National Democrats are touting Chris Craft’s challenge of freshman Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney of Tequesta as an “emerging” race this year.

But Craft has yet to emerge as a money-raising rival to the incumbent.

New Federal Election Commission reports show Rooney raised $288,060 during the fourth quarter of 2009 and began 2010 with $460,304 in cash on hand for his reelection bid. Craft, a St. Lucie County commissioner, raised $41,700 during the quarter and has $64,854 on hand.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee this month listed the Rooney-Craft race in Florida’s congressional District 16 as one of 26 “races to watch” for open or GOP-held seats. The list includes 17 “top races” and nine “emerging races.”

With home sales up and migration into the state climbing, Republican Gov. Charlie Crist pronounced today that Florida was emerging from a historically sluggish economy as he proposed a state budget increase for the first time since 2006.

“Something is starting to percolate in Florida’s economy,” Crist said.

He proposed a $69.2 billion budget for 2010-2011, up 4 percent from the $66.5 billion budget the legislature passed for this year.

Crist’s unveiled his rosy proposal the same day the White House announced the U.S. economy grew 5.7 percent in the final three months of 2009, the fastest growth since 2003.

Performance of the state and national economy is expected to factor heavily in the political fortunes of Crist and President Obama in the coming year.

Story here.

The Florida Public Service Commission signed off on a $1.03 monthly rate increase for typical Florida Power & Light customers based on 1,000 a month kilowatt hours of usage.

The PSC earlier this month approved a $75 million rate hike for the state’s largest utility that serves about 4 million customers. That was just a sliver of the $1.2 billion rate increase – about $10 a month for residential customers – the Juno Beach-based power company had asked for.

This graphic shows the total budget proposed by Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, how much the Republican-controlled legislature approved and where the final budget ended up for the year.

What it shows is that for all the jokes Senate and House leaders make about Crist’s optimistic budget, his definition of reality hasn’t been too far from their own: Crist proposed less spending than lawmakers initially approved in 2007 and in 2009 both he and the legislature ended up on the same total amount.

Story here

Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is livid over this New York Times report that President Obama will call for an end to NASA moon missions and privatization of future astronaut launches when he unveils his budget plan next week.

Nelson, who as a congressman flew on a 1986 Space Shuttle mission, ripped Obama’s “green-eyeshade-wearing advisors” for pushing the idea and said he will “stand up and fight for NASA, and for the thousands of people who stand to lose their jobs.”

Read his entire statement after the jump….

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Republican Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled a $69.2 billion budget proposal for 2010-11. It’s a $2.7 billion increase from the current year – and would be the first increase in the state budget since 2006 if lawmakers approve.

“For the first time since I’ve been governor we actually have more revenue coming into the treasury, not less,” Crist said.

Republican leaders in the legislature have brushed off Crist’s rosy budget proposals in recent years. He brushed off the criticism today that his economic outlooks have been “optimistic.”

“It’s a damn good thing, isn’t it? Somebody better be,” he said laughing. “You know, if you had a leader who said we’re going to hell follow me, I don’t want to follow that guy.”

Some highlights from his proposal:

*2.6 percent increase in per-student spending

*10 percent increase in teacher bonuses; new bonuses for teachers based on results from AP exams and International Baccalaureate.

*$50 million for Everglades restoration; $50 million for Florida Forever

*$10 million for solar energy rebates

*$100 million cut in corporate income tax

Budget proposal here. Press handout here.

Story here

President Obama used a campaign-style town hall meeting Thursday in this politically crucial city to reinforce the themes of his State of the Union address and deliver a high-speed rail grant that could bring thousands of jobs to Florida.

The $1.25 billion in stimulus money will put Floridians to work “building the infrastructure of the future,” Obama told the crowd of about 3,000 at the University of Tampa’s Bob Martinez Sports Center.

“I’m excited. I’m going to come back down here and ride it,” he said after Vice President Joe Biden announced the stimulus grant. “Y’all have a date. When that thing is all set up, we’ll come down and check it out.”

The Tampa town hall was the president’s only event to drive forward the messages of his first State of the Union on the day after that speech. Florida voters have played a key role in electing presidents for the past two decades, and Tampa has been a key indicator for the state’s political leanings.

Story here.

From Post columnist Frank Cerabino

…Rubio found a way to criticize Thursday’s transportation news for Florida.

That’s because today’s Marco Rubio isn’t the same guy who wrote his book four years ago.

If Rubio had a book to write this year, it would best be titled One Innovative Idea for Marco Rubio’s Future.

And that idea is to be crowned King of the Teabaggers.

Ben Graber was a state House member from Broward County from 1988 to 1994 and a Broward County commissioner from 2000 to 2006. But he’s lived in unincorporated Delray Beach since 2007. And with about 70 percent of congressional District 19 Democratic primary voters living in Palm Beach County, Graber today sent out a “Dear Neighbor” blast e-mail decrying the “false rumor” that he’s a Browardian.

Graber faces state Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, in Tuesday’s special primary. The general election to replace Robert Wexler is April 13.

Read Graber’s e-mail after the jump….

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GOP congressional hopefuls Joe Budd and Curt Price have been telling audiences they won’t support Ed Lynch if Lynch prevails in Tuesday’s three-candidate special Republican primary in District 19.

Lynch has taken heat for tax liens and court judgments, but says they just prove he’s not afraid to fight the federal government. Lynch and his supporters have also pushed back against Budd over his past business dealings.

Read about it here.

Senate Rules Committee Chairman Alex Villalobbos sent a memo to his chamber today warning that repeated absences will not be tolerated in the chamber. The note comes five days after The Palm Beach Post noted the rise in absences in the chamber:

From the memo:

The President intends to strictly enforce the provisions of Senate Rule 2.27. You will be removed automatically from any committee following two consecutive unexcused absences. I remind you that written requests for excused absences must be submitted to and approved by the committee chair before the meeting begins. In addition, it is not acceptable to appear at a committee meeting for roll call and then disappear. Under Senate Rule 2.17 no business of any kind can be conducted by a committee in the absence of a quorum. Leaving a meeting after roll call is unfair to your constituents and to your fellow Senators on the committee.

The President has also asked me to inform those of you who are Chairs that he does not consider campaign or fund raising conflicts to be acceptable as an excuse for an absence. Please do not authorize excused absences for those reasons.

A day after a State of the Union in which President Obama urged Congress not to give up on health care, he whipped a partisan crowd into a fury over health insurance reform.

“If you are serious about reducing our deficit and debt, you cannot do it without reforming health care,” he told the crowd of 3,400 this afternoon, linking health care to the nation’s economic revival, much as he did Wednesday night.

Rest of story here.

Live tweeting from the event here.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist was promising some tough talk this morning for Democratic President Obama, but he got just a moment. From the gaggle aboard Air Force One:

Q Is President Obama planning on hugging Charlie Crist? (Laughter.)

MR. BURTON: I haven’t talked to him about the specific greeting, but we look forward to seeing all the Florida officials who will be there when we get on the ground.

From the White House pool report:

President Obama landed at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., at 12:00 p.m.

A few minutes later, he was greeted on the tarmac by a handful of Florida officials, including Gov. Charlie Crist. There was no ho hug this time, only a handshake, but it lingered about 27 seconds, according to your pool’s count. The president tightly gripped the governor’s hand and clutched his arm.

Vice President Biden gathered close for a tight photo of the three – in case Marco Rubio’s campaign is so inclined to use it.

More related Post on Politics posts:

• Crist gets 27 seconds with Obama
• Scribbles waiting for President Obama in Tampa

Read related Palm Beach Post article, Obama trip to Florida expected to bring $1 billion or more for high-speed rail

It’s 61 degrees and sunny in downtown Tampa as the crowd is filling Bob Martinez Sports Center at the picturesque University of Tampa, where President Obama and Vice President Biden are scheduled to hold a town hall meeting this morning.

Here’s what we’re watching for today:

1.) Gov. Charlie Crist: The Republican has caught heat for supporting Obama’s stimulus package. And he’s fallen in the polls largely due to his primary opponent repeatedly reminding the conservative faithful of this picture of the two men hugging at an event in Fort Myers last year. Crist says he’s going to meet Obama when Air Force One lands at 11:50 a.m. to give him a stern talking about the need to follow though on his promise of bipartisanship. How will the President of the United States react to a lecture from a one-term Republican governor?

2.) TRAIN!!: It’s a long shot, but I kind of hope Obama quotes Wil from “Stand By Me” in formally awarding the state’s $1.25 billion stimulus grant to start building a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando. Florida is one of nine areas around the country to receive a total of $8 billion in high-speed rail grants.

3.) Q&A: It’s a nice peg for Obama to announce the high-speed rail grant, but this trip was planned to drive home the themes of his first State of the Union speech in a politically crucial city. The reactions to the speech from the political establishment fell along partisan lines. And while the town hall crowd should be pretty friendly, Obama’s team hasn’t screened questions before in Florida. Voters are as angry in Florida as they anywhere. Don’t be surprised if a barb or two thrown.

4.) I’m at the event, but don’t get a question. In fact, the questions are kind of expensive (free tickets were going for hundreds of dollars on Craigslist). But I could, I’d ask the president for specifics on where he thinks Congress can advance the health care bill. Last night, he asked lawmakers to take a second look at the proposal. Should lawmakers break the bill into pieces and vote on individual proposals?

What would you ask?

GOP congressional hopeful Ed Lynch, one of three Republicans running in next week’s special District 19 primary, issued an apology today to Michael Solomon, a consultant who worked on Lynch’s failed 2008 campaign and who won a $5,000 judgment against Lynch last year.

Lynch’s statement says Solomon “left the campaign on his own accord under no pressure or direction from myself, I apologize if I have defamed his character in anyway, I wish him the best of luck to him in his future endeavors.”

Lynch said he issued the statement because “someone was saying that he got fired from the campaign.”

Solomon won a $5,000 judgment in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against Lynch last year for work he did on Lynch’s 2008 campaign against former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Boca Raton.

Lynch said the judgment is “a situation that we’re dealing with and it will be dealt with pretty expeditiously.” He said he doesn’t “necessarily agree” with the amount of the judgment.

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Florida Republican strategist Brett Doster:

“This was the season’s most entertaining episode of American Home Makeover.”

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Florida Democratic Party Hispanic Advisory Council Chairwoman Millie Herrera:

“I fully support his proposal for $30 billion for small business access to capital. The focus in 2010 is jobs.”

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Florida Republican strategist Albert Martinez:

“If you are one of the 1.1 million Floridians without work, and wondering why your tax dollars were squandered in a stimulus package that hasn’t created a single net job, there wasn’t anything in the President’s speech that will bring you any comfort.”

__________________________________________________

Florida Democratic operative Steve Schale:

“Tonight, the President laid out an agressive agenda to get the country back to work, but more importantly, he showed why the American people sent him to Washington, to be the country’s adult.”

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Florida Republican operative Rick Wilson on Obama’s request that Congress take a second look at health care reform:

“We’ll take another look. Ok. Looked. Still no.”

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Florida Democratic strategist Phillip Perry:

“Glad to hear an ambitious State of the Union from President Obama tonight. If we accomplish everything in it, Democrats shouldn’t have problems in November.”

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Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery

The State of the Union

Wednesday, January 27, 2009

Washington, DC

Madame Speaker, Vice President Biden, Members of Congress, distinguished guests, and fellow Americans:

Our Constitution declares that from time to time, the President shall give to Congress information about the state of our union. For two hundred and twenty years, our leaders have fulfilled this duty. They have done so during periods of prosperity and tranquility. And they have done so in the midst of war and depression; at moments of great strife and great struggle.

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We’ve got a live feed of the State of Union speech embedded next to our Twitter list, a live-updating page of more than 260 Republicans, Democrats, independents, etc., etc.

Click here.

But newly elected Virgina Gov. Bob McDonnell says its time to get a grip on spending: (excerpts from his Republican response to the State of the Union here)

The amount of this debt is on pace to double in five years, and triple in ten. The federal debt is already over $100,000 per household. This is simply unsustainable. The President’s partial freeze on discretionary spending is a laudable step, but a small one. The circumstances of our time demand that we reconsider and restore the proper, limited role of government at every level.