Florida's senators predictably endorse front-runners

Whatever you might feel about Sens. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.), you have to admit they're savvy politicians. Yesterday, each senator cleverly, even daringly, endorsed his party's front-runner for the presidential nomination.

I'm somewhat surprised by Nelson's endorsement of Hillary Clinton, not for the choice itself but for the timing of the decision. After all, Sen. Nelson told me (and 120 of my "closest friends") personally that he would wait to endorse until he saw "how the candidates treat Florida." Granted, the announcement is set for Tuesday, but according to the article, he's already informed the Clinton campaign of his decision. So much for wait-and-see.

This may well be an indication that Sen. Clinton is poised to break the no-campaigning-in-Florida pledge, since she has the least to lose politically by doing so and given her statement yesterday that she plans to fight to have Florida's delegates seated at the convention. Nelson would end up looking even more foolish than usual if, say, Obama or Edwards "treats" Florida better by coming here. Of course, Nelson naturally would choose the candidate whom I consider the least progressive of those remaining, but I've already told you how I feel about the senator's lack of progressivism.

Meanwhile, Sen. Martinez has hitched his cart to Huggy Bear, which makes sense on many levels. Huggy is leading nationally right now (although recent Florida polls suggest Mitt Romney now has a lead in America's Wang™) and is a friend and colleague of Martinez in the Senate (I imagine Martinez simply knows Huggy better than he knows the others) but, more importantly, both Huggy and Martinez have spent much of the last several years fellating Drunky McStagger, and it's that shared slobbering that really drives this endorsement.

So, as is so often the case in politics, nothing new under the sun ... including the Florida sun.