Mel Martinez Endorses Mitt Romney
According to the Orlando Sentinel, the former Orlando attorney-turned-U.S. Senator-turned-banker has endorsed Mitt Romney for the Republican Presidential Primary.
The spin given in the Sentinel article is: "...Martinez left the Senate in 2009, without completing his first term, largely because he was discouraged over this party’s refusal to consider immigration reform..."
But in reality, Mel Martinez voted for TARP in 2008 which sparked the powder keg of the Tea Party movement.
Martinez, whose name plate once graced a more-unoccupied-than-not Ackerman-Senterfitt* corner office in Downtown Orlando, resigned early from the U.S. Senate in August 2009 because he had no chance in hell of being re-elected due to his TARP vote and the resignation would accelerate his possible employment opportunities with the banks which he had helped against the majority of his constituents wishes.
Ex-Senator Martinez then bode his time for two years in order to avoid the 2 year prohibition under U.S. Senate ethics violations, and immediately thereafter took up a very high position with TARP recipient Chase Bank overseeing Latin American operations even though he had no prior banking experience.
Ironically, Martinez's vote paid more to his employer on the taxpayer dime than what his "employer" is now paying him.
So, does Martinez's endorsement help Mitt Romney (who has been the mainstream media and party establishment favorite) or does it hurt Mitt Romney given that the Tea Party purportedly hates bank bailouts?
*Ackerman-Senterfitt, LLP is one of just a handful of powerhouse law firms in Florida that is at the nexus of political, legal, and financial influence in Florida.
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