Jon Stewart: Marco Rubio should be gov.... FL "deserves a governor with hair."

The most-serious and honest political discussion didn't happen under the official Republican National Convention banner.

It occurred just up the street, where Florida Sen. Marco Rubio joined Jon Stewart in Tampa on The Daily Show. Laced with humor and all-too short, the back-and-forth showed why Stewart is one of the best interviewers in the business and why Rubio is probably his party's best standard bearer.

The two also seem to genuinely like each other. And Rubio should be particularly happy about that. He wasn't picked to be the RNC's keynote speaker (NJ Gov. Chris Christie was), but the Daily Show broadcast is sure to be watched by as many, if not more, people than those who see Christie's speech.

Here's some of the banter that happened in the web-only broadcast:

On taking the stimulus:

Rubio: "The bottom line is ultimately the state is going to do what’s in the best interest of the state

"I was not a fan of the stimulus a) because it was borrowed money and I didn’t think the rate of return on it was good enough. We now owe $800 billion for it and really didn’t get any economic growth as a result of it, certainly not the kind of economic growth that we’re looking for."

Stewart: "But it got you some..."

Rubio: "But not the kind that you would have thought for $800 billion." A third of it was tax incentives and tax cuts. Florida had the battery plant, the SAFT. "Do you know that one, SAFT?"

Rubio: "I’m not familiar with it.."

Stewart: "Well, I read the Florida papers.."

Rubio: "I only read the accurate ones…"

Jeb Bush appeals to GOP grassroots and tells party: 'stop acting stupid' courting Hispanics

With Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama badly among Hispanic voters in the polls, Republicans paraded out their top Hispanic political celebrities Tuesday and tapped the financial and influential heft of former Gov. Jeb Bush to help suture the gap. \

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Republican National Convention, Bush repeated his frequent warning that the party must change its tone, an admonition he has frequently raised about the party’s hardline position on immigration.

“The future of our party is to reach out consistently to have a tone that is open and hospitable to people who share values,’’ he said, adding “the conservative cause would be the governing philosophy as far as the eye could see … and that’s doable if we just stop acting stupid.”

Bush was joined by two Latino governors in an event organized by the Hispanic Leadership Network, a newly formed advocacy group associated with the American Action Network. The group will finance issue ads and promote what it calls a “center-right” agenda.

Bush’s youngest son, Jeb Bush Jr, announced the emergence of SunPac, a Coral Gables–based organization that targets young Hispanics in Florida to support their issues and get involved in politics.

And the prime time television schedule included two of the convention’s five Hispanics headliners: Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz. The others, Gov. Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico and Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, will follow Wednesday. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio will introduce Mitt Romney on Thursday.

The top draw for Republicans showcasing their Hispanic bonafides: Rubio. More here.

George LeMieux pens his own Crist column: 'not the Charlie Crist I knew'

In a column in Wednesday's Tampa Bay Times, George LeMieux keeps his distance from his old boss:

"This isn't the Charlie Crist I knew.

"In recent days, the former Florida governor has publicly lambasted the Republican Party, his former party of more than 30 years, and given his support to one of the worst presidential administrations in recent history. He has characterized the Republican agenda as extreme and a failure in leadership. What's extreme is not the Republican Party, but Crist's attempt to transform himself from Reagan Republican into an Obama liberal.

"The Charlie Crist I knew and worked closely with for five years was Florida's attorney general and a tough, no-nonsense, crime fighter who earned the moniker "Chain Gang Charlie" for his support of prison chain gangs as a state senator. He never met a tax increase he liked. While not an ideologue on issues such as the environment, renewable energy and immigration, Crist's particular brand of Republicanism was conservative enough to convincingly win Republican primaries in his statewide races for attorney general and governor....More from George LeMieux here.

Paul Ryan: energizing activists but can he attract everyone else?

He’s just the running mate. But Americans could be more eager to see Paul Ryan when he takes the stage Wednesday at the Republican National Convention than the man at the top of the ticket, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

Ryan is the newest thing in politics right now, the still largely unknown subject of wild enthusiasm among conservatives, the target of unrelenting scorn from Democrats. In a prime-time speech Wednesday, he gets to tell his own story unfiltered by the news media. It will be a critical test, as he works to drive his party to a march-to-the-polls frenzy while not doing anything that could turn off independents and suburban moderates who could decide a close election.

Young, attractive and upbeat, the Republican vice presidential nominee easily energizes Republican activists — some of whom question Romney’s conservative credentials —largely for his blueprint to slash the federal government.

“I adore him,” gushed Kathy Hildebrand, a former math teacher and a convention delegate from Georgia. “He offers real solutions.”

But it’s precisely those solutions —policy proposals that include overhauling Medicare — that make him less popular with Democrats and moderates needed to win in November.

“His back is to the wall, frankly,” said John Zogby, an independent pollster. “He’s going to have a rough time going to the middle.” More from Anita Kumar here.

More headaches for Florida: bus doesn't come, delegates arrive late

After a day spent waiting, the Republican National Convention started for real at 2 p.m. Tuesday with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus launching the first of many attacks against President Barack Obama.

Finally, Florida’s moment in the political sun — forever captured in these words and stories.
Which, for Florida’s delegates, is a good thing.

They missed it. The delay was not of their making.

Delegates were to board buses at noon to head from the Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort in Palm Harbor to the Tampa Bay Times Forum 30 miles away. More here.

Rubio's speech interrupted by hecklers

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's speech to the Florida delegation was interrupted several times Tuesday by a well-placed band of protestors.

Rubio handled it with humor, joking initially that one protestor "is not happy with the hotel assignment"  assignment" and later asked "Did he eat the food?"

About six protestors from Stand Up Florida, a group affiliated with the service employees union, and their lawyer were given a trespass warning and were escorted by Pinellas County Sheriff deputies off the property. Most of them were from Palm Beach County, including self-described anarchist and former Lake Worth City Commissioner Cara Jennings. They appeared to have found their way into the convention hall without credentials.

Bondi: RNC speech Wednesday night will be a 'entertaining' bash on Obama

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi told members of the Florida delegation Tuesday that she and Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens will be speaking at the Republican National Convention in a "give and take" style for eight minutes Wednesday night -- between 8:30 - 9 p.m.

As Florida's top headliner that night, Bondi said she'll focus on "the administration," and has been practicing for days. "We're doing a back and forth,'' she said. "We're hoping to be very entertaining."

Bondi's focus is likely to be on President Obama's Affordable Care Act, as one of the lead plaintiffs against the administration. She told the conventioneers that the health care lawsuit “won on two very important issues,” naming the provision that required to state to comply with the Medicaid provisions and rejected the notion that the act applied to states because of the U.S. Commerce Clause. 

She suggested that if Obama had sold the measure as a tax, "it would have never passed Congress. Now we know it is one of the largest taxes in our history…Now that we know it is a tax, we only need 51 votes in the Senate.”

Curry touts Scott's handling of his unexpected job as storm-watcher in chief

When Tropical Storm Isaac churned through the Caribbean and took aim at the Florida peninsula, it carried with it new risk and opportunity for Gov. Rick Scott. 

The unpopular governor was thrust into the national spotlight – not for hosting the Republican National Convention but for managing the storm. He followed the pattern of other governors before him, holding televised briefings at the emergency operations center to update the public and deliver early storm warnings and advice.

But with both the storm and thousands of delegates heading to Tampa Bay, Scott stepped it up another notch. He cancelled his meet and greet with fundraisers Sunday evening, pulled out of the economic development events he planned to host on Monday, cancelled all his activities through Tuesday and withdrew plans to give a seven-minute prime time scheduled for Monday’s opening session. 

“Floridians are getting to see Rick Scott at his best right now,’’ said Lenny Curry, chairman of the Florida Republican Party on Monday afternoon. “Rick Scott as the leader, the problem solver.’’ Story here.