Martinez to soon depart from his RNC post?

Bob Novak says yes in his column today:

SEN. Mel Martinez of Florida, named general chairman of the Republican Party only nine months ago, has advised associates that he will leave the post as soon as somebody clinches the party's presidential nomination.

When Martinez took the party post Jan. 19, it was expected he would stay on through the 2008 elections as the GOP's principal national spokesman. Many Republicans now grumble that Martinez has been ineffective in that role.

While it is not unusual, at least since the Goldwater nomination in 1964, for the party nominee to install his own RNC chairman, there are hints that Martinez has volunteered to leave in order to avoid being shown the door. As Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times wrote on September 11th:

Martinez was tapped less than a year ago to head the RNC, but his name rarely shows up on e-mails and mailings from the RNC, and questions are mounting among both Republicans and Democrats about his effectiveness as chairman.

Just last month Martinez attacked the two top Republican presidential candidates, Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, for opposing and mischaracterizing the Senate bill. But even on that, he stands at odds with his own party. Just two weeks earlier, the RNC had voted to embrace an enforcement-first strategy toward handling illegal immigration -- a policy much closer to Giuliani and Romney than it is to the president.

And if some e-mailers are to be beleived, Martinez is hurting the RNC right in the pocketbook:

I received a call from the RNC the other evening asking for a contribution. I told the woman that I will give no money to the RNC until Mel Martinez is gone. I am a Conservative Republican from Florida and, unfortunately, voted for Mel last time, but never again! We will work to defeat him in Florida!!! With a friend like him, who needs enemies?

GOP Fundraising Still Down

Via (subscription-only) Congressional Quarterly:

Using data for Aug. 31 in the election cycle’s off-year as a snapshot, the figures show that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) reported $20.5 million more in cash on hand than the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which reported only $1.59 million in the bank. ...

On the Senate side, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) had $4 million more on hand than the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). The DSCC had raised $36 million, while the NRSC took in $20.5 million.

A look back shows how sharply the Republican fortunes have declined. On the identical date in 2005, the NRCC had $624,000 more on hand than the DCCC, while on the Senate side Republicans had a $950,000 advantage.