Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson disagrees with President Obama‘s decision to require religious schools, hospitals and other non-church institutions to provide employee health plans that cover contraceptive services.

Says Nelson spokesman Dan McLaughlin: “The federal government already is making an exception for churches. And Sen. Nelson thinks there should be an exception for church-affiliated organizations. It’s a matter of religious freedom.”

The policy has created a firestorm of opposition from the Catholic church and Republicans, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio emerging as a leading critic. Some Democrats have also expressed unease. Rubio and Democratic West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin are cosponsoring a bill to repeal the rule.

Nelson, who is up for reelection this year, wants a compromise solution, McLaughlin said.

“(H)e wants to make sure women’s health is protected,” McLaughlin said. “He feels there has to be way to do both of these things. One state, for instance, allows religious employers to enroll workers in a plan with a reduced premium, and then employees who want contraception can pay for the extra coverage.”

Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein of Boca Raton is all over the internets today after The Washington Free Beacon noted that Klein is registered as a lobbyist for Spirit Airlines and listed by President Obama‘s reelection campaign as a bundler who has raised between $200,000 and $500,000 — an apparent violation of the Obama campaign’s self-imposed ban on accepting money from lobbyists.

Klein, however, said he’s not a lobbyist and the registration listing him as one was a “mistake” by someone at Holland & Knight, the law and lobbying firm that hired attorney Klein last year.

“I brought the client in in my business-development work, but we have other people that do lobbying on Capitol Hill,” Klein said in an interview.

A form filed with Congress last month by Holland & Knight lists three lobbyists for Miramar-based Spirit: Klein, former Tampa Democratic Rep. Jim Davis and Lisa Barkovic, who was an aide to former Republican Rep. Mark Foley.

Klein said he’s not doing any lobbying, but is active in bringing clients to the firm and recently took a trip to Israel to recruit high-tech businesses. Klein said he’s also been active in raising money for Democrats, including Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston.

Supporters of President Barack Obama can rub elbows with the candidate at two fundraisers in Coral Gables later this month.

Obama will be at a luncheon at 1 p.m. at the swank Biltmore Hotel on Feb. 23, and Democratic money-man Chris Korge will host a dinner reception at 4 p.m. at his home later that night. Korge, a prominent lawyer and real estate developer, was an early Obama supporter four years ago.

“There are a limited number of tickets available. Please do not wait to purchase these tickets as they are expected to sell out quickly,” the e-mailed invitation reads.

First Lady Michelle Obama will return to Florida next week, as she tours Homestead and the Orlando area to celebrate the anniversary of her campaign to fight childhood obesity, Let’s Move.

Obama will participate in a town hall meeting Friday afternoon in Homestead, where she will answer questions from local parents about better eating habits. The town-hall meeting is sponsored by WebMD. 

Later that day, Obama will travel to Central Florida, where she plans to have dinner with a family who has made changes to become healthier.

The First Lady is scheduled to visit the Walt Disney World Resort’s ESPN Wide World of Sports on Saturday to promote exercise for children. Her tour also includes stops in Iowa, Arkansas and Texas.

Last month, Obama visited Palm Beach County as she wrapped up a day-long tour of the state asking voters to support her husband in his re-election campaign.

President Obama was also at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in January, where he announced that his administration is working to increase international tourism, including processing more visas from China and Brazil.

TAMPA — With all signs pointing toward a victory in today’s Florida Republican presidential primary, a confident and casually clad Mitt Romney visited campaign workers at his state headquarters today and said chief rival Newt Gingrich shouldn’t “whine” about attack ads that have dominated Florida airwaves.

“In South Carolina we were vastly outspent with negative ads attacking me and we stood back and talked about President Obama and suffered the consequence of that, plus also I think some good debates from Speaker Gingrich. We came to Florida and Speaker Gingrich didn’t have two good debates — I did,” Romney told reporters.

“We responded to attacks that were coming to us and I’ll tell you, when we’re attacked, I’m not just going to sit back, I’m going to fight back and fight back hard.”

Romney pointed to a Suffolk University poll in which 37 percent of Florida voters said Gingrich ran the most negative campaign, compared to 31 percent who said Romney was the most negative.

“He really can’t whine about negative campaigning when he launched a very negative campaign in South Carolina and when the people in Florida looked at the two campaigns and decided he was the most negative,” Romney said.

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House redistricting maps slated for a vote this week put a number of incumbent Republicans in tough spots, including U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation.

But the chairman of the House Redistricting Committee, Rep. Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, fired off a statement Monday refuting lingering speculation that West was being singled out.

In both the House and Senate congressional plans, West loses a Republican-leaning section of his district in northern Palm Beach County to the seat now held by fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta.

Rooney’s brother, Patrick, is a Republican state representative from West Palm Beach. The Rooney family’s ownership of  Palm Beach Kennel Club also has positioned them as political players in Tallahassee for decades.

“There are rumors that the Florida Legislature has targeted Congressman Allen West,” Weatherford said Monday. “This is patently false. I personally have supported and endorsed Allen West. I will continue to support this extraordinary member of Congress who has brought a much needed conservative voice to Washington, D.C.

“However, my personal support cannot and will not trump the Constitution,” Weatherford said, pointing out that the redistricting effort is guided by a range of state and federal standards.

West apparently doesn’t feel he’s getting the short end of the stick from state lawmakers. West’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, told the Post last month his boss is taking a long view of the redistricting proposals, which may undergo further changes following eventual court reviews.

“This is the second minute of the first round of a boxing match,” Blyth said, when the House congressional maps surfaced and bore a strong resemblance to those out of the Senate.

While West loses a key piece of Palm Beach County, the redistricting plans push him deeper into Democratic-leaning Broward County.

Rooney’s district is reduced from a rambling eight counties to a more manageable four, under both the House and Senate proposals. But while still Republican-leaning, Rooney’s district doesn’t clearly favor the GOP, since it also acquires large portions of St. Lucie County that backed Barack Obama in 2008.

HIALEAH — Hispanic voters were a key part of the reason Mitt Romney lost Florida’s 2008 primary, but at a rally here today, a key surrogate said things will be different this time.

Romney lost the Hispanic vote to John McCain by a 53-to-21 percent margin statewide in the 2008 GOP primary and lost Miami-Dade County, where three-quarters of voters are Hispanic, by a 49-to-16 percent margin.

“You’re going to see an overwhelming victory for Romney this year” predicted former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Diaz-Balart backed McCain four years ago. This year, he’s endorsing Romney. So is his brother, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami.

“They trust Ileana, Mario and me, they trust us,” Lincoln Diaz-Balart said of Cuban-American voters. “They know that he (Romney) is listening to us, that he is our friend, and thus that our community will have a friend in the White House. So you’re going to see a very dramatic difference in the vote on Tuesday from four years ago.”

Romney was accompanied today by the Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Cape Coral. He also brought his youngest son, Craig. Speaking in Spanish, Craig Romney told the crowd of a few hundred outside the Casa Marin restaurant that while his father doesn’t speak Spanish, he speaks the language of the economy, prosperity and liberty. The remark got big applause.

As he did in Naples earlier today, Romney bashed chief GOP rival Newt Gingrich for his work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Romney also called President Obama soft on Cuba.

“With Cuba he says, OK, we’re going to open up remittances and we’re going to extend travel to Cuba as a show of kindness and a gift. And of course gifts to people who are fundamentally evil are always accepted and never returned. The right course for America is to stand with strength against despots, to stand with strength against tyranny and to stand with strength for the principles of this great land,” Romney said.

Mitt Romney gets more support from Florida’s independent voters than Newt Gingrich and would be a stronger Republican presidential nominee against President Obama in November, a new Quinnipiac University poll says.

Romney and Obama are tied at 45 percent in the poll while the president would defeat Gingrich by a 50-to-39 margin in Florida the poll says.

The big difference between the Republican frontrunners: while Romney and Obama are virtually tied among independent voters, the president would defeat Gingrich by a 50-to-33 percent margin among independents in Florida.

Obama’s approval rating remains underwater in Florida, with 46 percent approving of the way he handles his duties and 52 percent disapproving. Only 43 percent of independents give Obama a positive job approval score, with 53 percent negative.

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The 12-point lead that Mitt Romney enjoyed two weeks ago in Florida has disintegrated, says a new Quinnipiac University poll that finds the Republican primary a virtual tie between Romney and surging South Carolina winner Newt Gingrich.

The poll — conducted Thursday through Monday — shows Romney getting 36 percent support from likely GOP primary voters and Gingrich getting 34 percent. The poll has a 4 percent margin of error. Rick Santorum gets 13 percent and Ron Paul 10 percent. Among voters surveyed after Saturday’s South Carolina primary, Gingrich leads Romney 40 percent to 34 percent.

Gingrich’s Florida surge comes even as Republicans believe, by a 49-to-35 percent margin, that Romney would be better able to defeat President Obama in the general election.

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LEHIGH ACRES — Standing in front of one of the many foreclosed homes in this Lee County community, Mitt Romney blasted President Obama‘s stewardship of the economy and slammed GOP rival Newt Gingrich for “influence peddling” for troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

“This president has failed America and failed Florida,” Romney said to a crowd of about 250.

Romney appeared with a man who said he recently lost his home because of a mix-up with his bank. Romney called it an example of how banks are “overwhelmed” by the Dodd-Frank bill and other regulations.

“So banks are scared to death to write down loans for fear that it’ll make them go insolvent. Banks are having a hard time. At the very time we wanted banks to be more flexible and creative and helping people stay in their homes, banks have become less flexible, less creative, more insistent on foreclosure,” Romney said.

“The right course for America is to have a president who understands how to help our lending institutions be creative and find ways to keep people who can meet their payments stay in their homes, and I’ll do that.”

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It’s not just the Republican Party establishment that believes in Mitt Romney‘s inevitability.

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has weighed in on tonight’s South Carolina Republican primary results with a statement that blisters Romney and doesn’t mention Palmetto State victor Newt Gingrich. It’s clear that Democrats expect President Obama to be facing Romney in the fall.

The Broward County congresswoman says tonight’s results show Romney has been “exposed as being out of touch with the middle class, and voters are seeing that he lives by another set of rules. He’s refused to level with voters, and now he’s in trouble. Anyone who goes into a state with a significant double digit lead yet ends up losing that support in a week, is someone who is failing to connect.”

Read Wasserman Schultz’s entire statement after the jump…

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LAKE BUENA VISTA — With a symbol of Florida’s tourism industry as his backdrop, President Obama today declared that “America is open for business” for foreign tourists who want to spend money here but are hindered by delays and red tape.

Obama announced that his administration is taking steps to increase international tourism, including processing more visas from China and Brazil. He made the announcement on Main Street USA in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom with the iconic Cinderella Castle in the background. The area was shut down to regular park patrons and open only to invited guests during Obama’s remarks.

“More money spent by more tourists means more businesses can hire more workers. It’s a pretty simple formula. And that’s why we’re all here today — to tell the world that America is open for business,” said Obama, who spoke for about 15 minutes.

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Rick Perry’s departure from the GOP presidential race is almost certain to help Newt Gingrich in the Sunshine State’s upcoming primary as many of Perry’s conservative supporters – including the next Florida Senate president – defect to the former Speaker of the House.

But how much that matters depends on how well Gingrich, distrusted by many tea party activists, performs in South Carolina this weekend, Republican legislative leaders say.

Senate President-Designate Don Gaetz, a Perry backer, said he’s leaning towards Gingrich, not because the Texas governor has endorsed his former opponent, but because he, like many others, believes Gingrich would handily outshine President Obama in debates.

“I’ve respected Newt Gingrich for years,” said Gaetz, R-Niceville. Gaetz said he’s read Gingrich’s books and met with the historian on several occasions, “more than just casually.”

But, he said, “I’m happy with either Romney or Gingrich but I’m leaning toward Gingrich,” although “I can support Romney and support him with enthusiasm.”

Gingrich’s performance in South Carolina will influence how relevant Florida will be in determining the Republican candidate, some political insiders, including Gaetz, say.

The outcome of Florida’s winner-take-all-delegates primary could whittle the race down to contest between Romney and Gingrich or crown Romney as the all-but-inevitable nominee.

“It’s important for Florida to be relevant. So for parochial reasons, I hope that the contest goes on through the end of January at least because I want Florida to be important in selecting the Republican nominee,” Gaetz said. “So Gingrich would have to do well in South Carolina to keep hope alive among those who are unsatisfied with Romney.”

Perry dropping out of the race may have little impact on Florida voters, said Sen. John Thrasher, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida and Mitt Romney supporter.

“I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. I think Newt’s where he is. I think Gov. Romney’s where he is. Most people still believe Gov. Romney’s the best choice, particularly in Florida. He’s got an incredible organization. He’s got a lot of troops on the ground all over the state. I think he’s got the resources to really put forth his message by Jan. 31,” Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, said.

Perry made the right decision, Gaetz said.

“There comes a point when you look around and you realize that it’s hopeless. And I think that Gov. Perry has gotten to that point,” he said.

LAKE BUENA VISTA — As President Obama prepares to announce a tourism initiative at Walt Disney World today, Republicans say the official visit is really just an effort to shore up his sagging poll numbers in the critical Sunshine State.

“It looks like our president is at it again with yet another taxpayer-paid campaign day,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus this morning on a conference call. “It’s amazing that this president seems to find himself every day in battleground states across America paid for by the taxpayers. He doesn’t seem to end up in Montana or Nebraska very often…It’s a campaign trip to a very important battleground state of Florida where the president is doing very poorly.”

Obama carried Florida with 51 percent in 2008, but polls show him running even with Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney now. Obama’s job disapproval rating has been above 50 percent in the last four Quinnipiac University polls of Florida voters going back to September.

“His approval rating in Florida looks like one of the drops in Space Mountain,” Priebus said.

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry joined Priebus on the call and accused Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who’s up for reelection this year, of “running scared” because Nelson is attending events in Sarasota and Manatee counties today and won’t be joining Obama. A Nelson spokesman on Wednesday said accusations that Nelson is ducking the president are “bologna.”

Republican Gov. Rick Scott has disapproval ratings about even with Obama in Florida.

“He’s not on the ballot, No. 1. The president’s on the ballot,” said Priebus, who also said he thinks Scott is doing a good job.

Gov. Rick Scott supports U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar‘s ban on the importation of Burmese pythons and three other non-native constrictive snakes, the governor said this afternoon.

MSNBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd asked Scott and Salazar about the snake ban at an Everglades Summit in Tallahassee this afternoon.

“People laugh about this but…it’s crazy,” said Todd, a Miami native. “This issue of my idiot old neighbors in South Florida. They import these pets then get scared of them and dump them in the Everglades.”

The pythons are “injurious and they are dangerous,” Salazar said.

Salazar said the python ban is part of a comprehensive approach to cleaning up the Everglades.

“We need to make sure the investments that we’re making…that they’re not for naught,” he said.

The invasive snakes are killing native habitat and wildlife, Salazar said.

“We need to make sure that what we are doing is comprehensive,” he said. “We need to look at the Everglades as an entire ecosystem.”

Critics said Salazar’s ban doesn’t go far enough because he only targeted four of nine dangerous snakes.

“We tailored our regulation to go after the present danger that we have in the Everglades and right now it’s the Burmese python, which is making up habitat with tens of thousands of Burmese pythons that are out there,” Salazar said after the meeting.

Salazar said his agency his “going after those species that present the greatest threat right now” and that five other species are being scrutinized scientifically and for the economic implications of banning those as well.

“But these four are the first step and we have the other five under consideration,” he said.

Scott said he supports the new federal rule, especially because Congress has failed for three years to pass U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s legislation that would have outlawed pythons.

Nelson praised Salazar and blasted critics for trying to “delay and obstruct” the new rule.

“These giant constrictor snakes do not belong in the Everglades and they do not belong in people’s back yards. Not only are they upsetting the ecological balance because they’re at the top of the food chain. They even attack alligators and consume them,” Nelson said.

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While his rivals have yet to launch a TV campaign in Florida before the Jan. 31 primary, Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney is airing his fourth ad in the state (three in English and one Spanish-language spot).

This spot counters criticism from Newt Gingrich and others of Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital by mentioning three successful businesses Bain helped — Staples, Sports Authority and Steel Dynamics — and by likening the Bain critics to President Obama.

“We expected the Obama administration to put free markets on trial,” says the ad’s narrator, who then quotes an editorial from The Wall Street Journal (no great fan of Romney’s) saying the Republican Bain critics “are embarrassing themselves.”

A new poll commissioned by the Everglades Foundation shows President Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney in a dead heat in Florida.

Obama gets 46 percent and Romney 45 percent, with 9 percent undecided, in the poll conducted by the Republican firm The Tarrance Group. The poll of 607 likely voters has a 4.1 percent margin of error. Obama holds a 44-39 lead among independents and a 50-41 lead among Hispanic voters. Romney holds a 54-37 lead among white voters and leads among voters who are 45 and older while Obama leads with voters 44 and younger.

Voters were asked if “funding for Everglades restoration should be increased because protecting the water supply is critical to the future economic success of the state” or if “funding for Everglades restoration must continue to be cut because the state is facing a massive budget crisis and cuts must be made to every program.”

By a 64-to-28 percent margin, voters favored increasing Everglades funding. That’s up from 51-to-41 percent support for more Everglades spending in February 2011.

The poll was released today to coincide with the opening of a two-day Everglades summit in Tallahassee.

MIAMI — Newt Gingrich visited the heart of Miami’s Cuban-American community this morning and said that as president he’d like to create a “Cuban spring that is even more exciting than the Arab spring” on the communist island.

Gingrich has faced harsh criticism from many conservatives this week for accusing GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney of profiting by “looting” other businesses and laying off workers when Romney headed the private equity firm Bain Capital.

Gingrich sought to regain the offensive on the issue this morning, saying he’s merely questioning Romney’s claim that companies Bain invested in created more than 100,000 jobs.

“I’ve gotten huge pushback. Some of you have seen this on television. So let me be clear, to question a presidential candidate’s claims to have created jobs is not to attack capitalism, it’s to question a candidate. The idea that some candidate can make a claim and then yell foul when you ask him to prove it is just silly. If he can’t stand up today and defend his claim, how’s he going to stand up to Obama in the fall,” Gingrich said.

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Sounding more like a general election nominee than a candidate slogging through a crowded primary field, Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney ripped President Obama‘s handling of the economy and the federal budget before a crowd of about 400 at the Palm Beach County Convention Center.

“We’ve had three years now with unemployment above 8 percent,” Romney said. “You remember three years ago the newly elected president said ‘Let me borrow $787 billion, I’ll keep unemployment below 8 percent.’ It hasn’t been below since. This president has failed the American people.”

The 8 percent “promise,” frequently mentioned by Republican candidates, is a reference to a projection by Obama’s economic advisers in January 2009 that a stimulus package would keep unemployment below 8 percent and the jobless rate would near 9 percent otherwise.

The unemployment rate, which was 7.8 percent in January 2009, peaked at 10 percent in October 2009 and stood at 8.5 percent in December.

“The president’s run out of ideas. And he’s running out of excuses. And in 2012, with your help, he’s run out of time,” Romney said.

The crowd spontaneously broke into chants of “Mitt, Mitt, Mitt” at one point during Romney’s remarks, which lasted about 20 minutes. The casually dressed Romney spent at least as much time afterward shaking hands and signing autographs.

Romney this evening is expected to raise $1 million or more tonight in Palm Beach at a fundraiser at the oceanfront home of Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

Organizers for today’s rally set up a room in the convention center with a capacity of 400. That number was reached, and the campaign said about 100 others listened to Romney’s remarks in an adjoining room.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater introduced Romney. Former Republican U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale was on hand.

Perennial swing state Florida is too close to call in a hypothetical general election match-up between President Obama and either Republican Mitt Romney or Rick Santorum, a new Quinnipiac University poll says.

A Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican U.s. Rep. Connie Mack would also be a virtual tie, the new poll says.

The poll shows Obama, who carried Florida with 51 percent in 2008, continues to have underlying job-approval and favorability problems in the Sunshine State. Fifty-four percent of Florida voters disapprove of the job he’s doing, 52 percent say he doesn’t deserve to be reelected and 50 percent say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.

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