Scoring the second debate

Trying to regain some momentum for his lagging presidential campaign, John McCain used an often combative presidential debate Tuesday night to try painting Barack Obama as a big government liberal, sure to raise taxes.

Obama appeared unruffled by McCain's attacks and repeatedly stressed his focus on middle class Americans. (story here)

McCain's Florida camp getting Michigan help

Mike Grissom to the rescue.

Mike who? He may not be well known in Florida but Grissom is on his way down following the McCain campaign's decision to withdraw from Michigan.

Grissom had been the Republican National Committee's "Victory" director in the Great Lakes State. Previously he was the Victory director in Kentucky and headed up the famous 72-hour effort in Maryland.

His Florida connection is Rep. Ric Keller of Orlando, according to bio information listed on various Web sites.

Obama killing McCain on FL TV buys

The Fix reports Obama's TV spending advantage over McCain from 9/20-10/6, proving that it's not your imagination that you're not seeing many McCain ads here: "In Florida, where recent polling suggests an Obama surge, the Illinois senator disbursed more than $2.8 million for television ads in the last week while McCain spent $623,000 -- a massive $2.17 million spending gap."

Couldn't make Palin fundraiser?

Well, we've got you covered.

Here is press pool audio (slightly distant) from her fundraiser at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, which drew about 700 people and generated an estimated $1.2-million.

Yesterday, fundraisers in Boca Raton and Naples brought in $1.5-million apiece, according to Brian Ballard, co-chairman of McCain's national finance team. "All way over our projections," he added. "She is a great draw."

Lawmakers urge Crist to suspend 'no match'

Five members of Congress wrote a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist today, calling on him to suspend enforcement of the "no match, no vote" law. Letter is here. Background on the controversy here.

"Last minute enforcement of this law right before the presidential election will stand to add to our abysmal history of protecting the voting rights of our citizens," reads the letter signed by Florida Reps. Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Alcee Hastings, Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Robert Wexler.

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Palin may loathe the press; not Charlie Crist

NBC reporter Matthew Berger, part of the national press corps traveling with Sarah Palin, had this report from Jacksonville:

Palin's Straight Talk Air II yesterday was a study of contrasts.

Twice in one day, Gov. Charlie Crist came back behind the gray curtains to say hello to the press. We actually think the first time he was just stopping by en route to the lavatory at the back of the plane. But he stopped and said hello, perused the selection of jelly beans we had sitting on one seat, and even gave his business card to one reporter, after she said she was a Floridian and her parents were his constituents.

No tough questions asked. Just a brief friendly chat.

What made the casual stroll to the back of the plane so striking was Crist has now done it more in one day than Palin has in the five weeks she has been traveling as a vice presidential candidate.

Florida Hispanics: 38% for McCain, 35% for Obama

A new poll by the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund finds that while Barack Obama is overwhelmingly leading McCain in other states with big Hispanic populations -- Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada -- Florida Hispanics are closely split, with 38% backing McCain and 35% backing Obama.

"The shift seems to reflect demographic changes in the state’s Latino voters that are both generational and representative of the growing diversity of Latino immigrant groups now living in Florida,'' said NALEO, which also found that in Florida 40 percent of Hispanics surveyed said the Democratic party "has more  concern for the Latino community," 20 percent said the Republican party did, and 34% said there was no difference.

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Mason-Dixon: Obama 48%, McCain 46%

Mason-Dixon's  10/4-6 poll (moe +/-  4%) has Barack Obama with 48% percent support in Florida, John McCain with 46% and 6% undecided. Pollster Brad Coker:

"The key to Florida remains the Tampa Bay region, where Obama currently holds a 48%-44% advantage. The other regions of the state fall into their generally predictable patterns, with Obama holding a wide 61%-33% lead in Southeast Florida and McCain running ahead in North Florida (58%-37%), Central Florida (51%-43%) and Southwest Florida (55%-40%). Obama runs stronger among Democrats, women, those under 50, blacks and those who have never served in the military, while McCain is stronger with men, Republicans, those over 50, whites and military veterans. Obama has a 50%-41% lead among independent voters, while McCain has a 49%-44% among Hispanic & Cuban voters."

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Obama ad in Florida hits McCain on economy

Campaign pals: Crist, Palin, Martinez

Gov. Charlie Crist and Sen. Mel Martinez are accompanying Gov. Sarah Palin on her two-day Florida trip. In this AP photo, they board a plane after the rally in Clearwater. The trio was in Jacksonville this morning, and now Palin is headed to Pensacola. (more photos below)

Florida Democrats boast of 'huge gains'

The Florida Democratic Party says 20,119 more Floridians registered as Democrats than Republicans in September and that since the first of the year, the party is up 170,341.

From a FDP release: "According to the Department of State, 72,189 Floridians registered as Democrats while 52,070 people registered as Republicans during the month of September. Between Jan. 1, 2008, and Sept. 30, 2008, 803,909 people have registered to vote, including 360,478 Democrats, 253,294 Independents and NPAs, and 190,137 Republicans.

"Most striking is the net gain numbers, which factor in newly registered voters, party switchers and removes people who are no longer voters in Florida. Since January, the Florida Democratic Party has had a net gain of 415,580 voters, while the Republican Party of Florida has only gained 169,841. This shows that the gap between Democrats and Republicans in Florida has grown by 245,739 voters this year alone."

The RPOF responds below.

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Sen. Martinez's wallet stolen

(AP) SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A wallet belonging to U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., was stolen when his rental car was broken into over the weekend, police said.

Martinez, his wife and son had driven from Chicago to attend the Stanford-Notre Dame football game on Saturday, and the wallet was inadvertently left on the front seat of the car in the driveway of Notre Dame professor emeritus Jay Dolan in nearby Granger, Ind.

A neighbor later found Martinez's wallet in the yard. The senator's credentials were intact, but $180 in cash was missing.

Martinez's nephew, Eric Maust, is a punter for the Irish.

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Carole Jean Jordan replaces Stan Mayfield as tax collector

Less than a week after the death of state Rep. Stan Mayfield of Vero Beach, Indian River County Republicans on Monday night selected his vanquished primary rival, Carole Jean Jordan, to be the new county tax collector. Jordan, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, narrowly won the backing of local Republicans at a special meeting at the Vero Beach Elks Club.

Jordan finished second with 27 percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary that Mayfield won with 48 percent. (There's no Democratic candidate; the office is not on the Nov. 4 ballot). The job pays about $116,000 a year.

State Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer, who succeeded Jordan in the state post, spoke on her behalf before she edged Assistant Tax Collector Jeff Smith in a 41-35 vote, the Vero Beach Press Journal reports. Greer later issued a statement saying that Jordan "demonstrated fiscal responsibility and sound financial management" as state party leader.

Jordan, 64, owns a sprinkler company in Vero Beach. She also won re-election in August as Indian River County's Republican state committeewoman and is one of John McCain's 27 presidential electors in Florida.

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