Martinez touts Fla. gov. as veep

Florida GOP Sen. Mel Martinez, fresh off his stint as chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), is one of the most sought-after endorsements in Florida with its early primary and steady influx of GOP White House hopefuls.

But in a wide-ranging interview with The Hill in his Senate office, Martinez said he is keeping his powder dry for the time being.

{mosads}There’s a good chance he will endorse, but it won’t be until after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary, Martinez said.

“If I decide to endorse I’ll probably do it closer to the Florida primary [Jan. 29] when I think it might make a difference if I did endorse,” Martinez said. “I’m not going to do anything until then, but at that point I might.”

Martinez, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said he favors one or two of the “five principal candidates,” but declined to divulge who those lucky candidates might be. He acknowledged he’s been contacted by the major campaigns, and he has told them all that he is staying neutral for now.

Martinez agreed with the notion that he and first-year GOP Gov. Charlie Crist are two of the most coveted endorsements in Florida, a crucial primary and general election state. He and Crist have talked about the courting they’ve received from the campaigns, he said.

The Cuban-born Martinez can’t be on the ticket as a running mate because he wasn’t born in the U.S., but he said Crist would make an “attractive potential vice presidential nominee.”

“First of all, he’s a very good, popular governor for the year he’s been in office,” Martinez said. Citing Crist’s “impressive numbers,” Martinez added that the governor is a “very good campaigner from a very pivotal state.”

Martinez, on the other hand, said he is happy to offer advice on how to win the state to those candidates who call. He starts with “Be more practical and less theoretical.”

“They need to spend a lot of money on TV,” he said.

Martinez also said they need to be talking more about Florida-specific issues like property casualty insurance, an issue he said the candidates haven’t been addressing enough.

“I think the debates have still been focused on Iowa and New Hampshire issues and competition,” Martinez said.

“There’s a debate in January [in Florida] where I think the candidates at that point will really have to focus on Florida issues because Florida will be what’s at stake.”

As for other issues, Martinez noted national security before pausing and saying that “walking the difficult issue of immigration in a very careful way, I think, is going to be very important.”

“There are parts of the state that think one way, and there are parts of the state that think very differently,” Martinez said.

The senator said he thought Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee both “articulated” very well the balance between border security and dealing with illegal immigrants already in the country.

At the same time, Martinez said that candidates need to focus on border security first and that he agrees with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney that the country should have tamper-proof identification cards.

The senator dismissed the fights between Giuliani and Romney over “sanctuary cities” as typical campaign rhetoric, but he paused and frowned when asked about ads being run by another presidential hopeful, GOP Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.). The ads picture Central American gang members and are filled with lines that portray some illegal immigrants as “Pushing drugs. Raping kids. Ruining lives.”

“I think some of the rhetoric is painful to me,” Martinez said. “He is being rewarded with single-digit numbers, so I think that speaks well for the country.”

Despite his advice, Martinez volunteered that the issue is too charged to be addressed meaningfully in a presidential election year.

On giving up the RNC position, Martinez said he is happy to have served but he is glad to be focused again on his day job as a senator from Florida.

And though he can’t appear on the presidential ticket, Martinez smiled when asked if he would consider another Cabinet post.

“Never say never, but I don’t foresee that,” Martinez said.