St. Petersburg, Florida -- Charlie Crist, the popular Governor of Florida, endorsed Senator John McCain here tonight at the Pinellas County Republican Party's Lincoln Day dinner. Crist's endorsement had long been considered a major prize and, in recent days, his aides deliberately left open the possibility of a last-minute endorsement.
Crist called McCain a "true American hero" and a "great friend to Florida" before he offered his formal endorsement. "I have been thinking about it a lot. I don't think anybody would do better than the man who stands next to me right now. I'm happy to endorse John McCain."
Although endorsements typically don't matter much, this one could prove important, for two reasons: Crist has approval ratings near 60 percent and despite high early-voting totals, Republicans here expect that many Floridians will be late-deciders. Crist's endorsement comes one day after Florida Senator Mel Martinez backed McCain. With the latest Florida polls showing McCain in a tight race with Mitt Romney, both campaigns have been doing virtually everything conceivable to gain any advantage. McCain staffers learned of the endorsement only a short time before the dinner. Crist had been scheduled to introduce McCain but the endorsement came as a surprise to most everyone in the room.
About half of the dinner attendees stood and cheered loudly when Crist offered his backing. The others, presumably supporters of candidates other than McCain, applauded politely. McCain staffers exchanged hugs with football style back-claps that showed their exuberance.
No word yet how extensively Crist will campaign with McCain over the next two days.
UPDATE: Crist will accompany McCain to his appearance on "Meet the Press" tomorrow and will share the table with the Arizona senator. Crist will also be taping an ad touting his endorsement of McCain that will air statewide here in Florida. I asked Crist if his decision was influenced by North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, a staunch McCain supporter, a friend from their days playing football at Wake Forest. He said that while they did not speak directly about the endorsement. Crist told me that he decided earlier this week that he would vote for McCain and decided only this afternoon that he would make those intentions public.
UPDATE II: An NBC source says only McCain will appear on the show.
