From the St. Petersburg Times today:

For Rudy Giuliani, Nov. 18 was to be a pivotal day on his march to the Republican nomination.

Popular Gov. Charlie Crist was to anoint him as the best choice for Florida Republicans, and the two of them, starting in St. Petersburg, would fly from city to city in Florida, revving up supporters and donors.

By then, the GOP presidential candidate long assumed to be Crist's top choice, John McCain, looked finished.

The courtship began early last summer, when Crist and his top political adviser, George LeMieux, and Giuliani and his top adviser, Tony Carbonetti, met in the Hamptons.

Over the ensuing weeks, the can-do governor and can-do former mayor of New York kept in touch and by early fall, according to Giuliani advisers, Crist had agreed to jump aboard Team Rudy on Nov. 18.

But not if McCain could help it.

"I'm telling you I'm going to win this," the Arizona senator reportedly declared in an Oct. 2 meeting with the governor in Tallahassee. Forcefully and full of confidence, McCain urged Crist to wait until after the New Hampshire primary to make an endorsement.

By Halloween, the Giuliani campaign realized it needed to scrub the plans for Nov. 18.

On Sunday, they were fuming.

It's great political theater, but would a Crist endorsement of Rudy on Nov. 18 have changed much? Maybe it would have two weeks ago, but last fall the Giuliani campaign already figured it had Florida wrapped up and was wondering what to do about the other early states, particularly New Hampshire. Once it made the decision to build the Alamo in Florida and concede the other states, it's doubtful that Crist's endorsement could have saved him.

(ht Martin)