Martinez (Finally) Endorses McCain

Sen. Mel Martinez will endorse John McCain in Miami today, thereby guaranteeing McCain the lead spot on Florida newscasts and helping, potentially, in Central Florida, where Martinez, then the mayor of Orange County, put together a coalition of conservative white voters and Hispanics of all descent.

A new insider advantage poll has McCain and Romney exactly tied at 23.3%, followed by Rudy Giuliani at 16% and Mike Huckabee at 13%.

Also: McCain recieved the endorsement today of State Rep. Clay Ford of Gulf Breeze, FL.

Comments

Chairman of Orange County, not mayor. The office has since been changed to "Mayor".

Posted by right | January 25, 2008 3:41 PM

Hello, Marc-

Obviously, all endorsements are helpful, and this one particularly so. McCain will do well in the military-heavy panhandle, but doing well in South Florida (where he and Rudy are competing for largely the same voters) and the central part of the state is vital in order to offset one huge advantage Mitt has this time - the primary is closed.

Posted by ElectionNightHQ.com (McCain site) Publisher | January 25, 2008 4:36 PM

The Insider Advantage poll, for some unbeknownst reason, included both Democrats and independents; neither of whom are allowed to vote in Florida's GOP primary.

Here are the results among the 300 registered Republicans surveyed who are likely to vote:

Mitt Romney 29.9%
John McCain 22.6%
Rudy Giuliani 19.0%

Looks like Rudy is well within the margin of error in the race for 2nd place, and more importantly, in a realistic position to be granted a stay of execution Tuesday night.

Posted by argo | January 25, 2008 5:06 PM

Argo-

Over on Race42008.com, we were equally puzzled by why D and I voters were sampled. Go to this link - one of our posters unraveled the mystery:

http://race42008.com/2008/01/25/poll-watch-insider-advantage-fl/

Once there, scroll down to comment #46...

Posted by ElectionNightHQ.com (McCain site) Publisher | January 25, 2008 5:58 PM