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LUCY MORGANThe candidate for U.S. Senate tells the convention crowd about his flight from Cuba as a child.
NEW YORK - Addressing a cheering audience in English and Spanish, U.S. Senate candidate Mel Martinez told the Republican National Convention on Thursday night that his life story is a "testament to the American dream."
He said he is "living proof of the greatness of our nation and the kindness of the American people," describing his flight from Cuba as a child.
"Only in America can a 15-year-old boy arrive on our shores alone, not speaking the language - with a suitcase and the hope of a brighter future - and rise to serve in the Cabinet of the United States," said Martinez, who served as secretary of housing and urban development in the Bush administration before running for the Senate.
"And only in America can that same young boy, today, stand one step away from making history as the first Cuban-American to serve in the United States Senate."
His appearance at the convention here sparked criticism from Democrats who accused Martinez of "puffing up his ego in front of a partisan Republican crowd" while his opponent, Democrat Betty Castor, was canceling campaign events to prepare for Hurricane Frances.
"I can't imagine someone running for high public office not being in Florida when we have Frances poised to strike," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., assistant Senate minority leader, said in a conference call with Florida reporters.
Martinez arrived at the convention Wednesday night and said he would leave early today to return to Florida to prepare for the storm.
Earlier Thursday Martinez met with Florida convention delegates and praised former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, the man he defeated in a bitter primary. "Bill McCollum had a long and distinguished career as a public servant, he has made a great contribution and I look forward to working with him in the future," Martinez told delegates at a luncheon thrown by Attorney General Charlie Crist, his statewide campaign manager. (Crist returned to Florida just before the luncheon because of the approaching hurricane.)
Martinez promised to conduct his campaign "in a way that is worthy" of the U.S. Senate, but Democrats predicted he will run a negative race against Castor.
He didn't mention the bitterness of the primary and refused to discuss it when reporters asked.
"I'm not going to be defined by a day or two of bad news," Martinez said when asked about the final days of the race, which featured ads from his campaign that labeled McCollum "the new darling of homosexual extremists."
Staff writers Steve Bousquet and Adam C. Smith contributed to this report.