Miami's Kirk Wagar at White House State Dinner

Ah, the perks of raising money for candidates! Wagar, the Coconut Grove attorney and President Barack Obama's chief Florida fundraiser during the 2008 campaign, is among the bigwigs at tonight's State Dinner at the White House in honor of India, mingling with political dignitaries and the likes of actors Blair Underwood and Alfre Woodard, directors Steven Spielberg and M. Night Shyamalan.

Full guest list after the jump. 

Dems to target Ros-Lehtinen on the radio

FromCNN: "The Democratic National Committee is targeting 32 House Republicans in a new radio ad campaign that criticizes them for voting against health care reform legislation earlier this month.

"The commercials will begin running Tuesday and are aimed at Republicans in congressional districts that voted for President Obama in the 2008 election.

" 'Republicans have read this wrong politically,' said DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan. 'They think the political peril is in voting for reform. The political peril is in voting against reform and siding with big insurance companies instead of their neighbors.' "

Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is among the 32. Listen to the ad here.

LeMieux: Obama's Guantanamo decision is flawed

Florida Sen. George LeMieux is panning President Obama's decision to try the 9/11 suspects in the U.S.

"The President's decision to bring terrorists into this country is wrong and against our national security interests. Civilian trials have previously provided terrorists with information that allowed them to evade our intel operations. Military tribunals at Gitmo would both preserve our tradition of justice while protecting our national security.

"The war on terror should not be reduced to criminal-justice matter. Islamo-fascist terrorism is a threat to our national security and should be treated accordingly. The men who planned and executed the 9/11 attacks are not bank robbers - they are dedicated to destroying our way of life."

Hello Ileana? It's the Democrats

The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America is asking its volunteers to "drop by" the offices of 32 House Republicans who voted against the health care bill Saturday -- but who represent districts won President Obama in 2008.

That includes Miami's Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. A press release says OFA volunteers are being asked to drop by the offices "to remind these members that voters in their districts voted for change last year and urge them to reconsider their position when the House votes again on a final bill later this year."

"Just one year ago, Americans in these congressional districts voted to send President Obama to the White House and these Republican Representatives to Congress," OFA Director Mitch Stewart said. " The message was clear in these districts: Americans want change, and they expect their Representatives to work with President Obama and reach across the aisle to help deliver it."

Ros-Lehtinen's unlikely to be too worked up: she won the district 58 percent to 42 percent. Obama won it 51 percent to 49 percent.

Lincoln Diaz-Balart blames Obama for attack on Cuban blogger

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami:

Friday's violent attack on Yoani Sanchez, as she and her colleagues were on their way to a peaceful demonstration in Havana, was repulsive and condemnable. Through a series of overtures, the Obama Administration has indicated that the United States would seek a new approach to the Cuban dictatorship, claiming that President Obama's gestures would help obtain a positive response from the regime.  Friday's attack on the Cuban bloggers was the dictatorship's loud-and-clear response to President Obama's gestures.  I call on the President and his State Department to denounce the attack on these brave bloggers and to ask the international community to demonstrate genuine solidarity with the oppressed people of Cuba.      

Miami herald story on Sanchez is here.

When will national Democratic party fess up to Rothstein money?

Just one day before Fort Lauderdale lawyer and alleged Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein fled for Morocco as the feds were closing in, he was spotted at a Miami Beach fundraiser headlined by President Barack Obama.

Tickets to the Oct. 26 event at Fountainebleau Miami Beach hotel benefitting Democrats running for Congress and Senate started at $500. Donors who gave $10,000 got a brief meeting with the president; $15,200 got you a photo, too. Contributions of $100,000 earned you a seat at Obama's dinner table.

While donors from Gov. Charlie Crist to Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam to state Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff have pledged to return donations linked to Rothstein, the national Democratic party has stayed mum. Repeated calls and e-mails to confirm Rothstein's attendance at the fundraiser and the amount of his donation have gone unreturned.

Time to fess up. As party officials know, any Rothstein money will eventually show up in reports posted to the Federal Elections Commission web site.

Any photos of Rothstein and Obama together floating around out there?

Hold on a moment! LeMieux puts a stop on an Obama State Department nominee

A day after a South Carolina senator dropped his opposition to a top State Department nominee, Florida Sen. George LeMieux has put the brakes back on.

LeMieux said Friday he's blocking Thomas Shannon's nomination as U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

"As a new senator from Florida and given our state’s role in the region representing the gateway to Latin America, it is incumbent on me to fully vet all appointments of this magnitude," LeMieux said. "I intend to meet with Assistant Secretary Shannon to discuss my concerns about his nomination and U.S. foreign policy in the region."

Sen. Jim DeMint had blocked two State Department nominees in opposition to the Obama adminstration's stance handling of the crisis in Honduras. But he said Thursday he was assured that the administration would recognize upcoming elections in the country.

The White House: Charlie Crist was "very supportive" of the stimulus

Asked at today's press briefing whether the White House considered Gov. Charlie Crist's appearance with President Barack Obama in February an endorsement of the stimulus bill, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Crist's words at the event "speak for themselves.

"I think he was very supportive of the legislation and supportive of the benefits that it would have and has had for the state of Florida in seeing positive economic growth," Gibbs said. "I would say yes, yes."

Crist's revisionist history on stimulus plan

Gov. Charlie Crist is really stretching the bounds of credulity these days. First he expects us to believe he didn't know President Barack Obama was in his own state last week. And now he claims not to have endorsed the administration's federal stimulus package. Here's an excerpt from his interview on CNN last night:

Wolf Blitzer: Let me interrupt for a second, Governor. For a second, do you have any regrets about endorsing the economic stimulus package?

Crist: Well, I didn't endorse it. I -- you know, I didn't even have a vote on the darned thing. But I understood that it was going to pass and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians. Let me give you just one example of the difference that made. We would have had to let go of over 20,000 schoolteachers in Florida if we hadn't had that support. And, frankly, I kind of look at it like Florida taxpayers' dollars coming back to the state to benefit them.

Didn't endorse? Cue the videotape:

Crist on NY 23: "A funky situation to put it mildly"

Gov. Charlie Cristmade CNN's Situation Room tonight, looking to turn the conversation from what happened in New York -- where a conservative uprising ousted the GOP-annointed candidate from the race -- to New Jersey and Virginia, where Republicans claimed the governor's mansions.

 "I don't know we if can really tell exactly what that race meant," said Crist, himself the party-annointed candidate for the Senate. "I mean that was kind of a funky situation to put it mildly. And i think it'll take a little time to analyze what happened there. 

"But what did happen there, is unfortunately a Democrat won in a district that's been represented by a Republican for over 150 years. The good news is from last night, these two gubernatorial candidates ran grat campaigns, articulated what the people want, what is important to them and it's jobs, jobs, jobs. Making sure that that we're fighting for a better economy and lower taxes."

Noting that Crist had backed President Barack Obama's stimulus plan, host Wolf Blitzer asked the gov about Obama's efforts to overhaul health care.

"Not with him there either," Crist replied.