Crist was initially expected to easily win the Republican nomination. But he’s come under attack from conservative activists for supporting President Obama’s stimulus package. Earlier this week, the Club for Growth announced its support for Rubio and launched a television ad attacking Crist.

Pawlenty could be gun shy about wading into local political battles after his experience pontificating about the recent congressional contest in upstate New York. T-Paw backed conservative stalwart Doug Hoffman over the GOP-endorsed candidate, only to see the district won by a Democrat for the first time in more than a century. Pawlenty has since taken some knocks from national pundits for too blatantly pandering to the conservative base.

Florida Democrats are looking to put Pawlenty on the spot. In a press release, state party chair Karen Thurman called on him to make his allegiance in the senate contest known.

“From looking at his record of pandering to the radical right in recent months, you might think Rubio has the upper-hand, but Pawlenty may have learned his lesson from endorsing the far-right candidate in New York,” Thurman said. “Then again, Pawlenty’s pandering to the Sarah Palins and Glenn Becks of the world could be too important to his national ambitions.”

Republican @DougforCongress now has clearest path to victory yet. Time for all to join the fight. #tcot #rs #biggovt

As with his endorsement of Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman, Pawlenty’s message followed an earlier statement by U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Pawlenty criss-crosses the country lecturing GOP audiences about how to attract voters who are “not yet Republicans.” He sounds like he is talking about drawing independents and Democrats, but his backing for Hoffman suggests he intends to mine support from the vast reserves on the far right.

Dede Scozzafava

After seeing high-profile Republicans like Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin side with her Conservative Party challenger, GOP-endorsed candidate Dede Scozzafava has suspended her campaign to win the special election in New York’s 23rd Congressional District. On news of her party’s candidate bowing out, Bachmann issued another statement of support for the remaining rightwing candidate, while the New York Independence Party chair indicated he’s switching his support to Democrat Bill Owens.

An excerpt from Scozzafava’s statement Saturday morning:

In recent days, polls have indicated that my chances of winning this election are not as strong as we would like them to be. The reality that I’ve come to accept is that in today’s political arena, you must be able to back up your message with money—and as I’ve been outspent on both sides, I’ve been unable to effectively address many of the charges that have been made about my record. But as I’ve said from the start of this campaign, this election is not about me, it’s about the people of this district. And, as always, today I will do what I believe serves their interests best.

It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.

Within an hour of Scozzafava’s announcement, Bachmann’s campaign had already sent out an email to supporters, concluding with a link to Hoffman’s campaign website:

“First I want to thank Dede Scozzafava for her hard-fought campaign in this special election. And, I’d especially like to thank her for dropping out of this race for the good of the Party. I’m certain that it was not an easy decision for her to make, but it was the right one.

“I’d also like to urge anyone who can help Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate in that race, to mobilize all their energy and resources to ensure Hoffman’s victory next Tuesday.

“The polls all show that Hoffman’s message of fiscal responsibility and conservatism are resonating strongly with the voters in that district. I am very hopeful that they will send him across the finish line in first place Tuesday night.”

The chair of New York’s Independence Party, which had endorsed Scozzafava in the race, announced he’d be endorsing Democratic candidate Owens. Likewise, New York State United Teachers, which had endorsed Scozzafava, is expected to back Owens.

Bucking the notion of party unity, many Republicans — from Bachmann and Gov. Tim Pawlenty to Steve Forbes — threw their weight behind Hoffman. Scozzafava’s choice to drop out certainly gives Hoffman a strong shot at the seat, but should that happen some pundits think it’ll be a short-term victory for the GOP.

On Friday, conservative commentator David Brooks expressed surprise that Pawlenty, who packages himself as a moderate, supported Hoffman, and then characterized the NY-23 battle as a “race for the soul of the Republican Party.” On NPR’s All Things Considered he and liberal pundit E.J. Dionne discussed the race.

“Scozzafava has a voting record which puts her at the exact middle of the political spectrum,” Brooks said. “And the question is: Can Republicans have a centrist and still be a Republican? Newt Gingrich [who endorsed the GOP's Scozzafava] thinks so. He thinks you need moderate Republicans. A lot of Republicans apparently don’t think so.”

He called it “an attempt to define the Republican Party as almost a permanent minority party. It’s a narrow casting of the Republican Party. Newt Gingrich is on the right side, a lot of people are not.”

Dionne concurred, “The paradox, I think, is if Hoffman wins, conservatives will hail it as a great victory. But I think it’ll send exactly the wrong signal to the Republican Party… [I]f they take out of this that tea-partyism is the way of the future, I think it’ll be a long-term problem for the Republicans.”

Update: Scozzafava, a lifelong Republican, has endorsed Democrat Bill Owens.

That’s because, like professed party-builder Pawlenty, the Minuteman Political Action Committee prefers Hoffman to Republican Scozzafava.

While in Mexico, Pawlenty will meet with President Felipe Calderon, whose term ends in 2012 — the same year Pawlenty hopes to be elected as his counterpart in the United States.

Pawlenty’s past international travel includes trade missions to Israel and India. His trip to Mexico will be brief: Nov. 9–10. The announcement came on Minnesota-Mexico Day, which Pawlenty marked at Best Buy headquarters in Richfield.