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

Reactions are pouring in across the state after state Senate President Mike Haridopolos announced on Monday morning that he was pulling out of the crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012. As Ive said a bunch of times before, the election is a long ways off, noted Nelson on his Facebook page. Right now Im just focused on doing my job. Come Election Day, if folks like the job Ive done, the politics will take care of itself.

Businessman and retired Army officer Mike McCalister, who is running in a crowded Republican primary to take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, signed the Cut, Cap and Balance pledge on Monday. The pledge opposes raising the federal debt limit and backs a balanced federal budget and lower spending. The measure is backed by a number of prominent conservative organizations, including FreedomWorks, Club for Growth and the Family Research Council. Some of McCalisters chief rivals for the Republican nomination -- namely former U.S. Sen.

Courageous or desperate, Herman Cain continues to say things that other GOP presidential hopefuls wont. On Fox News Sunday, the Atlanta businessman blasted a Murfreesboro, Tenn., mosque as a beachhead for Shariah law and said residents should be able to ban mosques in their communities. "It's not just a mosque for religious purposes. This is what the people are objecting to," he said.

Florida's Sen. Marco Rubio, participating in Bob Schieffer's debt crisis conversation on CBSs Face the Nation Sunday, called the coming week "our last chance to force Washington to tackle the central economic issue of our time." Warned Rubio, "It's not the debt limit, it's the debt itself." The freshman senator from Miami vowed not to vote for raising the debt limit "unless it is the last one we ever authorize and it comes with a decrease in spending of at least $4 trillion and a credible plan for the future that includes pro-growth strategies."