She's back ... Palin in Florida next week

Hoping to re-create the huge crowd that turned out in the Villages on Sept. 21, the McCain campaign is bringing Gov. Sarah Palin back to Florida. On Monday, she'll host rallies in Clearwater and Fort Myers. On Tuesday, she heads to Jacksonville and Pensacola. See the jump for specifics.

"Gov. Palin's recent visit to the Villages was arguably the largest political rally in Florida history," said spokesman Mario Diaz. "This Maverick's message of bringing reform to Washington was embraced by more than 60,000 Floridians. We expect next week's tour through Florida to once again bring together thousands of supporters who want true change and not empty rhetoric."

Four polls today have Obama leading FL

CNN/Time poll (margin of error +/- 3.5 percentage points) shows Barack Obama at 51 in Florida and John McCain at 47. Another Suffolk University poll (moe +/- 4 points) shows Obama at 46 and McCain at 42. Those are on top of today's Quinnipiac (Obama up 8), and InsiderAdvantage (Obama up 3).

The RealClearPolitics average shows Obama leading FL by 3 percentage points.

How many times between now and Nov. 4 do you think the numbers will flip in FL?

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Clinton: Obama better on economy

ORLANDO (AP) -- Former President Clinton set aside his cool relationship with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday to issue a condemnation of Republican economic policies as well as an endorsement of his wife's ex-rival.

"Here's why you ought to be for Barack Obama," Clinton said. "He's got better answers. Better answers for the economy, for energy, for health care, for education. He knows what it will take to get this country back on track." (story here / AP photo )

Mayfield funeral set for Saturday

Funeral arrangements have been released for Rep. Stan Mayfield, who died yesterday at age 52 after a battle with cancer.

Visitation: Friday 6-8 p.m., First Baptist Church of Vero Beach, 2206 16th Avenue. // Funeral: Saturday,10:30 a.m., First Baptist Church of Vero Beach.

New jobs for ex-Supremes

Justice Ken Bell's last day on the Florida Supreme Court is today. (And boy, did the Court get the most of him and Cantero these last few weeks. The Supreme Court released more than two dozen opinions last Thursday.)

Bell starts tomorrow as a partner at the Pensacola law firm Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse. His specialties will be arbitration, mediation and appellate and real estate law, said firm spokesman Scott Remington.

And Justice Raoul Cantero, who stepped down on Sept. 6, starts today as a partner with White and Case law firm in Miami. He'll be leading their Miami appellate law practice and focus on cross-border disputes in Latin America, Cantero said.

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Castor still leaning toward "no" on bailout

In a meeting with the Times editorial board today, Congresswoman Kathy Castor said she still is leaning toward a "no" vote on the $700-billion bailout plan. "It looks like the Senate is going to make it worse," she said. Castor said she would only support a bailout if it included taxpayer protection and more help for the individuals facing home foreclosure. That could be done in part by using some of the money to increase the number of loss mitigation personnel at banks who could help owners of homesteaded property restructure their loans and mortgage payments.

Castor, a Democrat, said she received nearly 1,000 calls and e-mails from constituents in the days leading up to the vote, and they overwhelmingly opposed the plan. "It's a very bad deal for my district," she said. "There is a better way to do it."

Insider Advantage poll shows Obama up 3

Insider Advantage/Poll Position: Obama 49 - McCain 46. MOE is 4 percent, so call this one a dead heat. Poll included 532 likely voters and was conducted yesterday. Analysis from Matt Towery here.

That may seem like good news for McCain (at least compared with today's Q poll) but consider this: A Sept. 10 poll InsiderAdvantage poll had McCain at 50 percent and Obama at 42 percent.

5,000 accusations bring one gouging case

Despite thousands of complaints about price gouging, Florida officials have identified only one gas station in the Panhandle that may have illegally profited from Hurricane Ike.

Most gas stations that raised prices may have simply been passing on price increases from suppliers, says Attorney General Bill McCollum. Those suppliers are currently being scrutinized. (story here)

Greer warns Thurman about poll watchers

UPDATE 3:15 p.m.: Thurman responds. See the jump.

Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer today sent a letter to his Democratic counterpart Karen Thurman saying thousands of lawyers coming to Florida as poll watchers should not be interacting with voters.

"I have recently read reports that Florida Democrat lawyers intend to serve as poll watchers in order to 'assist' voters at the polls during the general election," Greer wrote. "I am concerned about these reports, given Florida law regarding poll watcher conduct. In particular, it should be noted that Florida law regarding poll watchers strictly prohibits poll watchers from “interact[ing] with voters.”  Fl. Stat. § 101.131. Thus, it would be inappropriate for your poll watchers to provide 'assistance' to voters at the polls." Letter here.

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Fla. GOP on verge of losing 3 U.S. House seats?

On a day when one poll has Barack Obama opening a comfortable lead over John McCain in Florida, here's more news likely to get Jim Greer reaching for his Rolaids: The Rothenberg Political Report now lists three GOP-held US House seats in Florida as "pure tossups": CD 21 (Lincoln Diaz-Balart); CD 24 (Tom Feeney); CD 8 (Ric Keller).

CD 16 (Tim Mahoney) is listed as a tossup, titling Democratic; CD 25 (Mario Diaz-Balart) is listed as a tossup leaning Republican; and CD 13 (Vern Buchanan) is rated as Republican favored.

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Teachers union seeks end to 'no match' law

The Florida Education Association, a group closely aligned with the Democratic Party, has added its voice to those urging Gov. Charlie Crist to suspend implementation of the voter-verification law known by the nickname "No Match, No Vote." FEA president Andy Ford said the state's decision to enforce the law this late in the election cycle means that, "This is not the time to introduce more chaos into Florida voting."

The law, passed by the Legislature in 2005 but interrupted by an unsuccessful legal challenge last year, became effective Sept. 8 and does not affect the status of any voter registered before that date. The law requires that a person registering to vote provide a Florida driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, and that those digits must exactly match the numbers for the same person in government databases.   

Secretary of State Kurt Browning says the law is reasonable and necessary to ensure that every voter in the state's database is a legitimate voter. Browning's boss, Gov. Charlie Crist, remains firmly in support of the law as well. "I don't have the authority to suspend law," Crist told reporters. "I have enormous confidence in his (Browning's) ability ... We fully intend to enforce the laws that are on the books now. As a former attorney general, I don't think we have a choice."   

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'National Review' disses Crist, again

National Review Online: "The governor of Florida — once seen as a McCain veep short-lister — doesn't have an opinion on how to address the financial crisis, as long as everybody just votes their conscience and does the right thing in a bipartisan fashion: ..."

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Crist picks Polston for Supreme Court

Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday appointed Ricky Polston, a judge on the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, as the newest member of the Florida Supreme Court.

Polston, 52, is a native of Graceville. He and his wife, Deborah, have 10 children (they are the adoptive parents of a group of six brothers who were in foster care). Crist made the appointment at a news conference at the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee.

Q Poll: Obama 51, McCain 43

The latest Quinnipiac University poll finds John McCain in serious trouble, not only eight points behind in must-win Florida (Barack Obama 51%, McCain 43%), but also well behind in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

"Sen. McCain's problem is not with this or that demographic group. Although he still leads among white men, albeit by a smaller margin, his problems are across the electorate,'' said Quinnipiac's Peter Brown. "Sen. Obama clearly won the debate, voters say. Their opinion of Gov. Sarah Palin has gone south and the Wall Street meltdown has been a dagger to McCain's political heart. Roughly a third of voters, and almost as large a share of the key independent vote, say McCain did more harm than good in trying to resolve the financial crisis, and the share of voters who see the economy as the top issue has risen from roughly half to six in 10."

Scan down this page and on the right you'll see the Real Clear Politics average of polls shows Obama leads Florida by 1.4%. That's a virtual tie, but it marks the first time ever that Obama has topped McCain in the RCP average of Florida polls. This is also the first poll where Obama is above 50% in Florida, while McCain has passed that mark before. *

Will Crist buy into a cap-and-trade program?

Gov. Charlie Crist's Climate Action Team begins holding its final meetings in Tallahassee today, and on the agenda is a recommendation that Florida impose a carbon cap-and-trade program -- either on just power plants like New York and other Northern states, or on power plants, cars, trucks and other sources of greenhouse gases, like California and other Western states. (For more details, click on the Fueling Station.)

Craig Pittman, Times staff writer

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