Terrorism issue lifts Martinez (Running for Bob Graham's Senate seat)

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Fri, Oct. 08, 2004

Terrorism issue lifts Martinez

Republican Mel Martinez has started to move ahead of Democrat Betty Castor in Florida's U.S. Senate race, a poll showed.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND BETH REINHARD
[e-mail]


When it comes to fighting terrorism, Democratic Senate hopeful Betty Castor might have led with her chin and taken a beating from Republican Mel Martinez, according to a new poll showing her several points behind.

Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker said Thursday that Martinez leads 46 percent to 41 percent among likely voters after exploiting Castor's chief weakness: her failure to strongly denounce or fire a suspected terrorist when she was president of the University of South Florida.

Martinez's lead is within the poll's error margin of four percentage points, meaning the race could be too close to call. Another survey released Thursday, by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University, has the race much tighter, with Martinez leading Castor 48 percent to 47 percent. That poll also suggests that terrorism is the top issue among Florida voters.

Castor was the first to bring up the terrorism issue in the general election campaign when she ran a television ad talking up her opposition to former USF Professor Sami al Arian. She suspended the professor with pay after word of his ''Death to Israel'' comments and alleged ties to terrorists were publicized.
(snip)

Neither Stevens nor Martinez have been able to answer why, if Arian was such a threat, he campaigned with President Bush in 2000 and later attended a White House briefing with Bush strategist Karl Rove. Martinez said such questions ``are beside the point.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/9864297.htm
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Mel and pal