This classic Republican smear tactic was nothing like the generally polite Senate campaigns waged in the past by Mack, Graham and Mack's Democratic successor, Sen. Bill Nelson. Before Martinez, the most memorable mud flung in a recent Florida Senate campaign was Mack's comparatively mild slogan in 1988 against Democratic Rep. Buddy MacKay: "Hey, Buddy, you're liberal!"

Making matters worse, Martinez had allowed a leader of one of Washington's most notorious anti-gay groups, the Traditional Values Coalition, to ridicule McCollum in a conference call with reporters. Mack was furious. He sent a letter to Florida Republicans accusing Martinez of engaging in "political hate speech" that would "only hurt our party and doom us in November." Mack did not return phone calls from Salon seeking comment.

Saying in his letter he was "embarrassed for Mel and by Mel," Mack added: "Mel Martinez has forfeited his ability to attract mainstream Democrats and independents in November. Decent people of all political persuasions will reject the ugliness of the Martinez attack."

Martinez was said to be "personally anguished" by the negative campaign tactics, according to MacManus, who said she heard this description of the candidate from GOP activists at the Republican Convention in New York. Martinez did not improve his position when he later pleaded that he "wouldn't be in favor of that kind of rhetoric" -- editorial writers slammed him as either dishonest or not in control of his own campaign.

MacManus added: "I've heard many people say that wasn't Mel. But the damage is done. And now he's got some pretty important Florida Republicans who are not going to forgive or forget."

The day before the Aug. 31 primary, the St. Petersburg Times took what it called the "almost unprecedented step" of withdrawing its endorsement of Martinez for the Republican nomination. "The Times is not willing to be associated with bigotry," its editorial said. The paper's liberal editorial board acknowledged that it agreed with McCollum "on very few issues" but called the 10-term former House member "a better choice for Republicans who care about the soul of their party."

The moral corruption of the gay-bashing stunt was underscored by extensive coverage in the Washington Blade, a gay weekly in the capital, of two top advisors to Martinez who the newspaper says are homosexual. Kirk Fordham, Martinez's finance director, and former Christian Coalition of Florida head John Dowless, have not denied the reports of their sexual orientation. In July, Dowless declined to discuss the matter with the Blade, telling reporter Mubarak Dahir, "I'm just not going to address that with you." But Dahir reported that an unidentified Blade editor had met Dowless at a gay bar in Orlando in April.

Fordham is a former top aide to Florida Rep. Mark Foley, a Republican who had planned to run for Graham's Senate seat until he was forced last year to respond to rumors that he is gay. Foley publicly denounced the talk as having been spread by Democratic opponents, but in a conference call with reporters, he declined to discuss his sexual orientation, saying such matters are private. Foley later dropped out of the race, citing his father's battle with cancer.

John Aravosis and Michael Rogers, gay activists in Washington who have been conducting a controversial "outing" campaign of gays who work for anti-gay members of Congress, have called on Fordham for months to abandon Martinez over his support for a constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage. Fordham has not responded publicly to the challenge, while Foley, ever the loyal foot soldier, threw his support to Martinez, saying the former HUD secretary would fight for the "compassionate conservative agenda of President Bush."

Asked to respond to the charges that Martinez is a hypocrite for running a homosexual-bashing campaign when two of his aides are gay, spokeswoman Jennifer Coxe said only: "We don't comment on staff's private lives."

Martinez won the winner-take-all Florida primary with 45 percent of the vote. McCollum placed second with 31 percent, with the rest of the vote split among six other candidates. "Sleaze Pays Off for Martinez," a Tampa Tribune editorial declared.

After stewing for nearly two weeks, McCollum finally gave his grudging endorsement to Martinez, issuing a brutal statement saying that he remained "deeply disturbed" by tactics that had "appealed to the worst in people." McCollum added: "I just feel what happened at the end of the campaign was wrong." He explained that his endorsement was "for the good of the president and the country." Martinez spokeswoman Coxe called the uproar over the anti-gay advertising a "media creation" and said, "We're very united as a party." She pointed out that McCollum is hosting a fundraising event for Martinez. Yet McCollum declined to amplify the "unity" message by ignoring two requests from Salon for comment.

Martinez's old lawyer friend Morgan said the campaign had the feel of being directed by outsiders. "That type of smear was not something that I would have expected from the Mel Martinez that I know. To me, those are strings that are being pulled far, far away from Florida," Morgan told me by telephone.

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