Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is being heavily courted by Republican presidential candidates, warmly praised GOP hopeful John McCain Tuesday, but stopped short of an endorsement, reports the Associated Press from Tallahassee.

Crist handily won the governor's office last November - one of the GOP's few important victories in an election dominated by Democratic wins. Other Republican presidential hopefuls, including former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, appeared with Crist during his campaign last fall, but none spent as much time publicly supporting Crist as McCain, who endorsed Crist during the primary. 

Crist probably would like to endorse McCain, but he no fool. Just elected in November and no doubt hoping for two terms in office, Crist knows that if both he and the next president serve two terms they'll overlap the last six years of Crist's governorship. He doesn't want to back the wrong horse.

And with recent poll numbers indicating Giuliani in the lead, flat or declining numbers for Romney and McCain, and a surge of support for undeclared candidate Fred Thompson, you simply shouldn't expect Crist to endorse anyone this early.