Ammunition

Excerpt from the Orlando sentinel's Scott Maxwell's article yesterday:

Mel's bell gets rung

Survey USA recently scoured the entire country to see which U.S. senator had the lowest job-approval ratings -- and found Mel Martinez.

After polling voters in every state about their own senators, the polling company for TV stations reported that Orlando's freshman Republican beat out 99 others to have the lowest job-approval rating among voters in his own state: 41 percent. (Things like his office's involvement in the memo that claimed Terri Schiavo could do good things for Republicans in future elections probably didn't help.)Asked about the poor showing, Martinez spokeswoman Kerry Feehery said: "Senator Martinez is not driven by polls; he is driven by the needs of the state of Florida and its 17 million constituents."Um, those constituents are the ones they supposedly polled. Still, Martinez's senior Democratic counterpart, Bill Nelson, didn't do much better, finishing in an eight-way tie for 80th with a 48 percent approval rating.Topping the list was Maine Republican Olympia Snowe with a 77 percent approval rating. Also scoring particularly well was a trio of past and potential future White House aspirants -- John McCain, R-Ariz.; Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.; and freshman sensation Barack Obama, D-Ill. -- all of whom have hit Central Florida's campaign trail in recent years on behalf of local candidates.