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John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) Tuesday night victory in Florida propelled him to frontrunner status.
It also solidified Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist as having provided the state’s most powerful endorsements.
“They’re definitely the two heavyweights in the state,” said one Florida Republican operative. “The two as a tag team are incredibly strong.”
In an interview with The Hill Wednesday, Martinez said it is clear that he and Crist were the difference in what looked like a close race between McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
“McCain was either even or behind without a lot of momentum,” Martinez said. “I think the dynamics of the race changed over the weekend.”
Martinez, who acknowledged that he voted for McCain on the first day of early voting, said his biggest impact was two-fold — helping turn out Hispanic voters and helping Crist make his surprise decision to endorse McCain.
Part of McCain’s comfortable margin was due largely to the more than 50 percent of Hispanics who voted his way.
Martinez said both he and Crist felt “some allegiance” to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, but in the end McCain just seemed like the right choice.
“Ultimately, I felt if I got involved, I could make a difference,” Martinez said. “I never dreamed it would be that big of a difference.”
The GOP operative also gave Martinez credit for Crist’s endorsement. “If Martinez had never jumped in, I guarantee you Crist wouldn’t have,” the operative said.
Martinez said Crist’s star was already shining brightly as evidenced by his poll numbers before the McCain victory. It’s even brighter today, given the twin victories of McCain’s primary win and approval by voters of an amendment to the state constitution to cut property taxes, which was supported by Crist.
“He had a double-whammy [Tuesday] night,” Martinez said.
Martinez said both he and Crist recognized that there were risks to getting involved in a race that even hours after the polls closed Tuesday night was too close to call.
“I had a lot of people telling me not to,” Martinez said. “The safest course was not to get involved.”
Former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.), another McCain ally, said Martinez’s move reminded him of when he was called crazy for “sticking my neck out” for Ronald Reagan in 1979.
Lott added that he thinks Martinez’s contribution to McCain’s win is being “underestimated” by the media.
“Mel was a tremendous boost,” Lott said. “This is going to be a plus for him.
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