Martinez Fires At McCain From Glass House

Martinez Attacks GOP Nominee For Crisis He Helped Create

For Immediate Release: March 31, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Maybe he doesn't get his calls returned by John McCain anymore.

Or maybe he was just trying to protect his own poll numbers in advance of the controversial resignation of his hand-picked successor at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today.

Either way, U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez continues to flail in his desperate effort to regain the political relevance he once had. The latest attempt came at the expense of his own party's presidential nominee.

On CNN's Weekend Edition, Martinez gave McCain an "incomplete" for his stance on the housing crisis, criticizing his Senate colleague for stating "the obvious, which is that we cannot rescue those who made poor investments and poor decisions. However where I think he fell short, and where I think he will agree with me, is that we need to do some things that can help families, that can help people." [Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, 3/30/08]

Now who's stating the obvious?

"The origins of the housing market meltdown trace back to Mel Martinez's tenure at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He fully ignored predatory lending practices back then and today offers little in the way of solutions or specifics," Florida Democratic Party spokesman Alejandro Miyar said.

"It's never wise to throw stones when you live in a glass house, especially when that house is subject to foreclosure in 2010," Miyar said. "Martinez's criticism of McCain - whom he endorsed for President during the primary, though no one noticed - is the ultimate irony."

Martinez's lackluster leadership at HUD is in the spotlight again today with the resignation of his hand-picked successor, Secretary Alphonso Jackson. Last month, Jackson stonewalled an investigation into government contracts being awarded to his associates. [Miami Herald Naked Politics blog, 3/31/08]

Additionally, Martinez was noticeably absent from a front-page, above-the-fold story in Sunday's New York Times detailing the housing market meltdown and the strain it has put on Republican lawmakers who sat idly by as the market expanded, bubbled, and collapsed. The story focused on Florida, but Bush's former housing czar failed to garner even a passing mention. [New York Times, 3/30/08]