Gov. Charlie Crist's former campaign chairman, Connie Mack Sr., is speaking out about Gov. Charlie Crist's ad attacking Marco Rubio on Social Security. He released a statement this morning saying, It is disappointing that Charlie Crist has resorted to false attacks and scare tactics, all simply to try to win an election. Plain and simple, Charlies ad is not true and Florida voters deserve better. What is truly disappointing to me is that I know that Charlie knows that, too.

It's common for candidates, or their campaigns, to declare themselves winners, but when outside analysts or news outlets make the call, the candidates have a little more firm ground to stand on. The political analyst at Fox News in Miami declared Marco Rubio the winner of last night's debate, especially on issues of health care and the economy. Kendrick Meek was given kudos for standing his ground on popular issues, but overall Rubio won the debate.

Like a lot of Floridians, Sean Snaith, head of University of Central Florida's Institute for Economic Competitiveness, is having second thoughts about the Obama agenda. Quoted in a Christian Science Monitor article, "A GOP Plan to Help the Jobless," Snaith said the Republican plan to freeze tax rates and reduce government spending would help achieve a faster reduction in unemployment.

The debate between the U.S. Senate candidates ended with a question on the states ban on gay adoption that was overturned last month by a Miami court. Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, said he backed the decision and attacked Republicans, including rival Marco Rubio and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, for discriminating against homosexuals. Crist called himself a fiscal conservative and a social moderate who was consistent against government intervention.

The candidates in the U.S. Senate race tackled reforming Washington and tax cuts in their freewheeling debate. Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek noted that he was vacating a safe congressional seat to run for the Senate because he was frustrated with the way Washington worked. Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio also talked about his frustrations with Washington. I believe both parties are to blame for whats going on in Washington, said Rubio.

In the U.S. Senate debate, George Stephanopoulos turned to new federal health-care laws backed by President Barack Obama. Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, said he liked parts of the measures but opposes others. It must be fixed and it must be done right, insisted Crist -- before attacking Republican Marco Rubio for wanting to overturn Roe vs. Wade. You havent been drinking the Kool Aid, youve been drinking too much tea, the governor said to Rubio, attempting to portray the Republican as an extreme conservative.

The candidates are starting to show their cards in the U.S Senate debate. Republican Marco Rubio is looking to tie both Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek to the Obama administration and the federal stimulus. These gentlemen support the course our country is headed, said Rubio who engaged with Meek on the merits of the stimulus. Meek pounded on jobs, noting that the Sunshine State continues to see double-digit unemployment.

The U.S. Senate debate turned to Social Security. Republican Marco Rubio defended his record, insisting that Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek were trying to distort his record on that issue. While Crist fired away at both candidates on the issue, he focused on Rubio. Hes been all over the map on Social Security, said Crist.

On Wednesday evening, the three leading candidates in the U.S. Senate race debated each other -- with both Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek trying to catch Republican front-runner, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. Hosted by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, the debate was held in Orlando and broadcast by WFTV in Orlando and WFTS in Tampa. It was also held online through ABCNews.com and Facebook.

A new company on Florida's Treasure Coast says it will hire 200 workers over the next six months. And, no, we're not talking about hamburger flippers or lawn trimmers. Digital Domain, a movie special-effects company, is calling technophiles to a job fair at its eponymously named baseball stadium in Port St. Lucie from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday.

The poll numbers have been going Marco Rubio's way for months. And so is the cash flow. The Republican U.S. Senate nominee announced that his campaign raised more than $5 million during the third full quarter of 2010, eclipsing his second-quarter record. Rubio's camp also said it has more than $5.5 million cash on hand, an increase of more than $1 million from the last quarter.

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate and the front-runner in the U.S. Senate race, announced on Wednesday that his campaign had raised more than $5 million in the third quarter of 2010 -- with more than $5.5 million on hand for the last weeks of the election. In making this announcement, Rubio's senior strategist Todd Harris issued the following statement:

Friends, my foot. For those who thought it wasn't possible, the glacial pace of Everglades restoration just got slower thanks to an environmental group that ironically bills itself as "Friends of the Everglades."

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the Republican candidate and the front-runner in the race for the U.S. Senate seat, released an ad on Wednesday rebutting attacks made by Gov. Charlie Crist, who is in the race without party affiliation. Charlie Crist was losing so he switched sides, says Rubio in the ad, reminding Floridians that the governor left the Republicans in April. Just to win votes, he flip-flopped on everything from the stimulus to Obamacare.And when that failed, he started falsely attacking.

Gov. Charlie Crist announced that he was appointing Stephanie Van Zant of Keystone Heights to the Clay County School Board in the absence of her husband, Charles Van Zant Jr -- the son of the socially conservative House member. With the younger Van Zant serving in Afghanistan, a host of House members from Northeast Florida called upon Crist to appoint Stephanie to the post. There were six other candidates including Karen Lake, an administrator with Santa Fe Community College, who was backed by Leslie Dougher from the Clay County Republican Party Executive Committee.