Martinez, Abramoff and the $250,000 Problem

Worth Clicking: Blasts from the past wound Romney

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January 26, 2006

Martinez, Abramoff and the $250,000 Problem

Last week, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL) "made a point of returning $2,500 in campaign contributions from embattled Rep. Bob Ney -- an Ohio Republican whom convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff claims he bribed," the Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell notes.

Said a statement: "Senator Martinez wants to make it crystal clear to his constituents that he is not interested in any campaign donation that has even a hint of impropriety in this matter."

"Well, now the Orlando Republican has a quarter-million-dollar decision. It turns out that Martinez kicked off his 2004 campaign for Senate with a fundraiser that wasn't just connected to Abramoff -- it was co-chaired by him."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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January 26, 2006