They're flailing. That's the impression I get from watching Barack Obama and his White House over the past week.

Tip for all you House reps: On Tuesday when you repeal last year's half-baked CS/CS/HB 1223, dumbest Florida law in decades -- dumber even than our constitutional protection of pregnant pigs -- invite the international media in to see you do it.

All this week the Florida House appeared to close the door on the question of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. But on Friday Senate President Don Gaetz reopened it -- just a crack.

Gaetz said he thinks theres a possibility Florida could pursue an alternative method to expand Medicaid, similar to the one Arkansas is proposing.

Arkansas wants to take the federal cash for Medicaid expansion and use it to buy health coverage for uninsured people from private insurers through a state health exchange.

As Gov. Rick Scott helped launch the legislative session Tuesday, his message boiled down to this: "It's working."

That likely will be a common refrain through the 2014 gubernatorial election, as Scott touts the addition of jobs, jobs, jobs and casts himself as leading the state out of the economic desert of the Charlie Crist era.

Rep. Lake Ray has firmly established himself as one of the leading experts on ports in Tallahassee. And now hes looking to put all that savvy to work back home, as CEO of the Jacksonville Port Authority (JaxPort).

The JaxPort board is due to name a new CEO by April.

WASHINGTON -- The media love optics and no one understands this better than President Obama.