The infighting between the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination -- Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts -- continued this week as the two sides kept up their attacks on each other. The Perry team released the latest in a series of Web videos on Wednesday, attacking Romney for shifting positions on backing the federal stimulus enacted by President Barack Obama.

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon dropped a bomb on the 2012 political calendar when he told CNN that the state could set its primary for Jan. 31. That date would potentially leapfrog over South Carolina and Nevada -- two states in which the national parties have designated early votes. South Carolina has yet to finalize its date, and the bipartisan Florida committee tasked with setting the primary date is scheduled to do so in Tallahassee on Friday. According to one possible scenario, the first five primaries and caucuses would roll out this way:

Having placed dead last in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando on Saturday, the team behind Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmanns presidential campaign is regrouping and continuing to insist their candidate can win the Republican nomination. After her poor showing in Orlando, Bachmann headed back to Iowa --the home of the first presidential caucus --on Monday. Having won the Iowa Republican straw poll in Ames last month, Bachmanns team left no doubt that her presidential ambitions rested on the Hawkeye State.

On Wednesday morning, former state House Majority Leader Adam Hasner announced that three state legislators from the First Coast were backing his bid for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. Hasners team sent out a statement announcing they had garnered the backing of Rep. Daniel Davis, R-Jacksonville, Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, and Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Orange Park.

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Sarasota, is going to focus on being re-elected to the seat he currently holds instead of joining the list of Republicans seeking to take on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., next year. Although I have been encouraged to run for U.S. Senate, I can have a greater impact serving people as Floridas only member of the influential House Ways and Means Committee, which will be deciding major issues such as tax reform, health care and international trade, Buchanan stated in a release Tuesday night.

Florida consumers are more confident about the U.S. economy and their future personal finances than a month ago, a new University of Florida study reported Tuesday. However, Floridians remain at record lows in their expectations for the long-term recovery of the economy. The increase in confidence this month was mostly a rebound from very low levels in August, Chris McCarty, director of UFs Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, stated in a release.

Sunshine State News is hitting the radio airwaves on Tuesday at 3 pm. Fresh from my appearance on Washington Journal on C-SPAN on Sunday, 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.

On the eve of cop killer Manuel Valles execution, state Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, has introduced legislation to end the death penalty in Florida. Rehwinkel Vasilinda said House Bill 4051 is aimed at the possible execution of wrongfully convicted prisoners and tied to economics. "I'm not in the business of dispensing vengeance, she stated in a release. As a state representative, I am in the business of making decisions to help keep Floridians safe from crime while spending taxpayer money prudently.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas trumpeted a poll from Rasmussen Reports last month that their candidate was in a dead heat with President Barack Obama -- but a poll released by Rasmussen on Tuesday found the president beating Paul by a healthy margin.

Craig Miller, the former CEO of Ruth's Chris, continues to play up his experience in the business community as he continues his bid for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

On Tuesday morning, the Florida Supreme Court dismissed the latest petition in the Manuel Valle death warrant case. David Nicholl, a British neurologist, had attempted to stop the planned 4 p.m. Wednesday execution of Valle at Florida State Prison in Starke. Nicholl had argued against the use of pentobarbital, a sedative, as part of the lethal injections, claiming the drug has not been tested as an anesthetic nor has the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug's use.

On Tuesday, after finishing third place in the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, one of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, unveiled his team to lead his efforts in the Sunshine State. This is the team that will beat President Obama in Florida, said Katie Packer Gage, Romneys deputy campaign manager, in a statement released on Tuesday morning. This team will be critical as Mitt Romney campaigns across Florida spreading his pro-growth message and working to bring jobs back to the state.

The team behind former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts took aim at their chief competitor for the Republican presidential nomination -- Gov. Rick Perry of Texas -- in a web ad released on Monday. The ad welcomes Perry to Maryland and hammers the Texas governor on immigration, featuring a clip of Democratic Gov. Martin OMalley praising his record on the subject.

Via Twitter on Monday,Gov. Rick Scott congratulatedtwo Florida companies for landing contracts with NASA: FLGovScott Rick Scott Two FL Companies won NASA contracts! Hunton Brady Architects & FIGG Bridge Engineers. Congrats! http://1.usa.gov/mYSzVu http://1.usa.gov/nf61wyNASA awarded contracts to Hunton Brady Architects, P.A. of Orlando and FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc. of Tallahassee."

As businessman Herman Cain was winning over delegates in Orlando during the GOPs debate and straw poll last week, his message was also spreading beyond the tourism mecca. And likely voters outside Orlando apparently took the same view of the performance of Texas Gov. Rick Perry.