Between the hurricanes and political conventions you may have missed the opening shot in South Florida's marquee congressional race, the one pitting Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart against former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez. It was a nasty salvo from the Republican incumbent that probably set the tone for the contest.

Diaz-Balart is running a commercial calling into question Martinez's honesty, integrity, judgment, temperament and fitness to serve in Congress. The spot, in English and running only on cable, opens with a subdued Diaz-Balart talking about how proud he is of ''helping others'' during his 16 years in the House. ''For me,'' the congressman says, ``public service means being there for you with integrity and respect.''

Acquitted of some charges

Then the screen and tone turn dark as a woman narrator starts a slash-and-burn attack on Martinez: ''For Lincoln's opponent, Raul Martinez, public office has meant taking care of himself.'' As she speaks we see a montage of old headlines from The Miami Herald about Martinez's three corruption trials back in the 1990s. ''A history of insults and vulgarity,'' the announcer says over more unbecoming shots of Martinez and damning newspaper clips, ``Convicted of bribery and never acquitted.''

In fact, Martinez was acquitted of some of the lesser charges at his third trial, which Diaz-Balart reluctantly conceded to me. ``But look at his financial disclosures. To have become a multi-millionaire on a $60,000 salary? It's uncontroverted that he got a million dollars in cash and lots. Why, because he was good looking?''

Diaz-Balart doesn't just dislike Martinez, he disdains him. Perhaps Martinez'srecord of shadowy real-estate deals while he was Hialeah mayor deserves it. But you sense there's something more in Diaz-Balart's attitude: It's the class-oriented disdain of a well-born Cuban oligarch for a working-class Cuban guajiro who doesn't have the same sophistication, polish and social graces.

A good job as mayor

But if you've ever seen day-to-day politics transacted in Hialeah then you understand that knowing which fork to use on the salad is not muy importante. Martinez excelled in Hialeah's rough-and-tumble politics with his big shoulders, street smarts and a sharp tongue. ''I am,'' he laughingly told me the other day, ``a kind of lively person.''

A likeable one, too. Martinez is physically imposing and can be a bully, but it's also generally conceded that he did a pretty good job as the hands-on mayor of Hialeah, building new parks and affordable housing, among other things. He trained as a public administrator with former Miami-Dade County Manager Merrett Stierheim, and it shows.

''I have never committed a crime in the United States of America,'' Martinez says.

Martinez's trials and the bribery and extortion charges he faced are fair game in this race. So is Diaz-Balart's somewhat sorry record of financial reporting in earlier campaigns. In March 2000, the FEC said it would fine Diaz-Balart $30,000 for a litany of campaign finance reporting violations in the 1997-98 campaign. The FEC also levied a $5,500 fine for still more violations in 2000.

Campaign-fund questions

''Yes, the accountant for our campaign got sick and died of cancer,'' Diaz-Balart says, ''and (long-time aide) Ana Carbonnell was doing that work in her off hours and shouldn't have. She's not an accountant. But every cent was reconciled.'' Martinez alleges that $114,00 in Diaz-Balart campaign funds remain unaccounted for.

All this back-and-forth is amusing, but how long will the people of the 21st Congressional District put up with it? Many are facing foreclosure and want to hear what their congressman will do to help. They worry about rising prices at the supermarket and gas pump, not to mention sky-high insurance premiums and property taxes. Others worry about Everglades restoration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When will the candidates discuss those things?

You can be sure they'll discuss Cuba because 70 percent of district's residents are Hispanic, mainly Cuban. Martinez charges that Cuba is all Diaz-Balart ever talks about, which is not true.

Debates are coming

The incumbent's major achievement, however, may be his big role in codifying U.S. policy on Cuba in the Helms-Burton bill. For the last eight years Diaz-Balart has had the president's ear on Cuba, and Bush has listened; the price is a voting record that shows almost total support for anything Bush has proposed. Martinez calls Diaz-Balart a rubber stamp for Bush and would lift restrictions on travel and remittances for Cuban exiles, but not the embargo.

Will the two men ever debate these issues face-to-face? Diaz-Balart is prissy about whom he debates, but has agreed to face Martinez before the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce on Oct. 8 and the Latin Builders Association on Oct. 31. I'll co-moderate the latter with The Miami Herald's Myriam Marquez and the chamber debate solo, along with a televised debate on Channel 10, day and time to be determined.

Let's get ready to rumble.

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