"Florida Sen. Mel Martinez endorsed John McCain on Friday, a move likely to give the Republican presidential candidate a crucial boost with the state's Cuban-Americans just days before the primary."Who exactly is Mel Martinez and why does his one opinion carry so much weight that he can sway Floridan republicans to the point that the media can just right off Giuliani and Romney? How can a guy who carries a 38% approval rate and only a 48% approval rate with his own party have such an effect? Is it because he is Hispanic? Has it become a racial issue? I just do not understand how our "unbiased" media can report that all of a sudden, just because of one man's opinion, 3.3 million Hispanics, a little more than 17% of Florida's population will vote for McCain mostly because an Hispanic senator backed him...now I can under stand the majority of Dade county voting for him with 57% of its population being Hispanic and three of its Senatorial representatives being Hispanic, all whom back McCain...but what about the rest of us...why does the media try to speak for us???
AP News Story Florida senator endorses McCain (AP)
4 comments:
I waited on Mel Martinez last night at Torreya Grill. Seriously. And our media is far from unbiased.
There is no such thing as unbiased media. The media is owned by large corporations and they mostly focus on sensational news to please the public. Take this past Tuesday for example when actor Heath Ledger died. There are more serious issues in this world than talking about an actor's death for a whole day (or has it been a week by now)? I think it is best to find your news on the internet, because you can select what you want to read. If you watch CNN or Fox on TV, you have to listen to irrelevant and repetitive stories all day long. I also think the media greatly affects how people vote, because the media chooses to focus more on certain candidates. All publicity is good publicity.
>Who exactly is Mel Martinez and why does his one opinion carry so much weight that he can sway Floridan republicans to the point that the media can just right off Giuliani and Romney?
He is the most famous and notable Cuban-American in the country. He was a member of the Bush cabinet and was chair of the national Republican party up until recently. There isn't a more famous Cuban-American and are few Florida Republicans who are more widely known.
He has a huge influence in the Cuban-American community, and since the rest of the Republican community in Florida is relatively evenly divided, his influence is strong enough to shift the number of votes that can provide enough of a margin to lead to a victory in Florida.
It isn't a certainty, of course, and the polls show that Romney is very competitive in Florida, too, but Giuliani is in third in most polls and declining in support and Huckabee is in fourth. The chances of them catching up over a three-day span is almost nonexistent. It could've been done with an endorsement from Martinez, but that obviously didn't happen.
>Is it because he is Hispanic? Has it become a racial issue?
Partially, yes. Hispanic people are more likely to pay attention to Hispanic opinion leaders. Just like black people are more likely to pay attention to black opinion leaders. Just like white males are more likely to pay attention to white male opinion leaders. People, regardless of race or gender, pay more attention, in general, to other people who are like themselves.
>I just do not understand how our "unbiased" media can report that all of a sudden, just because of one man's opinion, 3.3 million Hispanics, a little more than 17% of Florida's population will vote for McCain mostly because an Hispanic senator backed him...
As others have said, there is no such thing as unbiased media. And they aren't just reporting this all of a sudden. It just happened, that's why they are reporting it. And no, 3.3 million Hispanics aren't going to vote for McCain just because Martinez said so. Particularly since the majority of Florida Hispanics are not Cuban or Republican. But enough Cubans will pay attention to this that it could change the outcome. Many non-Hispanics will also vote for McCain because of Martinez's endorsement. Just as people pay more attention to people of the same race, people also pay more attention to people from the same place -- Florida.
>now I can under stand the majority of Dade county voting for him with 57% of its population being Hispanic ...but what about the rest of us...why does the media try to speak for us???
They aren't trying to speak for you. They are looking at the numbers and seeing who has the most support. Giuliani and Huckabee supporters are fewer in number, regardless of this endorsement. The Republican race in Florida is almost certainly between McCain and Romney, regardless of this story.
He is a very Powerful opinion leader in the Hispanic community. As such he will have great influence on how his community votes. Cuban voters, more than Mexican or Dominican will be more apt to follow his lead.
Post a Comment