Can Jon Huntsman get some respect from Republicans? In a word: No.

Rush Limbaugh says he should run as a Democrat. Tea partiers doubt his conservative credentials. Many just can't get over the fact that he served as the Obama administration's ambassador to China.

Huntsman didn't endear himself to Florida Republicans when he abruptly reassigned staffers from his Orlando headquarters to New Hampshire and called this week's Presidency 5 summit "diminished."

Located in the heart of the country, Missouri ranks as one of the bellweather states in presidential elections. According to a poll released Thursday from Public Policy Polling, a firm with connections to prominent Democrats, the Show Me State will be up for grabs in the general election. Two of the Republican presidential candidates were beating President Barack Obama in the poll while two trailed him. Former Gov. Mitt Romney led President Obama, 47 percent to 43 percent. Texas Gov.

WASHINGTON -- The Great Social Security Debate, Proposition 1: Of course it's a Ponzi scheme.

A state committee tasked with selecting a date for the presidential preference primary will meet Sept. 23, setting up a potential confrontation between Florida Republicans and the national party.

Members of the committee are expected to be named beginning Friday. A spokeswoman for House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, said he would announce his appointments then, while a spokeswoman for Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, said his selections would be made "in the next few days." Gov. Rick Scott will also appoint members to the panel.

The state teachers' union was "crying wolf" when it claimed that "thousands" of school workers would be laid off this year, says the head of the Florida School Boards Association.

Jeb Bush Jr. -- the son and namesake of Floridas former governor and heir to one of the most prominent political dynasties in American history -- continued his efforts on the national stage on Thursday when he unveiled GenH, the youth outreach component of former Gov. Jon Huntsmans bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Good news can travel fast. In Gov. Rick Scott's case, the reverse holds true.

With the economy sputtering, state analysts will gather Oct. 11 and dish out bad budget news.

Amy Baker, coordinator of the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research, said Wednesday that earlier projections of general-revenue growth this year and during the 2012-13 fiscal year will drop "fairly significantly.''

That means more difficult budget choices for lawmakers when they start the 2012 legislative session in January -- though Baker said things won't be as bad as during this spring's session, when lawmakers faced a $3.6 billion shortfall.