Sen. Mel Martinez — not on anybody’s short list for VP because of that provision in the U.S. Constitution — says Mitt Romney did thing in withdrawing from the GOP presidential race.

“He is a really great American,” Martinez told Florida reporters at the U.S. Capitol.

“It was really big of him to put his personal interests behind for the sake of John McCain and a unified party,” he added.

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Some politicians just have a knack for being in the picture.

Here’s Gov. Charlie Crist with Sen. John McCain in these pictures provided by the Associated Press in the past few days.

Crist’s proximity to the GOP presidential frontrunner adds to the speculation that Florida’s governor could be a ticket balancer for the Arizona senator.

What do you think?

Mel Martinez has sent an e-mail to his supporters urging them to vote for John McCain tomorrow.

Here’s the text of Martinez’s letter:

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John McCain’s campaign spokeswoman confirms that U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez will appear with McCain in Miami in about an hour to endorse McCain’s GOP presidential bid.

A knowledgeable source said Martinez, who is traveling with McCain today, is likely to make the formal announcement at a 5 p.m. meeting with the Latin Builders Association in Miami.

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Just hours after his legislative partner, Ron Klein, called on all the presidential candidates to specifically say whether they would support the national catastrophe fund bill passed by the House last year, U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney criticized John McCain for opposing the bill and praised Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani for supporting a nat-cat program.

“I am disappointed to read that Sen. McCain is against our legislation, as I am sure he believes it is critical for millions of Americans to be able to have access to affordable homeowner’s insurance,” said Mahoney, a Democrat.

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Maybe it’s all the transplanted New Yorkers. Floridians increasingly favor Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of the Big Apple, above all candidates, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Paired against Democratic frontrunners, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, Giuliani leads each 50 percent to 40 percent. This is the first time Giuliani has reached a double-digit lead over Clinton and Edwards.

Floridians favor Giuliani over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama 52 percent to 36 percent.

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Declaring the Republican Party a “pro-life party,” Tom Gallagher’s gubernatorial campaign argued Friday afternoon that Charlie Crist is trying to take Florida Republicans into a “pro-choice” direction.

Crist, Gallagher’s rival in the GOP primary, has repeatedly said he opposes abortion. But his refusal to support a 24-hour waiting period before a doctor can perform an abortion has been seized by Gallagher’s campaign as proof that Crist is not “pro-life.”

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A new national CNN poll has surprisingly bad numbers for Jeb Bush.

Here’s excerpts from CNN’s report:

With the presidential election more than two years away, a CNN poll released Monday suggests that nearly half of Americans would “definitely not vote for” Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Among the Republicans, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani fared better than the Democrats, and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush fared worse.

Only 30 percent said they would “definitely not vote for” Giuliani; 34 percent said that of McCain.

As for Bush, brother of the current president, 63 percent said there was no way he would get their vote. The younger Bush has denied interest in running for president in 2008.

Read more here.