The race is critical because it may determine who controls the Senate, and the right candidate could help Bush win Florida -- and the 2004 election.

Clearly, the best candidate is Mel Martinez, President Bush's former HUD secretary.

Polls show that Martinez, a Reagan conservative, is also the only Republican who can beat the likely Democratic candidate, Betty Castor, in November. Castor is a protege of Janet Reno.

There are other solid Republicans running, but we have been disappointed by some of their efforts to torpedo Martinez and curry favor with the liberal media.

First, conservative Bill McCollum went soft on embryonic stem cell research, coming out in favor of using the cells of aborted fetuses. McCollum has also broken Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment," frequently attacking Martinez.

Now another conservative, Doug Gallagher, well behind in the polls, has made a similar desperate attempt to garner attention in the crowded primary and hurt Martinez.

Gallagher, a multi-millionaire businessman, recently hired the infamous election attorney Mark Herron to launch a baseless attack on Martinez.

Herron served as the Democratic Party of Florida's counsel and is notorious for his work on behalf of Al Gore's presidential campaign during the Florida recount. He authored a five-page memorandum for the Gore campaign that became a 'how-to guide' on disqualifying U.S. military absentee ballots. In yet another puzzling attack on Republicans, the Gallagher campaign hired Herron to file a frivolous election complaint against Martinez.

Martinez, as the Florida co-chairman for the Bush-Cheney 2000 campaign, fought the Gore team to have military ballots counted.

Martinez spokesperson Jennifer Coxe responded: "It was just a matter of time until Doug Gallagher, who has repeatedly attacked President Bush, the Republican Congress and Mel Martinez, hired Al Gore's recount attorney to attack Mel. It was despicable that Al Gore and Mark Herron worked to disqualify the votes of America's brave men and women who were stationed abroad protecting America."

Republican voters will decide on Aug. 31 if they want their Senate candidate working closely with Al Gore's lawyer.

Editor's note: