Well, it didn't take much to see this coming: Senator Mel Martinez is getting ready to leave the Senate early, and you can bet Empty Chair Charlie Crist will once again, well, leave a chair empty to make a play for that seat, almost immediately if not fairly soon. And I'm not just patting myself on the back because I predicted as much.
From David M. Drucker's piece in Roll Call:
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<div style="margin-left: 40px;">In what could be a Sunshine State one-two punch, multiple Republican sources are confirming that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) is giving serious consideration to running for Senate — and that Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) is contemplating resigning from his seat before his term is up next year. </span>
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I would say David has the attention of just about every Floridian who follows politics even a little bit.
Now, Crist may have to battle former House Speaker Marco Rubio in a primary, but there's been some polling lately that could only be read as bad news for Marco. This only bolsters the further bad news he got a few weeks ago with the smack-down from Big John Cornyn's office.
Ignore the awkward Martinez clarifications, and ignore the coy Crist denials.
A caveat, though: don't worry -- my powers of prediction aren't all that and a side of fries. Don't forget my tragic record of 2008 at Viva Las Spencerian. Not good.
Cross-posted at the The Spencerian.</span>