Marco Rubio to get Brookings intro from foreign policy pal, Joe Lieberman

If you haven't seen enough of Sen. Marco Rubio in the newspapers, blogs, Twitter, the cable shows or in person, you have another shot to catch the Republican vice-presidential shortlister noon tomorrow at a Washington Brookings Institution.

Rubio, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, is scheduled to give a "major speech" on foreign policy, his office says.

And for those who think he's being too partisan these days, Rubio will get an intro from Independent  Sen. Joe Lieberman, fellow foreign-policy/Israel hawk. The two travelled to Libya after Qahdafi fell (but before he was killed) and co-authored a Wall Street Journal op-ed on the matter in June.

Coked-up monkeys? Nah. Connie Mack's first radio spot is all pipeline politics

Senate candidate Connie Mack's campaign announced a new radio spot today attacking Sen. Bill Nelson over the stalled Keystone Pipeline project. Mack, a Fort Myers Republican, made it a campaign issue earlier this month when he launched a petition drive at a Miami gas station, where the station owner was the only guy who signed the document and didn't think it would do too much. But something's better than nothing, he said.

With gas prices high and rising, the pain at the pump could be a winner for Republican candidates. Democrats say fuel prices are the result of speculation and global supply-and-demand forces.

The new radio spot differs markedly in style and substance from Mack's first TV ad, which bashed Nelson for his stimulus vote -- in large part because it funded cocaine research that used monkeys.

Scott says he won't have to pay for re-election bid

Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday that not only will he seek a second-term in 2014, but he predicted that he won't have to reach into his own pocket to pay for a re-election campaign like he did the first time.

Scott, who spent more than $73 million of his own money to win in 2010, made the announcement in a matter-of-fact way during a 25-minute question-and-answer session with reporters in his office. A reporter asked the governor whether he anticipated the need to write checks for a second campaign.

"I won't have to," Scott said, adding: "I'm running for re-election. I like this job. This is the best job you can imagine ... In this job, if you care about anybody's family in this state, you can have a positive impact. You can impact their education system."

Scott's political fund-raising 527 organization, Let's Get to Work, collected $910,000 in the first quarter of this year. Four donors kicked in $100,000 each: Miami investor Miguel Fernandez, The Villages, Blue Cross Blue Shield and United Group Underwriters, a Miami Gardens insurance firm. 

Asked how much a 2014 race would cost, Scott said: "I don't know what it will cost, but we'll have the money to win."

In his comments, Scott appeared relaxed and upbeat and sounded eager to hit the campaign trail, despite his persistently low approval ratings in public opinion polls. He crowed about the recent drop in the state's' sunemployment rate (biggest one-month drop in 20 years); the drop in violent crime (lowest in 40 years, he said); and positive trends in tourism and home sales in Florida.

The man who said in 2010 that he didn't read Florida newspapers now says he reads newspaper articles "and the nice op-eds," and enjoys getting advice from as many sources as possible.

-- Steve Bousquet

Environmental group ad warns of 'summer slime'

Lobbyists, politicians and industrial polluters are to blame for toxic algae blooms in the state's waterways, according to a television ad launched today by the Florida Water Coalition.

The ad will play across Florida markets during the "summer slime" season, according to a press release. It warns that polluted waterways deter tourists, drag on the economy and threaten public safety.

Gov. Scott withdraws appointments (updated)

Gov. Rick Scott has reappointed most of the people who were not confirmed by the Senate in the spring legislative session, but he withdrew 10, including several from the Tampa Bay area.

Without providing any explanation, Scott late Monday pulled the following appointees: Roderick Jones to the Board of Chiropractic Medicine; Pinellas Clerk of Court Ken Burke to the St. Petersburg College Board of Trustees; Carlos of Alfonso of Tampa to the University of Florida Board of Trustees; Earl Young of Zephyrhills to the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council; Edwin Lytton of Inverness and Veeramaneni Rao of Lecanto to the Citrus County Hospital Board; Anthony Clemente of Miami to the Board of Pilot Commissioners; Charles Fishman of Venice to the State College of Florida-Manatee Board of Trustees; and Pamella Seay of Port Charlotte to the Edison State College Board of Trustees.
 
A previous blog post on this subject said Scott revoked 51 appointments, but the others are appointed by others, such as the Board of Governors (in the case of state university trustees) or Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam (in the case of the Board of Professional Surveyors and Mappers).

Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau