With polls showing him fading behind Republican candidate Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate race and hearing the footsteps of Democratic nominee U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek coming behind him, Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running without party affiliation in the race, announced on Sunday that former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat, was backing his bid.

The team of Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, the Republican congressional candidate looking to replace U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart in his current seat, hammered Democratic opponent Joe Garcia for attending a fund-raiser with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez.

From his perch as the ranking Republican on the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, one of the leading critics of Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez in Congress, weighed in on the elections that will be held in that South American nation on Sunday.

On late Friday, U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, a deputy whip in the Republican congressional leadership, weighed in on a vote earlier in the week to reduce the number of federal employeesto what it was in 2009.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Sen. John Thrasher of Jacksonville released a statement Friday disparaging Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson's recent negative ad aimed at his District 8 congressional opponent, Daniel Webster. In the ad Grayson claims Webster "doesn't love this country," which is quite an indictment. The ad, which FactCheck.org calls "one of the nastiest we've seen so far this year, and it's false," compelled Thrasher to say this:

After an initial wave of partisan enthusiasm for the House Republicans' "Pledge to America," the inevitable backlash is cresting. Unimpressed by the GOP agenda, the Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict said today, "Instead of a 'Pledge to America,' the Republicans should have written an 'Apology to America.' It should have gone something like this:

Voters can now compare property tax rates under Gov. Rick Scott or Gov. Alex Sink. "By entering the amount currently paid in state property taxes, Floridians can learn how much they will save with Scott as governor and how much more would be due under a Sink administration," the Scott campaign said in a release today. Check it out for yourself here:

Who to believe? Who's first? Two new polls each give the Scott and Sink campaigns something to crow about. Mason-Dixon reports that Democrat Alex Sink is up 7 points over Republican Rick Scott. Rasmussen shows Scott leading Sink by 6 points. If past performance is an indicator of future results, go with the Rasmussen numbers. Mason-Dixon, you might recall, showed Bill McCollum beating Scott by 6 percentage points two weeks before the primary. That outlier survey was woefully off, as Scott won by 3 points.

Prominent Floridian and acclaimed movie icon Burt Reynolds made the American Mustache Institutes 20 Mustaches that Changed History List, coming in at No. 5. Why is that important? I have no idea -- except that every Floridian wants to live in a state where the powerful make a difference in society. Don't they?

Sen. Alex Villalobos, R-Miami, who is leaving the Legislature after almost two decades in the House and Senate, bailed on the Republicans to back Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach, the Democratic nominee for attorney general. Despite having served as the Republican leader in the Senate,Villalobos also backed Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running in the U.S. Senate race without party affiliation.

Ken Connor of the Center for a Just Society cautioned conservatives on Friday that Beltway Republicans look to absorb and ultimately undermine the ideals of the tea party movement. Before forming the Center for a Just Society, Connor served as chairman of the Family Research Council and with Florida Right-to-Life. He made a bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1994, losing to Jeb Bush.

All eyes will be on Hollywood on Friday when Vice President Joe Biden helps U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race -- including those of the Republican in the race, former House Speaker Marco Rubio. "Every time the president or vice president sets foot in Florida, we are reminded of their unfulfilled promises to tackle unemployment and the resulting debt from their failed stimulus experiment, said Rubio early on Friday.

Conservative leader Gary Bauer, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination back in 2000, weighed in on the Pledge to America unveiled by congressional Republicans on Thursday. House Republicans today unveiled their much-anticipated 'Pledge To America,' which many pundits are comparing to the 1994 Contract With America, wrote Bauer to supporters. With the elections now 40 days away, House Republicans understand that most voters want something to vote for; they want to know what the GOP would do differently.

While most Florida politicians and parties are remaining distantly quiet on three appeals court judges striking down the states 33-year ban preventing homosexuals from adopting, there is one exception -- the state chapter ofAmericas Independent Party which ran conservative leader Alan Keyes for president in 2008.

On a busy Thursday in Washington, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis was able to show off his conservatism. Bilirakis praised the Pledge to America backed by his fellow House Republicans.