Gov. Rick Scott defended Steve MacNamara, his embattled chief of staff, who has been the target of a recent rash of media stories that have gone so far as to call him the governors biggest failure.

Scott appeared to lightheartedly approach the topic with reporters outside the Capitol after the Florida State Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police hosted the 2012 Florida State Law Enforcement Memorial on Monday.

Scott told the reporters they are being mean to poor Steve MacNamara.

During his bid for the Republican presidential nomination earlier in the 2012 election cycle, businessman Herman Cain scored his greatest success when he won the Presidency 5 straw poll held by the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) in Orlando back in September. While Cain -- unlike all other previous winners of the straw poll -- did not go on to win the Republican nomination, he is continuing to play an active role in the politics of the Sunshine State.

Insiders say Steve MacNamara is leaving the governor's office at the end of the year. If that's so, then why wait? Rick Scott should hold the door open for his Machiavellian chief of staff right now.

Now that Gary Johnson, the former New Mexico governor who sought the Republican presidential nomination before pulling out ahead of the Iowa caucus, has won the Libertarian Partys nomination, its clear that he is targeting supporters of a former rival for the GOP nod and a former Libertarian nominee -- Ron Paul.

A pair of Panhandle lawmakers are calling for state law enforcement officials to investigate the use of funding meant to help communities recover from the BP oil spill after an Okaloosa County official accused of misusing tourism dollars died Friday of a suspected drug overdose in Alabama.

In a letter to Gov. Rick Scott, Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, asked for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to join in the local investigation of the Okaloosa County Tourist Development Council.

Florida's newly drawn political boundaries jumped critical hurdles this week that will now allow candidates to gear up campaigns knowing they are spending hard-earned campaign contributions on actual approved districts.

Separate court rulings found mapmakers adhered to requirements of the Fair Districts amendments and satisfied Justice Department requirements regarding voter access and now put all three Republican-backed efforts that much closer to finality.

Washington Post editorial writer and liberal blogger Jonathan Capehart is puzzled. Why does the "non-issue" of Harvard Law professor and Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren's Native American ancestry "require so much attention?" he asked last week.

Rep. Bill Proctor is optimistic that a blue ribbon panel announced Friday will take up many of the higher education proposals that he championed in the recent legislative session.

I dont see it doing any harm and I would hope it would do some good, said Proctor, R-St. Augustine.The task force is going to look at the same facts we looked at. They dont change.

WASHINGTON -- Controversies can be wonderfully clarified when people follow the logic of illogical premises to perverse conclusions.