Both MSNBC and the Orlando Sentinel are reporting that an endorsement is imminent:
U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez will endorse Republican presidential candidate John McCain later today, according to a person close to McCain’s campaign.
Martinez will announce the endorsement at an event in Miami, the person said. A second source close to the campaign confirmed the news
A former Orange County mayor, Martinez is popular with Cuban-American voters who are a crucial voting bloc in Florida GOP elections.
This has to be viewed as a big blow to Rudy’s campaign in Florida. Marc Ambinder reported a week ago that Martinez had plans to endorse McCain, but by the following day (January 19th), the Giuliani campaign lobbied Sen. Martinez hard enough to the point where he decided to hold off on the endorsement:
Under pressure from fundraisers and friends, Sen. Mel Martinez has decided not to endorse presidential candidate John McCain, who was planning to campaign Monday in Miami with the popular Florida Republican to help win crucial votes in South Florida’s Hispanic community.
A big factor in Martinez’s decision: He feels badly for McCain’s opponent, Rudy Giuliani. After all, the former New York mayor was a Martinez supporter, and thought he had a shot at Martinez’s support.
McCain supporters had been told by the campaign Thursday and Friday that Martinez was coming to stump with the Arizona senator. But, they said, Giuliani fundraisers and supporters — who played a key role in Martinez’s narrow 2004 Senate win — swayed Martinez to stay out. A Martinez spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday.
What changed? I’m sure we’ll hear more or the next few hours and days, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see that Martinez saw the poll numbers and saw that McCain and Romney are locked in an intense battle for first place and that Rudy has fallen significantly over the past week. Martinez is viewed as a demi-god of sorts among Cubans in Florida and it wouldn’t surprise me if McCain picked up a significant portion of their support now. It may be just enough to put McCain over the top in the Florida primary on Tuesday.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Oh, this is good!!!
January 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
There decrease Rudy’s chance of winning Florida!
January 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
good for him.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Rudy’s clearly in a tailspin.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Is Martinez popular among non-Cuban Republican Floridians?
January 25th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
rudy will be lucky to come in third
January 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
#5. Not really. A lot of us feel he’s a RINO like McCain.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Cubans are mostly democratic and independent. I have ready that actual number of republican cubans is tiny.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
You read wrong, Greg. Way wrong. Maybe younger Cubans, but the older ones are hardline.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I remember this now:
http://www.stopmartinez.com/
January 25th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
http://michellemalkin.com/2006/11/13/mel-martinez-rnc-chairsigh/
http://www.recallmel.com/
so its not a big surprise who he would support
January 25th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Despite trying to spin this into irrelevancy, this is a big time endorsment especially since as recently as a few days ago Martinez said he wouldn’t endorse anyone.
Anybody know what Charlie Crist is up to?
January 25th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
LJ-
This is particularly good news. The post above accurately notes that the McCain campaign had been hoping to get the endorsement earlier this week. McCain needs a very significant number of votes in South Florida, in addition to his strength in the panhandle, for victory…
January 25th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Crist is too much of a politican to endorse right now. He will wait until we have the actual GOP nominee.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
after such enthusiasm, i must say as a die hard rudy supporter….this has been the biggest let down of all time.
this pretty much seals rudy’s fate. how pathetic. what does it say about him that he is now fighting for third place in a state he had all to himself??
i am really torn now between mcain and romney….who do i support?
January 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
#11 – I think he’ll hold off. That guy’s got a lot of ambition, and I don’t think he wants to get on any potential Presidential candidate’s bad side.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
From Yesterday:
Mitt Romney courts neutral Jeb Bush
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/8091.html
Maybe if Crist and Martinez endorse McCain, Bush will fill compelled to endorse Romney. Does Jeb like McCain? I am sure he didn’t in 2000.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
http://michellemalkin.com/
This has to hurt McCain and it might be what guarantees Romney winning CA.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
#14 davew-
I don’t think it’s over for Rudy at all. (Obviously, I would hope that you ultimately decide to support McCain.) He could very well win the primary, w/ or w/o the backing of Martinez. Endorsements are valuable primarily for free-media and the impression of momentum…
January 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
15,
Yeah, but let’s say a Crist endorsement puts someone like McCain over the top then that would certainly be beneficial to Crist’s career.
Also, new Ras poll out for Alabama:
McCain 27%
Huckabee 27%
Romney 15%
Giuliani 8%
Paul 3%
Undecided 20%
January 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/01/25/dr-juan-hernandez-has-joined-the-mccain-campaign/
Watch the video and see how crazy left this guy is. McCain is going to have this guy promoting him as a conservative? Illegal Immigration is my biggest issue, and this is one of the biggest open borders people out there. How can McCain claim he’s closed borders and strong on illegal immigration when it’s a flat out lie.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Another dynamic: Florida Cubans hate illegal immigration, which is largely Mexican. Cubans and Mexicans aren’t the best friends at the BBQ.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
This should really shore up McCain’s border security credentials.
McCain Florida dropped from 45 to 32% at Intrade since this was announced.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Sen. Martinez might be the least popular Senator in the country. At one point last year he had an approval rating of 23%.
Sen. McCain can have him. I’m hoping Bill McCollum has a rematch with him.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I live in Florida and Martinez isn’t nearly that unpopular. I believe he is in the high forties right now with mid forties disapproval. About what you would expect for an average senator from a divided state.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Ugh! Come on, Jesus f’ing Christ!
It’s just hit after hit for Rudy. If he wins, it’ll be the ultimate comeback.
But right now we have a depressing match: a moderate that will forever shift the GOP away from conservatism versus an utter charlatan. Ugh.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
“Ugh! Come on, J___ f’ing C____!
if you are going to curse, use your own name.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
His approval ratings are lower than Bill Nelson’s. That ought to tell you something.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
TLG……..
I must say……
Please, saying it to yourself is one thing……
But many of us here do not appreciate you using the Lord’s name in such a way……
Please quite it…..
You don’t have to type that way to get your point across……
Just be annoying….like me…
But don’t be offensive……..
January 25th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
#8 – gREG: You are dead wrong about Cubans. Cubans care about Cuba and castro alone and until the dude is dead and Cuba becomes democratic, they all vote REPUBLICAN.
regarding martinez’ endorsement of McCain: THAT SUCKS.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Really? So then why’s he so unpopular amongst Hispanics?
January 25th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
KEVIN #21….Latinos stick together. All the talk about one group against another is pure fairytale. If you live in Miami (So. Florida for that matter) and you dont speak spanish GOOD LUCK trying to find a job. It’s a completely corrupt conspiracy. Millions of English only speaking Americans can not find work here.. and its ONLY because hispanics PREFER to do business (and everything else) in spanish.
I LIVE IN MIAMI, AND I KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Just a reminder, Sen. Martinez is the guy who attacked Giuliani and Gov. Romney on immigration when he was chairman of the RNC. Worthless identity politics were the only reasons his sorry butt was put there in the first place.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Joe…my wife, and her whole family is Cuban. You’re so wrong about this. There is great hostility between the two groups.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
THose of you that have the know how to do so need to make sure this Dr. Juan Hernandez things makes national news, or somehow otherwise reaches the Floridian voters before Tuesday. This should hurt McCain big time.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Believe me, the endorsement of McCain by Amnesty Mel is the kiss of death here on the Florida Gulf Coast.
I live over here – and I know!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I hope you’re right Marybeth.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I know I’m right, Illinois guy. The anger against this man is extraordinarily palpable anytime his name comes up on local talk radio and among those I know. I have lived in this area 40 years, so I’m pretty confident of the political wind here.
Mel is dead meat in SW Florida come 2010.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
This according to Politico:
“Even Hispanic voters disapproved of the performance of Martinez, a Cuban-American, by a 2-1 ratio. Towery speculated that the Hispanic population in Florida, mainly comprising Puerto Rican and Cuban immigrants, “are thoroughly indigenous American demographic groups†and were “as threatened†by illegal immigration as the overall population.”
Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4738_Page2.html
January 25th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
The New York Times’s candidate now is endorsed by an open border Rino, that’s a very nice strategy to win the votes of the republican base.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Why are we getting so excited and burning off so much rhetoric over a rumor?
January 25th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
#40: Because you touch yourself at night.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Kevin #33…maybe so, but you still can’t get a job in south Florida if you don’t speak Spanish – - and THAT is an outrage (plus, a conspiracy).
January 25th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
#42
I’m employed, as is my whole family. Really, the Spanish stuff is a Miami/Dade problem.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Sen. Mel Martinez’s vote for undocumented immigrants
Sen. Mel Martinez once again has chosen to support illegal amnesty. His voting record in supporting illegal immigrants continues to be very clear. via South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.alipac.us/article1849.html
Just great – look at what we have to deal with!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Good luck in your next election Senator… You just lost some serious suppport…
January 25th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
#43 Thomas Alan – - last time I checked, Miami-Dade is still part of the soveriegn United States.
January 25th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
#42 Not necessarily true. My husband’s Canadian (living here as a legal US resident, btw), doesn’t speak Spanish, and has been a successful salesperson whose territory included South Florida (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach counties). The guy who recently replaced my husband when he was promoted doesn’t speak Spanish. And they both work for a very successful international consulting company.
My brother-in-law is a VERY successful salesperson in the roofing industry – his territory also includes Soth Florida – and doesn’t speak a word of Spanish.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Between this endorsement, and the one by the New York Times, McCain’s poll numbers will drop like a rock between now and Tuesday! Now, if Hillary endorses him…..perfect!
January 25th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Wow, this endorsement along with the New York Times endorsement will really help mccain with conservatives.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
i also wouldn’t be suprised if crist endorses mccain not rudy. that would kill rudy’s chances i think, if this didn’t already. every little thing counts at this point.
January 25th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
#47
Yeah, I’m just saying it’s not all of S. Florida
January 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Joe, being against ILLEGAL immigrants are not the same as being against LEGALLY immigrants. The majority of those Cubans are here legally, whereas Mexicans are not! There is a difference.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
what happened to rudy ?? it is embarassing. it should not even be close here, let alone rudy being in serious danger of finishing fourth. what an epic, embarassing colapse, if it doesnt somehow turnaround
January 25th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
53, also, Cubans tend to be some of the most educated, industrious, and wealthy immigrants we have here in the U.S. Assimilation is not a problem.
January 25th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
On #51 – I don’t think Crist will endorse McCain because 1) nat cat fund and 2) he’s ambitious and doesn’t want to alienate anyone.