President Barack Obama, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, says Democrats need to "buck up."

Separately on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden told Democrats at a fund-raising event in New Hampshire to "stop whining," according to MSNBC.

In 2004, John Thune pulled off a major upset -- knocking off U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle to represent South Dakota in Washington. Now Thune appears increasingly likely to attempt another upset by winning the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott unveiled his education plan at a campaign stop in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.

It is time we make a firm commitment to the positive educational outcome Floridians deserve and have a right to expect. It is time we recognize changes in society and technology are driving a need for change in our public education system, and our students need to take center stage, said Scott. And it is time that the money follows the student and not the system.

The campaign team of Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott launched a new ad on Monday attacking Democratic rival state CFO Alex Sink -- claiming that she shepherded no-bid contracts while in office to Bank of America where she once worked.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott unveiled a new commercial targeting state CFO Alex Sink, the Democrat in the race.

Mere hours after releasing an ad embracing her job overseeing the State Board of Administration, the editorial board of the St. Petersburg Times said Sink was either clueless about the facts or willing to misrepresent them, said Joe Kildea, a spokesman for Scott. The performance of the SBA under her watch is nothing short of a disaster, and Floridians deserve better.

House Speaker Larry Cretul, R-Ocala, announced on Monday that he was naming Rep. Ritch Workman, R-Melbourne, to the Florida Commission on Tourism, the public/private partnership that works to boost the states tourist economy through Visit Florida.

Religious conservative leaders are springing to the defense of former House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader Dan Webster, the Republican candidate challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson. Fresh from running an ad accusing Webster of dodging military service, the Grayson camp launched an ad comparing Webster to the Taliban -- even labeling the former speaker, who has a roomnamed after him in the Capitol, "Taliban Dan."

Add another name to the growing list of possible Republican presidential candidates in 2012 -- former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain, one of the leading African-American conservatives in the nation. Cain pops up on Fox News on occasion and ran in the Republican primary in the U.S. Senate election in Georgia back in 2004. Cain placed a distant second in the primary behind Johnny Isakson who went on to win the seat.

Former Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi, the Republican nominee for attorney general, focused on fraud on Monday -- maintaining that she is ready to handle Medicaid fraud and mortgage fraud matters.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, the Republican nominee in the race for agriculture and consumer services commissioner, was named a Guardian of Small Business by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and a Tax Fighter by the National Tax Limitation Committee (NTLC).