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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kingturtle (talk | contribs) at 00:05, 8 April 2005 (taken from Terri Schiavo). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

During the Terri Schiavo incident in March 2005, a talking points memo was written by Brian Darling, the legal counsel to Republican Senator Mel Martinez of Florida . The memo suggested the Schiavo case offered “a great political issue” that would appeal to the party's base (core supporters) and could be used against Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida who is up for reelection in 2006, because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill.

Martinez said that he inadvertently gave the memo to Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Thence it became public knowledge.

After the existence of the memo was reported by ABC News and The Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist denounced the memo and asserted that the Republican Party's interest in the case was solely based on moral grounds. Commentators from the Weekly Standard and other publications questioned the authenticity of the memo. , the source of which had not been disclosed by either ABC News or the Washington Post. The Washington Post says that it neither implied that the memo originated from a Republican source nor that it was circulated by Republicans, though it did in fact make these assertions when it published the story by reporters Mike Allen and Manuel Roig-Franzia on its wire service on March 19, 2005. The authorship claim was removed before publication of the print version on March 20, 2005. On April 6, 2005, Darling admitted to writing the memo, and resigned his position as legal counsel to Senator Martinez. Martinez said that he inadvertently gave the memo to Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. Responsibility for its futher distribution remains matter of dispute between Republicans and Democrats.