After 10 Glorious Years, Sunshine State News and I Are Passing the Baton

While the primary battle for the Democratic nomination for attorney general has been a close contest, unlike the spat fornomination for the U.S. Senate seat it has generally been a civil affair between Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, and Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. It looked for a moment as if things were about to change. BP hired Akerman Senterfitt to handle the legal mess resulting from claims due to the spill in the Gulf. Aronberg demanded Gelber resign from Akerman Senterfitt -- which he did last week.

While the Tea Party movement is energizing Republican candidates around the nation, Florida is proving to be a different story. An intramural squabble between the Florida TEA Party and GOP-backed Tea organizations is splitting conservatives, confounding voters and, potentially, working to Democrats' advantage. The bickering has resulted in lawsuits, calls for resignations and charges of "black ops" on the campaign trail. Watch for Sunshine State News' upcoming story on this tempest embroiling Florida's Tea Parties.

An hour or so after Rick Scott hailed today's U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Second Amendment rights, Attorney General Bill McCollum weighed in, and took credit for siding with the majority decision. "The MacDonald vs. City of Chicago ruling, which sides with the amicus brief I filed with 37 states some months ago, guarantees that the Second Amendment is treated as a fundamental right for Americans just as other rights enumerated by the U.S. Constitution," McCollum said in a statement.

As health-care executive Rick Scott and Attorney General Bill McCollum continue to battle for the Republican nomination, the Florida Democratic Party fired away at both of them. "Rick Scott tries to avoid taking responsibility for his dirty deeds, while Bill McCollum spends his time sweeping other people's dirt under the rug," said Democratic spokesman Eric Jotkoff. "Whether it's shady business practices or efforts to keep Republican scandals in the shadows, Rick Scott and Bill McCollum couldn't be more ethically challenged."