MARTINEZ REVERSES HIMSELF (SOMEWHAT) ON SCHIVAO CASE; EMBRACES HARRIS CANDIDACY

"Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it."

Yes, friends: That is U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R - FL) commenting on the Terri Schivao case, nearly a year after he led the effort on Capitol Hill to get the federal government involved.

The comment was made during a taped interview for Political Connections, a weekly programme aired on Bright House Networks' Tampa Bay news channel Bay News 9 to be aired today.

While Martinez had previously stood by his leadership role in the controveresy, his reconsideration comes two weeks after Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R - TN) said the lesson he learned was this: "The American people don't want you involved in these decisions."

The St. Petersburg Times reports about Martinez' comments in today's editions, as it's political columnist Adam C. Smith is a co-host of Political Connections with Bay News 9 senior anchor Al Ruechel.

The interview features comments about what Florida's freshman senator has learned during his year in office:

"I've enjoyed the year. There are moments of learning, sometimes with a whack across the head. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Staff members that don't quite do what you want them to do, and then big problems develop. You learn from those things and you move on."

One could guess the "Staff members..." quote is a possible reference to a former legal counsel, who drafted a memo describing the Schiavo legislation in the Senate as "a great political issue".

He also for the first time promised publicly that he would campaign for likely GOP senatorial candidate Katherine Harris against incumbant Bill Nelson.

"I don't see anyone else out there even thinking or talking about it. So I think she is the candidate. I think she'll be the nominee of our party and I think she'll acquit herself well. She's a fighter, she's a dogged person that I think will demonstrate to Floridians that she'll be a good candidate."