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Bloggers Bashing Martinez Over Obama Birth Certificate

Associated Press file photo (2008)

Martinez announced in December that he will not seek re-election in 2010.

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By WILLIAM MARCH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 11, 2009

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez is being bashed on right-wing blogs because of his answer to a constituent who asked him about the persistent rumor that Barack Obama wasn't born in America.

Martinez's response to the question, in the form of a letter, has been circulated since early December, but has recently blossomed in the echo chamber of the blog world. Posters have copied it from one blog to another in the last few days - WorldNetDaily, SlantRight, RightPundits.com and more.

Despite Obama's published birth cetificate and well-documented personal history, some opponents have long contended, based on little if any evidence, that he was born in Kenya - or in some cases Indonesia - and therefore isn't eligible under the Constitution to be president.

According to the blog postings, a constituent asked Martinez about that. His response was that a court had dismissed a voter's lawsuit on the issue, and that the Constitution provides no other enforcement mechanism except for vetting by the voters.

In the letter he currently sends to constituents on the issue, provided by his office, Martinez states, "Courts have concluded that only 'a candidate or his political party has standing to challenge the inclusion of an allegedly ineligible rival on the ballot.' ... Courts have further concluded that, short of a challenge by another candidate, it falls to the voters to decide whether a particular presidential candidate is qualified to hold office."

The bloggers say that's not good enough.

"Senator Mel Martinez has laid the vetting of President Obama's citizenship on the people of the United States," wrote a Rightpundit blogger. "Does Congress assume responsibility of anything?"

Martinez's office didn't have any further comment on the blog attacks.

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