UPDATE at 1 pm: Martinez will hold a 3pm newser and then Crist is expected to name former Secretary of State Jim Smith as the an interim replacement before the summer recess ends. Leading candidates so far include former Secretary of State Jim Smith, former Tampa Mayor and FLA Gov. Bob Martinez, former US Sen. Connie Mack and former Speaker Allen Bense.

After months and months of flat-out denying he would quit his Senate post before his term was up (ever since he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2010), Mel Martinez today made a liar out of himself and announced he will step down now.

That leaves the appointment in Gov. Charlie Crist’s hands. Now, before everyone in the Democratic Party grassroots starts freaking out (too late, judging by my Facebook and Twitter account traffic), yes, Charlie can appoint himself but, no, he won’t. It would be political suicide to do that.

In 2005, CL’s then- Sarasota reporter Allyson Gonzalez gave Martinez a freshman report card. He didn’t do too well:

The 109th Congress is now in session and first-term Senator Mel Martinez is three months into his stay in Washington, D.C. For a progress report on the senator’s early legislative performance, we compared some of his recent votes with that of his original campaign promises, as outlined both in interviews and on his campaign website, www.melforsenate.org.

So far, it’s clear that our junior senator has some serious homework to do. Were this a school report card, we’d have to issue a note home saying that – although he may be a joy in class – Mel Martinez needs some serious help with his grades.

IMPROVING HEALTH CARE: F

Medicaid cuts: Martinez supported.

You won’t read about this on his current website, http://martinez.senate.gov. Martinez failed to join the seven other Republicans who rejected the majority Republican platform swiping $14 billion from Medicaid over the next five years. While some form of Medicaid reform is needed to ensure the viability of the program and the health of its recipients, the proposed cuts were blunt and short-sighted and in reality would have hit children the hardest. Ultimately, most of the Senate realized that fact with their 52-48 vote; too bad Martinez supported the hack job.

Veterans’ medical care: Martinez supported.

With veterans’ needs dramatically rising, the $410 million voted on by the Senate and Martinez functioned merely as a symbolic action. Why talk big about veteran support and then participate in a 47-53 vote to turn down a $2.8-billion veteran assistance bill that could have staved off future long-term costs? Was the $410 million intended as some middle ground?

PROTECTING NATURAL RESOURCES: F

Oil drilling in Alaska: Martinez supported.

After accepting some $123,000 from 35 different oil and gas groups like Halliburton and the Independent Petroleum Association of America during the 2004 election – making him the senator to receive the fifth-greatest amount of contributions from the industry – Martinez voted to open up drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The vote can best be described as a Faustian bargain that failed, as Martinez hoped that drilling for Alaskan oil reserves would spare offshore drilling in Florida, at least for a while. But the deal he struck may have made things worse for Florida, by possibly permitting oil companies to drill in areas more than 100 miles offshore – something that wasn’t previously allowed.

As Martinez explained in a March 16 statement following the 51-49 Senate vote, he made his ANWR decision with assurances that the existing moratorium of offshore drilling on Florida’s Gulf Coast would be extended to 2012. Interior Secretary Gale Norton wrote to Martinez that no new drilling leases have been made within 100 miles of Florida coastline and that “we will continue this policy.”

What Martinez did not apparently know is that the existing leasing bans already extended to 2012, and covered a full 200 miles offshore, not the 100-mile confirmation Martinez had received.

Senator Bill Nelson is now playing cleanup by trying to hold up President Bush’s nominee for the deputy Interior secretary in the hopes of securing a clear promise that the eastern Gulf of Mexico remains drilling-free.

Read the rest of Gonzalez’s story and Martinez’s report card.

Brian Blair: the political action figure, fighting for the rights of parents everywhere

You knew this was coming: Brian Blair has started his comeback bid after being cleared of child-abuse charges in a fight with his sons, even as he also fights elections law charges in connection with checks he accepted during his failed 2008 campaign.

Blair, in an exclusive sit-down with News Channel 8 set to air tonight at 11, said:

As he reflected on the incident, Blair found two problems. First, parents must be able to physically discipline their children without fear of arrest. Second, elected leaders should adopt a curfew.

“Parents are afraid to discipline their children, afraid someone will pick up the phone,” and call police, Blair said.

So let’s get this straight: Blair’s new political profile will include pushing for a law allowing parents to hit their kids and pushing for something that has already been ruled unconstitutional, the government curfew.

News Channel 8 is touting this interview with Gayle Sierens. Let’s hope Gayle explored this whacky scenario a bit more:

Here’s how the night started, according to Blair:

He had been at a charity event and ended the evening with some friends at a Beef ‘O’ Brady’s having chicken wings and beer. “Nothing excessive,” he said.

Blair woke hungry about 3:30 a.m. and decided to cook salmon. He heard a commotion near the front door and found his two sons, Brett, 17, and Bradley, 14, along with two of their teenage friends.
“Needless to say, I was upset,” Blair said.

OK, non-excessive beer drinking, salmon at 3:30 am. Anyone out there believe that version??

From the Orlando Sentinel:

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp filed paperwork today to run for attorney general in 2010, even as an ethics complaint over his use of state planes remains unresolved.

Kottkamp, a trial attorney who has served as Florida’s second-in-command since January 2007, told reporters that the attorney general job is the “culmination of a lot of the experiences I’ve had in my life, it’s something that I feel passionate about.”

he Florida Supreme Court has just approved the latest financial impact statement from Hometown Democracy petitioners, after rejecting their previous two submissions.

The high court has already approved the HD ballot question for the 2010 statewide ballot; the proposal would require voters to approve local land use plans. But without a valid financial impact statement, the question would have appeared with a notation indicating that no such information was available, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

The court rejected HD’s prior two impact statements on grounds that they were misleading and/or vague. The new one, according to a court opinion released today, is “clear, unambiguous, consists of no more than seventy-five words, and is limited to address the estimated increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to the state or local governments,” and therefore passes legal muster.

By Chris Ingram
PoHo contributor

An Open Letter to Sen. Saxby Chambliss:

Dear Senator:

We have known each other for many years, and I have always admired your conservative values and principles.

However, due to your recent endorsement of Charlie Crist in the open Florida U.S. Senate seat, which is a contested race among more than one Republican (including Marco Rubio), I now doubt your sincerity for honest and fair elections, not to mention good leadership and responsible government.

While perhaps you may have been too preoccupied finding ways to get yourself re-elected and weren’t paying attention when Charlie Crist fully embraced President Obama’s reckless and fiscally unsound “stimulus” plan, Floridians were watching.

And while Obama and the Democrats’ plan stinks, I must admit you and your fellow Republicans in Congress did a terrible job controlling spending during eight years of Bush Junior. I have previously referred to Congress’ spending ways as the PIMP (Plan for Incumbent Member Protection), as most congressional spending bills are basically nothing more than pork bills designed so members of Congress (and governors like Chuckles who embrace them) can get re-elected. In any event Chuckie went down to Ft. Myers, Florida earlier this year and PIMPed with Obama where they hugged and kissed Obama and America’s children got screwed. For that reason alone, I question your judgment and commitment to conservative values for having recently endorsed such a fraud of a candidate in Charlie Crist.

Additionally, you may not be aware of the fact that Too-Tan Charlie has nearly single-handedly wrecked free-market economics with what he has done with the state of homeowners insurance in this state. Florida you see is a peninsula surrounded by warm waters and is frequently hit with hurricanes (which are basically large masses of rapidly spinning air that destroy most things in their paths). Most experts (those are people who know more than you or say, Charlie Crist) say if Florida experiences a strong storm that hits a major metropolitan area, the economic damages will bankrupt the state because of Charlie’s policies and reliance on underfunded “Citizens Property Insurance.”

Furthermore, our state’s economy and local governments are in shambles due in part because of Charlie’s support of a constitutional amendment called Amendment 1. This change to our state’s constitution (that’s the governing document of the state — the U.S. has one, too, and you should read it) has long-term negative economic consequences, which Charlie probably is too dumb (I’m told he failed the State Bar twice) to even be aware of. But his pal Jim Greer knows how to read a poll – and not just the kind of pole found in strip clubs, but that’s a different matter you wouldn’t be aware being from Georgia and all. So anyhow, I reckon ol’ Jimbo has been telling Charlie Boy he shouldn’t want to be governor much longer because he’s really screwed things up and probably doesn’t know how to deal with the consequences when they come to light.

In short, back-slappin’ Charlie has been a terrible governor and would make an even worse U.S. senator — although at least in the Senate he would only be one of 100 and arguably would do far greater damage than as governor. Trouble is, most of the rest of you in Congress don’t show much spine or leadership either, so collectively he would be a bad addition to an already pathetic body.

In closing, Senator, let me remind you that last year in your general election run-off I made a donation of $250 to your campaign (I also raised several thousand dollars on your behalf from friends in the Tampa Bay area). I regret it now. In fact, I hereby request you return my contribution. I will then forward the money to the Marco Rubio campaign, as I believe Mr. Rubio represents the type of leadership, backbone, and conviction our country and my state so desperately need in these challenging times.

My address is on file with your campaign. Send the check there.

Sincerely disappointed in you and 99 percent of the rest of the G.O.P. “leadership,”

Chris Ingram

P.S. If you’re having trouble reading between the lines, my message is this: Butt out! You and your ilk have created the mess we’re in and we don’t need you telling us we need more like you to solve the problems you got us in.

Chris Ingram is president and founder of 411 Communications a corporate and political communications firm, and publisher of Irreverent View. Ingram is a frequent pundit on Fox News and CNN, and has written opinion columns for the Washington Times, UPI, Front Page Florida, and National Review online. E-mail him at: Chris@411Communications.net.

His candidacy has been called “quixotic” as he flies into the face of a Republican challenger who likely will be Charlie Crist, but Kendrick Meek is strongly confident in his ability to force Floridians to examine the real record of their favorite, white-haired governor.

Meek is a rising star in the Democratic Party, finding himself with a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after just four terms in office. Helps to have a progressive voting record and agenda. It probably also doesn’t hurt when your mom served on the House Appropriations Committee with (now Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, as Congresswoman Carrie Meek did.

He’s largely untested (he won his seat in Congress unopposed after his mother retired so close to the qualifying deadline that nobody could mount a real challenge to her son) but he’s shown great energy and won a good deal of the hearts and minds in the Florida Democratic Party, so much so that a few major challengers have stepped aside rather than force an expensive primary race with him.

Meek was in Tampa today and stopped by the Creative Loafing offices. We talked about how to pay for health care reform, whether the stimulus is working, his role in forcing smaller class sizes in public schools and his famous 2000 showdown with then-Gov. Jeb Bush over the dismantling of affirmative action in the state, which resulted in a 26-hour sit-in at the lobby of the Governor’s Office after Bush refused to meet with him and another lawmaker.

He also had this to say when I asked him why he is so confident he can beat Crist:

Meek: Well, first of all, I am running for the people of the state of Florida, and the governor happens to be a candidate in the race. That’s the way I look at it. It’s hard for me to have you see what I see, throughout the state of Florida, I see a very strong will and the desire of the people of the state of Florida to better their community and their state. I offer myself as a member of the House of Representatives from a safe district where I can be a member of Congress for a very, very long time. My grandchildren could see me be a member of Congress, because I work hard on behalf of not only my district but also the state of Florida.

When the election day rolls around, titles will not be on the ballot, only the name and the track record. This is a very historic campaign, because there hasn’t been a statewide elected official that has qualified by petition, that’s 112, 476 signatures. It’s important that we qualify that way so we can hear the stories of Florida. Just because I’ve been … in public service 15 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean I understand all of the issues and know what’s going on in the homes of every Floridian. But I can tell you in the 57 counties of the 67 counties that have turned in petitions to help place my name on the ballot, it is already made me a better candidate and eventually will make me a better senator. That experience will allow us to rise up from the primary experience into a general election, and as we start to look at the issues that are facing Florida, as we start to look at who will be in the majority and who will be in the minority in Washington, D.C., I think one of the bigger questions for this entire Senate race will be: Governor, you’re the most powerful elected official in the state of Florida, politically. You could sign a piece of paper and change the outlook for Floridians. You’re relinquishing that and that position in the majority in Tallahassee, [where] you have the House and the Senate supermajorities that are there, you could help us. But you have opted to run for the US Senate, going to a legislative mode from an executive mode to then serve in the minority in the US Senate, and you’re saying that you’re doing all of this for us. And in many minds of Floridians, I believe, that goes against good common sense and logic, if you’re doing it for the people. So there has to be something a little different there, and he’s going to have to explain that, more than I have to explain why I am running for the US Senate as a member of the House of Representatives. My intentions are pure.

My track record has been one of helping people, helping small business, and and being a fighter on behalf of the poeple that I represent. And I want to represent all of Florida, and that’s the reason that I got into this race first. That’s the reason I am qualifying by petition. And that’s the reason we will continue to build this grass-roots campaign throughout the state. And when I’m elected, God willing, I want to be one of the best senators Florida has ever seen as it relates to constituent service, as it relates to giving a strong voice for Florida and in the US Senate, and I’m very excited about the response that we’ve seen thus far.

We’re a year and a half before the election, and there’s a lot of ground to cover.

To listen to the entire podcast, Download here.

A curious piece of political literature has been hitting South Tampa homes over the past few days as a handful of County Commissioner Ken Hagan’s supporters do what is called a “lit drop” of campaign literature.

Only it is not really campaign literature, or at least, it doesn’t carry the necessary campaign disclosures that a campaign advertisement would carry. Nor is it a county government piece, as it points out that it was “Not produced at taxpayer’s expense.”

That left some Democrats e-mailing me furiously about how this was akin to the stealth campaign that Buddy Johnson ran with federal dollars in 2008, the one being probed by the Feds and the St. Pete TImes’ Jeff Testerman. And it caught the attention of at least one Democrat who has been thinking about running against the Republican Hagan in 2010.

“It was on my doorknob,” said Mary Mulhern, a Tampa City Council member who is considering the Hagan race, or the mayor’s race in 2011, or re-election to her own seat on the Council.

And getting Mulhern’s attention — or at least the attention of South Tampa Democrats who have been talking up a challenge to the north Tampa commissioner — may have been Hagan’s ulterior motive.

“Oh, I never thought of that, i just thought it was a non-campaign campaign piece,” said Mulhern. “I was curious that the north hillsborough county commissioner was actually checking in with constituents who are not his constituents in South Tampa. I don’t think it’s intimidation; he’s got to get some name recognition down here.”

I couldn’t reach Hagan late Friday after getting the non-campaign piece. But it is an old campaign trick and an advantage of incumbency; under the cover of a “constituent survey” you get your name out in neighborhoods that frankly may not know you exist. Hagan’s current district covers New Tampa and other northern parts of Hillsborough County, nowhere near South Tampa. In 2010, however, he wants to jump to a countywide seat to beat term limits in his existing seat.

Since Hagan apparently used personal funds, nobody is saying what he is doing is illegal.

“I doubt that he would have done it if it isn’t legal,” Mulhern said. “If it is a campaign piece you have to say who paid for it. I think it is iffy, but I haven’t looked into whether it would be legal or not. It certainly does have that look of what Buddy Johnson was doing. I think he’s got some vulnerability if he thinks he’s got to start sending out campaign literature so soon.”

By Dan Sullivan
PoHo contributor

Just when you thought the race to replace outgoing Sen. Mel Martinez couldn’t get any more complicated, a man named Bob Smith threw another wrench into the system last week.

Upon hearing about Smith’s entrance into the race, my immediate reaction was, “Who the heck is this Bob Smith? And what does he think he’s doing poking his nose into one of the most pivotal political battles within the Republican Party for the 2010 election season?”

Of course, Smith isn’t just any candidate. He was a U.S. Senator from 1990-2003, representing the state of New Hampshire. He also ran in the Republican presidential primary in 2000 against the likes of Pat Buchanan and some guy named George W. Bush.

Still, I’d never heard of him.

A few Google searches later, I found I was more familiar with Bob Smith than I realized. Flash back to campaign ‘96. Bob Dole was the man. And Bill Clinton was still brewing a big surprise for the country behind the White House curtains with the help of a young intern.

At that time, I was just a young lad who knew much less about politics and had much less interest in such matters than I do today. I was living in what is affectionately known as the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, which is in close proximity to New Hampshire, where Smith was seeking re-election. Because of said closeness, the local airwaves were saturated with advertisements both attacking and promoting Smith as well as his Democratic challenger for the U.S. Senate – Congressman Dick Swett, a man with one of the most unfortunate names in all of politics. Why he didn’t go by “Richard” is beyond me. I vaguely recall the slogan – which was frequently repeated with much enthusiasm by my schoolmates at the time – “America doesn’t need any more Dick Swett.”

You can say that again.

It still astounds me that a man with a name as memorable as Dick Swett could end up losing an election to a guy with a name as forgettable and anonymous-sounding as Bob Smith. But it did happen, albeit by a slim margin.

I wondered, could something similar happen in Florida? What was Smith doing in Florida in the first place?

In order to get some answers to these and other questions, I decided to give Smith a call at his home in Sarasota.

I started with the obvious: why are you running for U.S. Senate? His wordy answer boiled down to his lengthy prior experience – a qualification that he says puts him above his two main Republican contenders, Gov. Charlie Crist and former State House Speaker Marco Rubio.

“I think without a doubt, I’m the best qualified,” he told me. “The governor has not had that kind of experience. Nor has the former speaker of the House. I think I bring the best qualifications and I have a record on the issues for 18 years. I’m just asking the voters to take a look at that record and see if they would consider me to serve here as well.”

He noted Crist’s shift to the middle as a major source of frustration for him, making comparisons to Arlen Specter’s recent team-change and especially chiding Crist for his support of President Obama’s stimulus plan. He repeated a lot of the same rhetoric that many of my conservative friends have been saying since the ‘08 election – that the party needs to return to its conservative principles.

“There’s nothing wrong with the platform of the party,” he said. “It’s the people that are leading it left, like Charlie Crist and others, that are going to cause the collapse of the party.”

Sounds pretty good to this Republican. My biggest beef with Smith, however, came about as our discussion turned to his personal political history.

When Smith ran for president in 2000, he first entered the Republican primary, before dropping out to run as an independent. However, realizing the difficulty this would pose if he wanted to continue his work with Senate Republicans, he withdrew from the presidential race altogether, announced his return to the Republican Party and endorsed Bush for president.

“I knew I was going to risk my political career, but I (left the party) because I was trying to make the point that you’ve got to listen to conservatives,” he said. “I wanted to try to shake up the party people. Not the party itself. The Republican Party platform is what it is. It’s a set of principles and guidelines, which I strongly support. But leadership, some of those party officials, the party bureaucrat types, as well as some of the elected officials, I felt were walking away from those conservative values. And I knew that if they did and they continued to do it, that eventually they were going to take a drubbing in the polls. And eventually they did, as we saw in 2006 and 2008.”

You can’t say he’s not a man without principles. But still, a red flag went up when I learned that Smith had endorsed John Kerry in 2004. When I asked him about it, he dubbed it a “political mistake” that he made out of anger for Bush’s refusal to support him in his 2002 reelection campaign against former Bush Chief of Staff John Sununu, who later defeated Smith.

Smith’s re-election loss ultimately was what led him to retire to Florida, a place where he had vacationed in the past. Now a seven-year resident of Sarasota, he says he doesn’t want to stand by watching what he says is the country’s slow drift toward socialism. If elected, he says he would be the first Senator, in modern history at least, to have been elected from two different states.

But he’s got a long way to go if he plans to distinguish himself from the young and dynamic Marco Rubio, whose articulation of the same conservative message seems to resonate with more Republicans from a wider array of demographics. Not to mention, he would have to overcome the inexplicable monstrosity that is Charlie Crist’s popularity.

But still, stranger things have happened in politics. Just ask Dick Swett.

State Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach made it official Monday, announcing he will run for attorney general and bringing the party one step closer to a three-way Democratic primary.

State Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres announced for the office last week, and former state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua is expected to announce soon.

While I appreciate the Gator sentiment in this House floor appearance by Jacksonville Congresswoman Corrine Brown, word that she is mulling a U.S. Senate bid makes me think that perhaps we might want a Senator who could actually read a simple congratulatory message.

Watch this video in horror, after the jump.