For those looking for a dark-horse vice presidential candidate, the "generals" at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va., are projecting Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell to be teamed with former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. It may have helped that McDonnell spoke to the students recently as they held their traditional mock convention -- a quadrennial event started in 1908 -- which they bill as the nations most accurate.

Edison State College is now up to its slotted nine members of the district board of trustees as Gov. Rick Scott made his fifth appointment to the board since a scandal erupted last fall over the now former presidents $837,000 a year salary. Scott on Monday named Braxton C. Rhone to the district board of trustees, Edison State College. According to a release from the governors office: Rhone, 27, of Fort Myers, is a financial adviser at Merrill Lynch.

The House Education Committee backed, 11-7, a proposal Tuesday to allow the University of Florida and Florida State University to boost tuition beyond the 15 percent cap that has been in place the past three years. Rep. John Tobia, R-Melbourne, joined the committees six Democratic members in opposing the plan that is an outgrowth of committee meetings held earlier this year with the presidents of the states 11 universities that sought input on how to make the schools more competitive with other national institutions.

More buzz about Florida's junior senator: Marco Rubio got the most mentions as a possible vice presidential candidate, according to a Farleigh Dickinson University poll of Republicans nationally. (For a summary and breakdown, see here.)

Financial disclosures for the month of January reveal why President Obama and his team may have changed their priorities when it comes to embracing the unlimited donations allowed by super-PACs. Priorities USA, the not-so-super group backing President Obama, reported a mere $59,000 for the first month of the year. That's pocket change compared with Republican counterparts. Restore Our Future, the pro-Mitt Romney group, raised $6.6 million, while Winning Our Future, which fuels Newt Gingrich, raised $11 million.

The insurance industry claims physicians overprice for dispensing drugs to workers' comp patients in their own offices. Physicians say no we don't, we keep prices as low as we're able considering we're not Walgreen's, which "buys in" pills by the million. A meeting of the Senate Health Regulation Committee, postponed last week, has been rescheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, 412 Knott Building.

Rumor squashed: Andy Gardiner is not leaving the Florida Senate president race. Much to the chagrin of Don Gaetz, John Thrasher and Jack Latvala, Andy Gardiner is not dropping out of the 2014 Florida Senate President race, sources tell Sunshine State News.

Islamic leaders on Tuesday blasted proposed state legislation they said would demonize Islam and marginalize Muslims. House Bill 1209, which would regulate the application of foreign law in certain cases, is scheduled to be heard by the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the bill, sponsored by Rep. Larry Metz, R-Eustis, is designed to ensure that Sharia and other foreign laws are not applied to family law cases in Florida.

A bill to make texting while driving illegal in Florida, SB 416, even if just as a secondary offense, cleared the Senate Budget Committee Tuesday, steering the effort toward the Senate floor. However, the effort may again have to wait a year as the companion bill in the House, HB 299, has failed to get any traction this session in any committee.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott named Ed Moore, the president and CEO of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida and a contributor to Sunshine State News, to the board of directors of Workforce Florida. His term starts on Tuesday and ends July 6, 2014.

How's this for refreshing honesty? Sheldon Adelson, the septuagenarian CEO of Las Vegas Sands casino, a guy who has so much money $1 million is probably stuck in his couch somewhere, makes no bones about enjoying the influence his money can buy. Seriously, what else is it for?

A Rasmussen Reports poll released on Tuesday finds Rick Santorum leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in Michigan. The Great Lakes State holds its primary on Feb. 28. Earlier in the day, a Mitchell/Rosetta Stone poll found Romney in the lead.

As Florida moves to restrict where those on federal assistance can use their state-issued debit-style assistance cards, a News 4 I-team investigation from NBC New York is reporting that thousands of dollars issued to New Yorkers are ending up in Las Vegas, Hawaii and Florida.

Anyone reading Sunshine State News is probably already familiar with the work of National Review Online's Jay Nordlinger. He's a veteran journalist. He's smart. And if you haven't been following his commentary on the Republican debates, you should know he's got a keen eye for personal decorum. All of those qualities come to bear in today's profile of New Mexico's Gov. Susana Martinez.

With pump prices approaching an average of $4 a gallon in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday questioned the White House decision to block approval of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.