on Martinez' back. But this morning he made it clear that he will not be defeated. That's because he's retiring. He said he wants "more free time and a less scheduled life." OK. Perhaps he could sell those ideas to some of the more extremist members of his caucus like Jim DeMint, Judd Gregg and Tom Coburn? ...

Won't Be Missed
Discourse.net — Florida Senator and national embarrassment Mel Martinez To Retire. Should be quite a race to succeed him in both parties. I look forward to the blogger outreach…. ...

Marco Rubio for Senate?
The American Scene — ... There are, after all, a number of other Florida Republicans who would be eager to run for the seat. Apart from being a young Cuban American, which hardly hurts in Florida, Rubio is a shrewd conservative pragmatist, one who takes his cues from Jeb Bush. He’s often found himself at odds with Governor Crist, most notably over a statewide property tax cut. Indeed, Rubio’s staunch opposition to property taxes could give him leeway to pursue a more moderate approach to healthcare and education, areas that have been a particular focus for him. After making a mark as a ...

12/3: The GOP Comeback Begins?
Blogometer — ... In addition, I think it would have been somewhat distasteful for Obama to spend his post-election honeymoon in a partisan political campaign -- particularly given the various emergencies the nation is facing. If Obama could have actually made a difference, then maybe it's worth burning the capital and alienating Republicans. But given that it was a hopeless cause, I think this was a no-brainer." FL SEN: Bye, Mel Conservative bloggers aren't too upset that GOP Sen. Mel Martinez has decided against seeking re-election in 2010: Liberal bloggers were delighted by the news: ...

How do Democrats work the Senate with less than 60 members?
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — ... Mel Martinez (R-FL), who announced he won't run for re-election, might be someone Obama can work with. There is the long-time standby Chuck Grassley (R-IA). Judd Gregg (R-NH) might be more willing, given his re-election bid in 2010. And depending on the vote, Orrin Hatch could be an unlikely ally. ...

Paul Jenkins: The GOP's White Supremacy
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — ... larger problem for the Republican Party: it is utterly unrepresentative of America in the 21st century. Its Congressional representation is nearly uniformly white, and overwhelmingly male. So much so, in fact, that there is not one single African-American GOP member of Congress (out of 219 or 220); nor, for that matter, are there any black GOP Governors (out of 22). There are just four Republican Latinos in Congress, all Florida Cuban-Americans; one of them, Senator Mel Martinez, has announced his retirement. He is the only non-white or Hispanic GOP Senator. ...

Jeb: I’m not running
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... in a state that Obama carried and in a political climate where the GOP will have to defend 19 seats versus just 16 for the Democrats. A gimme in Florida would have helped — a lot. Oh well. Exit question: What’s the difference really between 59 Democratic Senators and, ...

Call It a Trend
MoJo Blog Posts: mojo — George Voinovich is retiring. Kit Bond is retiring. Sam Brownback is retiring. Mel Martinez is retiring. Republican senators are heading to greener pastures, folks. A difficult 2010 map for the GOP is getting harder and harder.

Six Remaining Republicans All Running for Chairman
Politics Daily — ... , let's meet these contenders, and predict which of them will earn the charge to emulate their fine predecessor, Mel Martinez. ...

Six Remaining Republicans All Running for Chairman
Politics Daily — ... , let's meet these contenders, and predict which of them will earn the charge to emulate their fine predecessor, Mel Martinez. ...