Carole Crist, wife of pretend-to-be-partyless former Gov. Charlie Crist, became the first to go last week. Go where? Over to the Democrats. She changed her registration -- it's official. Think of Carole as a trial balloon. Charlie floats her up, sees how the wind blows, and should it blow her toward any of those Dems with the big bucks for, say, another Crist run for something-or-other -- whatever office we've got out there -- then Charlie might launch his own Big Campaign Balloon.

Fading in the polls at the national level and in Iowa, where she claimed a big victory in the Republican straw poll in Ames back in August, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann looked to get her campaign for the GOP presidential nomination back on track as she unveiled her jobs and economic plans on Tuesday -- and bashed President Barack Obamas economic record.

Businessman Herman Cain continues to surge in polls and, according to a poll released on Tuesday morning, now leads in one of the key early primary states -- South Carolina. The Palmetto State, the first state to hold a primary in the South, has been instrumental in shaping the Republican presidential race for decades and, in recent years, has backed the winner of the nomination each time out.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott offered a sneak preview of his agenda for the 2012 legislative session. Scott promised to roll out his agenda starting on Wednesday. In a Web video released by his team, Scott offered a review of his first year in office and said that the economy was starting to turn around.

Florida has joined 24 other states and Guam in seeking to delay the cross-state air pollution rule Attorney General Pam Bondi says will harm consumers and Floridas economy. The controversial rule, which has been promoted by backers as reducing emissions from power plants, is set to go into effect in January. Critics contend the regulations are overly burdensome.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has filed a lawsuit against a Jacksonville used car dealership for allegedly using GPS devices to defraud consumers. Bondi announced that Beach Boulevard Automotive Inc., Beach Boulevard Auto Finance Inc., John King Sr., and Barbara King are accused of unfair and deceptive business practices.

Supporters of former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico are pushing hard to get their candidate included in a Republican presidential debate sponsored by the Washington Post and Bloomberg News to be held Tuesday night in New Hampshire -- and they are getting the support of one of Johnsons rivals for the GOP nomination. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich will be at the debate on Tuesday night and, on Monday, posted on his Twitter account that Johnson should also be there.

U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas is the oldest of the major hopefuls for the Republican presidential nomination, but he is focusing on bringing young voters behind his campaign. Youth for Ron Paul is a fairly new component of the maverick Texas congressmans bid for the White House but its already paying dividends -- more than 7,100 Paul backers in 116 organizations across the nation.

Tampa has installed 10 electric vehicle charging stations at public parking lots around the city. While Miami and Oldsmar offer similar hook-ups, Tampa officials say their city has deployed the largest number of free charging stations in Florida. As part of Coulomb Technologies' expansion of its $37 million ChargePoint America program into six new U.S. cities, Tampa received the charging stations at no cost. In exchange, the city will participate in a Department of Energy grant monitoring program through December 2013.

Republican senatorial candidate George LeMieux is leaving the door open for the DREAM Act, after he voted against it. The political website Shark Tank reported that LeMieux was "reconsidering" his position on the ill-fated federal proposal to grant in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants. Reached by Sunshine State News, LeMieux spokeswoman Anna Nix responded via e-mail:

Gov. Rick Scott has signed the death warrant for Oba Chandler, convicted of murdering a woman and her two daughters who were vacationing in Tampa from Ohio in 1989.

U.S. Senate candidate George LeMieux fired off a letter to President Barack Obama, using the White House occupants planned fundraising trip to Orlando on Tuesday to pose five statement-like questions. In the letter, LeMieux, who is going up against three others for the Republican nomination, welcomed Obama to Florida, but added that hes hearing the same thing from people at every campaign stop across Florida. "Everywhere I go, Floridians ask me 'Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?'" LeMieux stated. Here areLeMieux's five questions:

A national poll released on Monday found former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts leading the pack of Republican presidential candidates -- and businessman Herman Cain right on his heels. A Gallup poll released late on Monday had Romney in front of the pack with 20 percent and Cain in a close second with 18 percent. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas stood in third with 15 percent.