It shouldn't be such a surprise that a sidelines-sitter like Charlie Crist has higher voter approval than Sen. Marco Rubio.

All animals are equal except for some animals ... that's a theme in George Orwell's "Animal Farm" and it's certainly the major theme of Rep. Pat Rooney's elitist and unnecessary funeral bill.

In conjunction with Voter Survey Service (VSS) of Harrisburg, Pa., Sunshine State News will release the results and analyses of its first three Florida polls of the year on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

VSS is the same firm that in 2010 conducted some of the most accurate polls taken of races in the Florida primary and general election.

Not a happy morning, waking up Saturday to discover Betty Ford had died at the age of 93. Ive lost one of my heroes.

All the talk last week about Big Brother snooping in the lives of Bright Futures families. It got me thinking: Have people stopped caring about government intrusion in their private lives?

All of a sudden 177,000 Bright Futures scholarship families are getting hip to what Sen. Evelyn Lynn and the rest of the lugheads in the Legislature did to one of the most successful Republican initiatives in Florida history.

Is it just me, or do these guys in the mainstream media have the memory of a fruit fly?

Please, God, give me three more years. I'll be good. Just let me live to see what Shouping Hu can possibly study about the Bright Futures scholarship program that hasn't been studied 10 times over.

In this country, the people own the government. Its ours. Argument over.

Florida Democrats, salivating over the governors sorry 29 percent approval rate, had a high old time in Hollywood during the weekend, dancing like Ya-Yas around Rick Scotts bones.

Win a second term? They dont think Scott has a prayer.

I'm told the Dems Jefferson-Jackson fund-raising dinner was energized. Everybody was talking about candidates who might challenge Scott. The list included the veteran cast you would expect -- Alex Sink, Jeremy Ring, Rod Smith, Dan Gelber -- plus, of course, the notable inside-outsider, the Ghost of Christmas Past, Charlie Crist.