Who, indeed?

Congressional candidate Bruce O'Donoghue picked up two key endorsements this fine Monday morning at Four Rivers Smokehouse in Winter Park.

The first came from former U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, who has known Mr. O'Donoghue since he was in the sixth grade.

The other was made by former Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings, whose brothers went to the University of Florida with O'Donoghue.

And, yet, the guy he's campaigning to replace is pretending like he will have no real competition. When asked what he thinks of the new candidate, Alan Grayson's supporters dutifully respond, "O'Donogh-who?!"

A regular laugh riot they are, no?

I suspect, however, the joke is going to be on them come November.

That they profess not to know who O'Donoghue is only highlights how very shallow Grayson's roots are in this community.

His potential successor summarized the situation rather well. "I think that Mr. Grayson is passionate about what he believes, and his style is unique," said Mr. O'Donoghue. "But, he is somebody who doesn't represent the values of the people of Central Florida."

True.

Adios, Mel!

No doubt in response to the withering criticism in yesterday's post in the dryer, Florida's most beloved spineless RINO announced his resignation at Orlando International Airport at 3pm today.

Senator Mel Martinez once inspired great confidence in these parts, and even succeeded in getting yours truly off his wallet to make a campaign contribution back in 2004.

All I can say now is that he hosed me. He hosed us all.

After taking his senate seat, Mel fell into some bad company. Supporting the ObamaNation's recent Supreme Court nominee was only the latest example. The most egregious was his partnership with Ted Kennedy back in 2006, when they crafted a bill that would have granted amnesty to ten million illegal aliens.

Ironically, despite his affinity for Democrats and their policies, the Republican National Committee made Mel their chairman about the same time. And, it was under his "leadership" that the party lost its majority in Congress.

So, goodbye, Mel. I wish you well in your future as a private citizen, but can't say I'll miss your style of "public service." I only hope your departure hasn't opened the door to 6 years of Charlie Crist warming your seat on the left of the aisle in the senate chambers . . .

200 days of mob rule . . . and counting

Boy, did one unsuspecting pollster get an earful when she placed a call to this little corner of heaven and asked yours truly for an opinion on the first 200 days of TheObamaNation!

Could I identify three of his greatest successes since taking office?

Well, to paraphrase an over-used campaign slogan, "Yes, I can!"

1. He and his minions in Congress successfully printed trillions of "stimulus" dollars, thereby saddling our children and grandchildren--and THEIR children and grandchildren--with a mountain of debt.

2. He did the Bush administration one better by not only continuing to hijack Wall Street, but also putting the federal government in the business of manufacturing and marketing automobiles.

3. Well . . . um . . . oh, yeah, it happened today. He succeeded in replacing one lackluster Supreme Court justice with another who issues rulings based on empathy rather than the letter of the law.

I suppose on this momentous 200th day of near-divine rule, we should remind ourselves the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue cannot claim sole credit for these "successes." He had plenty of help on the other end of the mall on Capitol Hill--including some spineless RINO's. (In the case of "success" #3, we can heap particular gratitude on our own illustrious senator Mel Martinez.)

Thomas Jefferson, ironically the founder of the Democratic Party, once warned that democracy has the dangerous propensity to descend into mob rule. Sadly, we are there.

Satisfied, Madame Pollster?!

And, then there were 4

Or, more like 3.5 since Ron Paul is a Libertarian and should only count as half a candidate in what is SUPPOSEDLY a Republican field.

But, anyway, I'm giving credit where credit is due, and blame where blame is due for that matter. And, it looks like tonight's results are finally going to force "America's Mayor" out of the race.

You know, it is often said, probably because it is so true: Democrats fall in love with their candidates, while Republicans fall in line behind theirs.

And, that's what we saw tonight here in the Sunshine State.

John McCain had the momentum, and a lot of people jumped on his bandwagon--including Swell Mel Martinez and everybody's favorite political opportunist Charlie Crist.

As a Huckabee devotee, I was actually pleasantly surprised that he kept neck-and-neck with old Rudy Giuliani tonight. I mean, how many millions of dollars did the former NYC mayor spend down here? And, how much more time did he spend down here?! I'd like to see the $ per vote figures on that. I guarantee Huck gets more for his buck!

Seriously, though, it was also cool to see how the state fell into geographic camps. And, Mike Huckabee actually carried 4 of our 67 counties (Gilchrist, Holmes, Suwannee, and Washington). That's more than Rudy can claim!

Oh, well, on to Super Tuesday!

Stop with the phone calls, already!

The incessant ringing of the telephone around the chalet this weekend must mean we have a primary election coming up!! It used to be they'd just fill your snail mail box with brochures. Now, they want to call you up and talk to you.

Some of the campaigns are downright annoying, to the detriment of their candidates/causes:

1. Charlie Crist and his ilk can quit pimping their property tax "reform" plan. It's not going to fly.

2. The McCainiacs shouldn't be so proud of Crist's endorsements, for reasons only briefly alluded to in #1. Also, we remember Mel Martinez working with you and Ted Kennedy in the (thankfully unsuccessful) attempt to grant amnesty to 10 million illegal aliens. So, no surprise he's in your camp, too.

3. Love ya, Rudy. Really. But, FLA is not NYC . . . at least not that part of the peninsula beyond Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.

4. Will someone tell John Edwards that I am not, nor will I ever be, a registered Democrat?! This is a closed primary. Registered Republicans can't vote for you on Tuesday.

5. Will someone tell Buddy Dyer I don't live in Orlando any more, so couldn't vote for him even if I wanted to?!

6. How many times do I have to ask all of you to remove my number from your calling list?!

I will be so glad on Tuesday evening when we can finally get a respite . . . but, November is only a few months away, and I imagine they'll be back in gear again real soon.

ARGGHHH!