A CNN/Time poll released on Wednesday found former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates in the crucial battleground of Florida -- the fourth state in line to determine who the GOP will nominate to take on President Barack Obama in 2012.

Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Wednesday at 3 p.m. I will be on the Ed Dean radio show, which is hosted by one of the most feisty, informative and entertaining conservatives in Florida. It can be heard online here and on two stations in South Florida -- 89.3 on the west coast and 90.3 on the Atlantic coast.

Controversial community group ACORN is not going away -- and a new story from Fox News notes that ACORN is playing a large role in the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York. While ACORN dissolved in 2010, the New York chapter remains active, under a new name: New York Communities for Change. Fox News has the details here.

Adam Putnam kicked off the 500-plus-participant Florida Energy Summit Wednesday with a promise that the state Energy Office "will not get lost as some people thought," now that it's been absorbed into the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "Energy had ping-ponged around state departments for years," DACS Commissioner Putnam said. "It was a red-headed stepchild;now it's with a real head and we're going to make sure, starting with this summit, that we openly embrace the good work coming out of universities and from entrepreneurs and established businesses ..."

If I didn't think these people were a little creepy, this would seem like a good idea. But given the circumstances, it feels a little creepy.

Having lost every statewide race in 2010 and seeing the Republicans control veto-proof majorities of both chambers of the Florida Legislature, the Florida Democratic Party is on the attack, trying to link every Republican in the state to Gov. Rick Scott. On Tuesday, the Democrats launched a new website, attacking Scotts record -- and a host of other issues.

A hat tip to the American Thinker website for this item about a speech U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is to give today to the Heritage Foundation: "Instead of working together where we agree, the president has opted for divisive rhetoric and the broken politics of the past," Ryan will say, according to speech excerpts. "He is going from town to town, impugning the motives of Republicans, setting up straw men and scapegoats, and engaging in intellectually lazy arguments, as he tries to build support for punitive tax hikes on job creators."

Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, the Sunshine States only member of the Ways and Means Committee, urged the Obama administration Tuesday to stand up to China and defend intellectual property. China has ignored U.S. intellectual property rights for too long, Buchanan said at a Ways and Means meeting. This blatant infringement of copyrights and patents has cost our country millions of jobs and billions of dollars. This is simply not acceptable.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry launched a new ad on Tuesday night for his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. In the ad, Perry promises to create 2.5 million new jobs and points to his record in the Lone Star State. He also takes aim at regulations backed by President Barack Obama and promises to fight for more energy exploration.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Wednesday morning had bad news for Herman Cain and his tax plan. The poll found only 36 percent of the total populationsurveyed favoring Cains 9-9-9 plan. The plan, which has become one of the cornerstones of Cains campaign, would establish the federal income tax and the corporate tax rate at 9 percent while adding a national sales tax also set at 9 percent.A majority of those surveyed -- 56 percent -- have an unfavorable view of Cains plan.

On Wednesday, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner announced that three Republican state representatives -- all of whom served in his caucus in the Florida House -- were backing his bid to take on Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. Hasner unveiled the backing of House Speaker Pro Tempore John Legg, R-Port Richey, Rep. Ed. Hooper, R-Clearwater, and Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville, in a statement released on Wednesday morning.

Business groups continue to line up for and against expanding gaming as the wait approaches an end for a pair of South Florida legislators to file a bill that would allow more casinos in the Sunshine State. The latest to join the ranks in favor of more destination resorts is the board of directors of Associated Builders and Contractors, Florida East Coast Chapter.

Rush Limbaugh likes it, but Ron Paul says Rick Perry's "Cut, Balance and Grow" plan simply tinkers around the margins of America's economic problems. Paul, appearing on Fox News Tuesday, said Perry's proposal to begin with a $100 billion budget cut is too little. The Texas congressman has pledged a first-year spending reduction of $1 trillion. And where the Texas governor envisions a balanced federal budget by 2020, Paul vows to get the job done within three years.

Fired after taking her complaints about infighting in the lieutenant governors offices to the media, Carletha Cole now has a felony charge to worry about. Cole, 48, was arrested Monday by the Leon County sheriffs office for allegedly illegally taping a conversation between herself and John Konkus, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carrolls chief of staff. Florida law prohibits recording someone without their consent. Cole had worked as a senior program analyst in the office and also served as Carrolls spokeswoman.

On Tuesday, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts announced that 24 Republicans in the Florida Legislature endorsed his presidential candidacy.