With Gov. Charlie Crist rumored to be going independent, incoming Democratic leaders in the House and Senate came out today to back U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meeks bid. "Kendrick is committed to issues of mutual concern, from providing seniors with the best health care available to enhancing the special U.S.-Israel relationship to creating jobs in our communities, said incoming Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, D-Weston. Kendrick needs to be our next U.S. Senator and we will work hard to elect him to serve all of Florida in November." .

Charlie Crist can't get a break. As the GOP turns up the heat on our beleaguered governor, Crist apparently decided it was time for some pillow talk with the other party. Too bad top Dems don't have much interest in him, either. The Atlantic reports that Crist's people tried to get in touch with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's people (you're not anyone these days without a posse). But Emanuel, famous for his no-nonsense attitude, wouldn't take the call.

Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, offered a fond farewell to the House today. With incoming Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, offering Cretul praise for taking over after Ray Sansom resigned in disgrace, Cretul thanked family, staff and House members of both parties. A picture of Cretul has now been hung in the House, next to Marco Rubios portrait. There are no plans to put a picture up of Sansom.

Jeb Bush has come out against Arizonas tough new immigration laws, and now another prominent Florida Republican has emerged to blast the measure. U.S. Rep. Connie Mack has attacked the new law. We all agree that inaction by both the Bush and the Obama administrations has compounded this problem and forced states like Arizona to take drastic measures, said Mack. But the new Arizona law strikes a severe blow to freedom and the principles that make our nation strong. Mack even said the measure reminded him of what the Gestapo did in Nazi Germany.

Is Florida looking for a U.S. Senate candidate who is even more conservative than Marco Rubio? Bernie DeCastro, the Constitution Party candidate, thinks so. DeCastro was in Tallahassee today to fill out his paperwork to run for Senate. A former inmate himself who was paroled in 1984 and pardoned by the late Lawton Chiles, DeCastro now is based in Marion County where he runs a work release facility, helping inmates and addicts got on with their lives.

Despite a threat from House Democrats to not vote on any Senate legislation coming to the House today, senators are vowing to send to the House an amended health care bill, HB 1143, requiring women in their first trimester to submit to an ultrasound when seeking an abortion "We're going to vote on this bill, and we're going to send it to them," said amendment sponsor Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando.

What Florida political office is the most undermined by terms limits? It just might be the agriculture and consumer services commissioner. Since December 31, 1888 when L.B. Wombwell took office only nine other people served in the position. Granted, this includes the long tenures of Nathan Mayo who was in the office for more than 36 years and Doyle Conner who served 30 years. But only ten people have held the office in almost 125 years which is the same figure as the papacy. Thats compared to 22 U.S. presidents and 30 governors of Florida over the same period.

Democrats continue to promise that they can hold up bills moving over from the Senate. With the House needing 2/3 of its members to waive the rules to hear some bills, the 44 House Democrats will hold up numerous measures unless Republicans strip language concerning ultrasounds and abortions from a health care measure that passed the Senate yesterday. Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek, offered some insight into what the House Democrats were up to. We want to deal with the issues of Florida, said Waldman. Theyre not sending us up here to deal with ultrasounds.

With only two days in session, House Democrats are making a big impact, despite being outnumbered 76 to 44. The House Democrats met this morning and decided to block every measure from the Senate unless Republicans gut a bill on abortion and ultrasounds that passed the Senate yesterday. With Republicans needing 80 votes to move the Senate measures, they need Democratic votes to save bills. A bill from the Senate preventing distributing flyers in hotels found all 44 Democrats standing against the measure--which means it was not rolled over.

The Republican Party of Florida isn't waiting for Gov. Charlie Crist to leave the party. The RPOF just kicked him off its home page. Crist's smiling mug and a quote from the "People's Governor" topped the party's website -- until today. That high-profile banner treatment now rotates between Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running to replace Crist in the governor's office, and Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, who is running for attorney general.

With little fanfare and late notice to reporters, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law Wednesday afternoon a bill ratifying the Seminole gaming compact that will give the Seminole Tribe of Florida exclusive rights to casino-style card games for at least five years and bring Florida at least $1 billion. Meeting in the presence of the House and Senate's chief negotiators, Sen. Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, and Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, Crist signed one of the biggest priorities of his time as governor.

On Monday morning, the governor who vetoed legislation that could have given Florida an advantage in the federal Race to the Top for educational reform told his appointed group of educational professionals, lawmakers and others to find a new way to give Florida an edge in the competition for $4.35 million in federal funds. Theres been no question that Floridas been pretty darn bold, and we have been a pretty reform-minded state, Gov. Charlie told the Race to the Top Working Group in a brief address.

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination to run for the U.S. Senate, is getting ready for Gov. Charlie Crists big political announcement tomorrow. Meek will be holding a media event in Washington right at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow to respond to Crists announcement. Speculation continues to grow that Crist will announce he will leave the Republican Party and continue his Senate campaign as an independent.

When Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, D-Tallahassee, was asked about the amendment she filed and then withdrew on the House floor today that would impose a five-cent tax increase on each gallon of gas, she said that every war in American history required tax increases, and that the nation is currently in a two-front war in Afghanistan and Iraq. She also said the measure would raise more than $490 million and would cost the average Floridian $29 a year. Under her amendment, the funds raised would go to veterans benefits, transportation throughout the state and energy programs.

In one of the more surreal moments of the House session, Born to Be Wild by Steppenwolf and Ramblin Man by the Allman Brothers kicked in and a customized Harley motorcycle was wheeled on the floor. The chopper was a prop for House members, led by Ron Reagan, to give a bunch of gifts to Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, including two cycle jackets and a helmet signed by every member of the House. They also gave him a license plate. Speaker Cretul is a long time biker who owns his own customized cycle.