And another one..

For those who like a little celebrity with their politics, actor Hill Harper - Dr. Sheldon Hawkes in "CSI: NY" - will be hosting a voter education forum and barbecue for Barack Obama at noon Sunday in Ragan Park in Tampa.

He and Obama have been pals since their days at Harvard Law School together, the campaign says.

Puerto Rican proxies for Obama

Hoping to build excitement in Central Florida's large Puerto Rican community, actor Rosie Perez (White Men Can't Jump, Pineapple Express) and U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., will campaign for Obama in Tampa and the Orlando area this week.

Look for Perez and Velazquez, the first female Puerto Rican member of Congress and chairman of the Small Business Committee, at a Hispanic canvassing event in West Tampa and a food festival in Ybor City. Schedule below.

Jeb Bush met with House budget chief

When former Gov. Jeb Bush was in Tallahassee on Wednesday, he spent two hours getting a briefing from his former budget director Mike Hansen, a House budget chief headed to be the chief of staff for incoming House Speaker Ray Sansom.

Bush was in Tallahassee Wednesday to address a reunion of his staffers, advisers and supporters at the Governor's Club. Bush talked about the budget briefing and said state government's biggest challenge was dealing with the austere and difficult budget. He warned that outside groups shouldn't go asking for new spending, because there were going to be some "tough decisions" this year.

Bush also talked about the U.S. economy and stressed that the United States is "interdependent" on other economies around the world. He talked about the need to support economies in Europe and Asia as a way of getting through this period of financial instability. He also that, domestically, Americans were just going to have to behave differently and try to save more and borrow less.

More McCain-bashing mailers

This AFL-CIO mailer went to union members in Florida and other states.

Big winner at LSU-Florida game: Bobby Jindal

The McCain campaign is touting Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's visit to Gainesville tomorrow to tailgate with fans before the LSU-Florida game. That's great, but Jindal is getting something out of the deal, too.

Two hours before the keg stands, Jindal will attend a fundraiser at the home of Dr. Jason Rosenberg. The proceeds - $1,000 minimum, $5,000 max - go to Jindal, not McCain. Invite is here.

Among those expected to attend: Brian Ballard, Van Poole, Dean Cannon, Adam Hasner and Kathleen Shanahan and A.K. Desai.

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The proxy campaign

John McCain and Barack Obama have sent some friends to Florida.

McCain: Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson visits the GOP "victory" office in West Palm Beach at 4 p.m. today. Saturday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will tailgate with fans at the Florida-LSU game in Gainesville.

Obama: Today, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey drops by a senior center in Little Havana (his parents are Cuban immigrants) in Miami, holds a town hall meeting on the economy at Florida International University and then visits a phone bank. On Sunday, U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer of California begins a three-day swing by visiting a West Palm Beach phone bank. Saturday and Sunday, U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke of New York will travel to South Florida to promote Obama to members of the Caribbean community. To address his NRA critics, Obama is sending Ray Schoenke, president of the American Hunters and Shooters Association, to Orlando, Lakeland, Ocala, Micanopy and Palatka on Saturday to talk about support for gun rights.

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Friction persists over verifying voters

In a sometimes-contentious conference call Friday morning, Secretary of State Kurt Browning and his staff said the state voter verification law does not allow election supervisors to verify identities at early voting sites that are not election offices.

The state's reading of the so called "no match, no vote" law brought criticism from Pinellas Supervisor of Elections Deborah Clark in the conference call with large-county election supervisors.

"If we say we want to let as many people vote as possible that we can verify . . . I would think that we would be encouraged to do that," Clark told Browning.

"I have concerns about uniformity," Browning said, referring to a set of procedures he sent supervisors Sept. 5 after a federal judge upheld the law. Clark remains skeptical.

"I think the state has gone way beyond the intent of the law," Clark said.

Poll has Obama up 52-44 in Florida

A poll by Strategic Vision shows Sen. Barack Obama commanding a 52 to 44 percent lead over Sen. John McCain in Florida with 1 percent naming other candidates and 3 percent undecided.

The poll was based on 1,200 phone interviews and was in the field Oct. 6-8, which included the most-recent debate and the stock market turmoil. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.

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