With state CFO Alex Sink, the heavy favorite to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, running television ads attacking Republican candidates Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum, the Republicans struck back on Tuesday -- running a website and a new commercial attacking her.

Marking the 18-month anniversary of President Barack Obama signing the federal stimulus package into law, Marco Rubios campaign team continued to pound Gov. Charlie Crist, a rival in the U.S. Senate election, for backing the measure in the first place.

With a week to go until the primary election, Rick Scott launched a new ad on Tuesday against Republican gubernatorial primary rival Attorney General Bill McCollum -- linking McCollum with disgraced former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer. Any sense of cordiality between the two campaigns has long since vanished and the new Scott commercial is no different, ripping into McCollums connections with Greer in harsh terms. Who backed Jim Greers efforts to hide financial irregularities? asks the narrator of the commercial. Bill McCollum.

Praising Marco Rubio, and condemning Charlie Crist and Barack Obama, Freedomworks chairman Dick Armey delivered "A Tea Party Manifesto" today. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Armey stated: "Let us be clear about one thing: The tea party movement is not seeking a junior partnership with the Republican Party, but a hostile takeover of it." Strong words from a former House GOP leader, and a signal of attacks to come this fall against "big spenders" like Crist.

Attention, Florida entrepreneurs: Uncle Sam has $35 million for the most promising job-creation ventures on the Space Coast. The president's Task Force on Space Industry Workforce and Economic Development announced today that $35 million will be dedicated to a fast-track, competitive grant process. "The grants will be awarded to the most promising job creation and economic development programs, with competition announced Sept. 1," the task force stated in a press release.

With a week to go until the primary election, Craig Miller, the former CEO of Ruth's Chris who is running in a close battle for the Republican nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, will run a new television ad more than 380 times over the airwaves of Central Florida, blasting two of his rivals in the primary for raising taxes.

Former Agency for Health Care Adminstration Secretary Holly Benson, currently running in a close battle for the Republican attorney general nomination, endorsed Attorney General Bill McCollum over Rick Scott in the bitter contest to win the Republican gubernatorial nod. Republicans in Florida can count on Bill McCollums unwavering, conservative credentials, said Benson. Just like Attorney General McCollum has stood up against Obamacare by leading the lawsuit against its implementation, he can be counted on to fight against Washington trampling on our state rights.

Its a bit early for this, but Public Policy Polling released a new poll on Monday showing that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is leading the 2012 Republican presidential primary field by a whisker -- but there were three candidates right behind him, well within the margin of error. Huckabee pulled 23 percent, with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 22 percent, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin both tied for third at 21 percent.

The April 20 Deepwater Horizon disaster is far from over for Florida. Vast concentrations of BP oil toxic to marine life may have settled to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico just off Panama City, according to a report due to be released later Tuesday. Researchers from the University of South Florida, back Monday night from a fact-finding excursion in the Gulf, say they will release their report later Tuesday.

Gallup released a poll late last week that found that only 25 percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in newspapers and 22 percent have that much faith in the television news. With nearly all news organizations struggling to keep up with the up-to-the-minute news cycle and to remain profitable in the process, Americans' low trust in newspapers and television news presents a critical barrier to success, wrote Lymari Morales from Gallup.

Reports are flying in that state CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate, will announce on Thursday that she has picked former Sen. Rod Smith, who lost to former U.S. Rep. Jim Davis for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2006, as her running mate for lieutenant governor. Smith, who has been the subject of speculation for weeks as the most likely choice to be Sinks understudy, hails from Alachua County in the northern part of the state. He also served two terms as a state attorney.

After stiffing jilted Republican donors, Gov. Charlie Crist is opening the pursestrings for his old pal, Jim Greer. The longtime Crist protege and disgraced GOP chairman asked Crist in an Aug. 5 letter to return $9,600 in campaign contributions to help him pay his criminal defense bills. Crist obliged Monday after Greer's letter surfaced in the St. Petersburg Times. But the governor hasn't been so accommodating to other Republicans who contributed to his "independent" Senate campaign. Months ago, Crist glibly declared, "The money's been spent."

There have been few politicians in Florida who backed President Barack Obamas support of a mosque being built two blocks away from Ground Zero in downtown Manhattan. Even Democrats like state CFO Alex Sink and U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Greene have broken with the president -- and they have been joined at the national level by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

With former Rep. Loranne Ausley, the Democrat in the CFO race, on the attack against Senate President Jeff Atwater, the Republican candidate, for backing expensive projects, the Republican Party of Florida is going on the counterattack.

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamps team is taking aim at former Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi for comments she made this weekend on a call-in show on WDBO in Orlando. Bondi said she was opposed to the secret ballot in votes on unionization -- meaning she backs a key aspect of the Employee Free Choice Act which is opposed by conservatives, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.