A new poll from Quinnipiac University released Thursday had state CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic nominee, ahead of both of the Republicans in the gubernatorial race and had Gov. Charlie Crist, running without party affiliation, ahead of Republican Marco Rubio and both of the leading Democrats in the U.S. Senate contest.

At an event in Jacksonville on Wednesday, former House Speaker Marco Rubio, the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination in the U.S. Senate election, addressed veterans' issues.

In his Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln called upon our nation: to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan. This is the essence of what all Americans owe our veterans and their families, said Rubio.

The campaign team of Rick Scott, currently in a bitter battle with Attorney General Bill McCollum for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, used the opportunity of President Barack Obama visiting Miami Beach on Wednesday night to fire away at state CFO Alex Sink, the likely Democratic nominee in the race.

There is a strange story from CBS 4 WFOR in Miami on Rep. David Rivera, R-Miami, who is a candidate for the U.S. House seat that Mario Diaz-Balart is vacating. The story covers a car accident back in 2002 when Rivera hit a truck delivering campaign pieces for his opponent. The campaign team of former Obama administration official Joe Garcia, who is running in the Democratic primary, wasted no time in putting the CBS 4 report up on the Internet.

Marking the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment putting women's suffrage in the Constitution, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, John McCains VP pick in 2008 and a possible presidential candidate in 2012, backed a number of women running in Republican primaries, including former Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi for the GOP attorney general nomination in Florida.

Not surprisingly, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, currently battling Jeff Greene for the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate election, is trying to make the most of President Barack Obama appearing in Florida on Wednesday night. Obama will be in Miami Beach for a fund-raiser for the Democratic Party and Meek will be waiting at the airport for the president.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, the Republican candidate for state CFO, is getting praise from an unlikely source.

Atwater sent out an e-mail to supporters invoking Brad Ashewell, an advocate for the Florida Public Interest Research Group, an organization not exactly known for being friendly to conservatives or Republicans, that praised Atwater for pushing transparency on the budget.

The campaign team for Rick Scott launched a new ad on Wednesday against Attorney General Bill McCollum, his bitter rival for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. In the ad, with the smooth sounds of For the Love of Money by 70s soul legends the OJays in the background (the race is way too nasty for Love Train), a list of McCollums financial backers and the amounts given roll up the screen -- and what the groups back, including lax immigrant laws.

You cant buy Bill McCollum, says the narrator. But you sure can rent him.

Darren Goode from The Hill has a piece about a study by the University of Georgia and the Georgia Sea Grant that claims almost 80 percent of the oil spill is still out in the Gulf, though the federal government is claiming much less.

A group called the Gulf Coast Fund is also claiming BP is still using the dispersant Corexit, which has been linked to causing cancer in humans and is restricted in Europe. The company denies the charge.

The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) joined U.S. Sen. George LeMiuex and former House Speaker Marco Rubio in welcoming President Barack Obama to Florida for a fund-raiser in Miami Beach on Wednesday night -- but quickly turned its fire on Democratic candidates running for office in the Sunshine State.

Ronnie Whitaker, executive director of the RPOF, fired away at U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek who is running in a hotly contested Democratic primary with Jeff Greene for the U.S. Senate election.