TIME SELECTS MARTINEZ FOR "MOST INFLUENTIAL HISPANICS" LIST

This week's Time magazine cover focuses on the "25 Most Influential Hispanics in America", and among those is freshman Republican U.S. Senator Mel Martinez.

The feature piece on "The Maverick Senator", as Martinez is referred to, notes that when he was elected last year most considered him but a lapdog for the Bush Administration. Since then, Time notes that Mel has shown some bits of independence, most notably when he supported closing the controversial prison camp at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba and when he suggested that Bush and Company has neglected Latin America.

And Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell makes an interesting note about the senator who was noted in the feature as the nation's most important Hispanic lawmaker:

Still, Martinez's image, as promoted by Time anyway, may not be a role model for anti-tobacco forces. The picture the magazine placed on its cover shows the Cuban immigrant with an almost stereotypical cigar sticking out of his mouth -- something family members say he rarely has.