Billy House and William March/Media General News Service
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TAMPA -- The stretch-run of the Florida Republican primary brought co-front-runners John McCain and Mitt Romney back to the Tampa Bay area Friday, amid news that U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez endorsed one of them.
Republican Martinez's 11th-hour backing of McCain on Friday, four days before Tuesday's primary, comes as latest polls show Romney either moving slightly ahead or to within a narrow margin of the Arizona senator.
Analysts say the endorsement could help McCain blunt Romney's gains, but they also downplayed its ability to create a major swing in GOP-voter sentiment in the winner-take-all race for Florida's 57 delegates.
Martinez, Florida's junior senator, is the state's highest-ranking Cuban-American politician.
“I have total confidence that John McCain will be Fidel Castro's worst nightmare,” said Martinez, in a statement released after his endorsement of McCain at the Latin Builders Association in Miami.
Martinez also said he trusted McCain to reinvigorate the economy, but added that his “unmatched national security credentials and strong consistent conservative record make him the best candidate to defeat the Democrats in November…”
His decision to back Senate colleague McCain was a major setback for Rudy Giuliani, who has been battling the senator for support of voters in the Cuban-American community.
But it also has an impact on Romney, whose campaign acknowledged he also had courted the senator. McCain and Martinez worked together last year on an immigration bill that would have allowed many undocumented immigrants now in the country to gain citizenship. That bill ailed.
Giuliani spokesman Elliott Bundy said Friday the campaign had no comment.
Too Late For Fundraising
Romney, at an appearance at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, said he thought the Martinez endorsement will affect the campaign “in a modest way.”
“You know, I think endorsements are nice things to get, but they don't do a lot for you in terms of actually getting votes,” said Romney.
Romney's Florida campaign chairman, Al Cardenas, noted the endorsement comes too late for Martinez to do any fundraising for McCain before Tuesday's primary.
“It was a good get,” Cardenas acknowledged, saying Romney also had courted Martinez.
The endorsement punctuated a day in which both McCain and Romney held events in the Tampa Bay area.
Mike Huckabee was expected to attend a fundraiser in Tampa on Friday night, said Sen. Daniel Webster, a prominent supporter.
McCain held a roundtable event at the University of Tampa on national security, where he also discussed Iraq and said the troop surge is working.
McCain has been trying to set himself apart from the other GOP presidential candidates by stressing his military experience and support from some former U.S. defense and national security figures.
But as the race increasingly has become more about economic issues, the Arizona senator has morphed his message to blend the two topics.
“I know that we are facing difficult economic times,” said McCain on Friday at the start of the event. He added he believes in cutting taxes, less regulation and cutting government spending. He also said his campaign will be talking about the economy in the closing days of the Florida primary, and later on in his campaign.
But most of the event was focused on national security. “I still believe that the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is that of radical Islamic extremism.”
In Clearwater, Romney continued to tout his economic message and point to his business background as making him better equipped to turn the economy around.
Baxley Apologizes For Bad Call
As Romney made his campaign appearances Friday, some Florida voters were receiving recorded phone calls from former state Rep. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, the incoming state executive director of the Christian Coalition, mentioning he was endorsing the former Massachusetts governor.
News of the calls angered some religious conservatives who back other candidates; the calls also violated the coalition's non-partisan policy. At the coalition board's request, Baxley agreed to stop the calls, said current executive director Bill Stephens.
On a Christian radio talk show Friday afternoon, Baxley was asked about the subject by a caller. He apologized and said he has halted the calls.
“I apologize to any of my Christian Coalition friends who were offended,” he said.
The calls were a hot subject of e-mails among Mike Huckabee supporters Friday. Stephens said he thought the organization had received about 65 complaint calls Thursday and about 30 Friday.
But the biggest news was Martinez's late endorsement.
“It's better to have endorsements than not to have them,” said Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter. “And in a close race, little things like this can make a difference.”
But Cook added: “If I had a choice of Martinez's endorsement or Romney's ability to spend money in the last week, I'd rather have that money.
“It strikes me that Romney's spending has given him a certain amount of momentum in Florida that's sort of tipping the balance in Florida his way,” said Cook.
Romney has declined to say exactly how much money he is spending in Florida with a blitz of TV ads.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 641-5080 or bhouse@mediageneral.com. Reporter William March can be reached at (813)259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com
Republican Martinez's 11th-hour backing of McCain on Friday, four days before Tuesday's primary, comes as latest polls show Romney either moving slightly ahead or to within a narrow margin of the Arizona senator.
Analysts say the endorsement could help McCain blunt Romney's gains, but they also downplayed its ability to create a major swing in GOP-voter sentiment in the winner-take-all race for Florida's 57 delegates.
Martinez, Florida's junior senator, is the state's highest-ranking Cuban-American politician.
“I have total confidence that John McCain will be Fidel Castro's worst nightmare,” said Martinez, in a statement released after his endorsement of McCain at the Latin Builders Association in Miami.
Martinez also said he trusted McCain to reinvigorate the economy, but added that his “unmatched national security credentials and strong consistent conservative record make him the best candidate to defeat the Democrats in November…”
His decision to back Senate colleague McCain was a major setback for Rudy Giuliani, who has been battling the senator for support of voters in the Cuban-American community.
But it also has an impact on Romney, whose campaign acknowledged he also had courted the senator. McCain and Martinez worked together last year on an immigration bill that would have allowed many undocumented immigrants now in the country to gain citizenship. That bill ailed.
Giuliani spokesman Elliott Bundy said Friday the campaign had no comment.
Too Late For Fundraising
Romney, at an appearance at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, said he thought the Martinez endorsement will affect the campaign “in a modest way.”
“You know, I think endorsements are nice things to get, but they don't do a lot for you in terms of actually getting votes,” said Romney.
Romney's Florida campaign chairman, Al Cardenas, noted the endorsement comes too late for Martinez to do any fundraising for McCain before Tuesday's primary.
“It was a good get,” Cardenas acknowledged, saying Romney also had courted Martinez.
The endorsement punctuated a day in which both McCain and Romney held events in the Tampa Bay area.
Mike Huckabee was expected to attend a fundraiser in Tampa on Friday night, said Sen. Daniel Webster, a prominent supporter.
McCain held a roundtable event at the University of Tampa on national security, where he also discussed Iraq and said the troop surge is working.
McCain has been trying to set himself apart from the other GOP presidential candidates by stressing his military experience and support from some former U.S. defense and national security figures.
But as the race increasingly has become more about economic issues, the Arizona senator has morphed his message to blend the two topics.
“I know that we are facing difficult economic times,” said McCain on Friday at the start of the event. He added he believes in cutting taxes, less regulation and cutting government spending. He also said his campaign will be talking about the economy in the closing days of the Florida primary, and later on in his campaign.
But most of the event was focused on national security. “I still believe that the transcendent challenge of the 21st century is that of radical Islamic extremism.”
In Clearwater, Romney continued to tout his economic message and point to his business background as making him better equipped to turn the economy around.
Baxley Apologizes For Bad Call
As Romney made his campaign appearances Friday, some Florida voters were receiving recorded phone calls from former state Rep. Dennis Baxley of Ocala, the incoming state executive director of the Christian Coalition, mentioning he was endorsing the former Massachusetts governor.
News of the calls angered some religious conservatives who back other candidates; the calls also violated the coalition's non-partisan policy. At the coalition board's request, Baxley agreed to stop the calls, said current executive director Bill Stephens.
On a Christian radio talk show Friday afternoon, Baxley was asked about the subject by a caller. He apologized and said he has halted the calls.
“I apologize to any of my Christian Coalition friends who were offended,” he said.
The calls were a hot subject of e-mails among Mike Huckabee supporters Friday. Stephens said he thought the organization had received about 65 complaint calls Thursday and about 30 Friday.
But the biggest news was Martinez's late endorsement.
“It's better to have endorsements than not to have them,” said Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan newsletter. “And in a close race, little things like this can make a difference.”
But Cook added: “If I had a choice of Martinez's endorsement or Romney's ability to spend money in the last week, I'd rather have that money.
“It strikes me that Romney's spending has given him a certain amount of momentum in Florida that's sort of tipping the balance in Florida his way,” said Cook.
Romney has declined to say exactly how much money he is spending in Florida with a blitz of TV ads.
Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 641-5080 or bhouse@mediageneral.com. Reporter William March can be reached at (813)259-7761 or wmarch@tampatrib.com