Bush’s choice for new GOP Chairman seeks to undo the efforts of those who supported 'enforcement first'

November 15, 2006

Florida Senator Mel Martinez is President Bush's choice to become chairman of the Republican National Committee. Martinez says his top goal in that position will be “to undo the election damage done” by those who supported  border-enforcement-first, that is, most Republicans.

Martinez's nomination must be approved by the RNC at its January meeting, but it has created division among rank-and-file Republicans, who say it puts the party on the wrong side of the immigration issue. Bush said that Martinez would keep his Senate seat and serve as honorary chairman, the public face of the party. Bush also nominated Mike Duncan, the RNC's general counsel, as chairman responsible for day-to-day operations, and asked Jo Ann Davidson to remain co-chairman.

Though Martinez declined a chance to analyze the results of the November 7 election, he did a post-mortem on immigration, saying he saw a clear message on that issue.  'I think we have to understand that the election did speak to one issue, and that was that -- it's not about bashing people, it's about presenting a hopeful face.'

Martinez was one of the authors of the Senate compromise that would have allowed most illegal aliens to remain in the United States and pay small fines in return for a path to citizenship.

His proposal passed the Senate, though a majority of Republicans voted against it. The House, however, passed an enforcement-first strategy. Even the RNC voted unanimously in August to adopt a resolution calling for border and interior enforcement.

Some RNC members had pleaded for Bush to nominate Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, a prominent black Republican who in his losing Senate campaign this year argued against amnesty for illegal aliens.

Rejecting Steele raised hackles among some RNC members, who traditionally rubber-stamp a sitting president's choice for chairman. Members wondered whether the choice of Martinez was a signal of Bush's desire to focus more on burnishing his presidential legacy, rather than on rebuilding a winning party for 2008.

Dr. Buddy Witherspoon, an RNC member from Columbia, S.C., said a black conservative such as Steele would have been an 'excellent choice.' But Dr. Witherspoon, who is white, worried just how much Steele, Martinez or anyone whom 'Karl Rove chooses' will be able to speak for the future of the Republican Party.

As Bush pushes the RNC in his direction on immigration, House Republicans move the other way, with Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, a contender for the House minority leader's post, saying yesterday that he will oppose Bush's bill.

'What is coming at us now is going to be a massive amnesty bill that will likely be propounded not only by Democrats in the House and Senate, but frankly also by the White House,' he said in an interview with radio host Laura Ingraham.