The South Florida Tea Party organization, which until now has focused on such tax-and-spending issues as the $787 billion federal stimulus bill and the massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system, sent out an e-mail Monday night urging activists to come to Fort Lauderdale this afternoon for a rally demanding the “immediate ejection of Harry Reid from office.”

Senate Majority Leader Reid, D-Nev., is in apology mode this week after a new book revealed he had commented approvingly on then-candidate Barack Obama’s prospects as a “light-skinned” African-American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.”

Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican running for U.S. Senate:
“The attempted terror attack on Christmas Day was a somber reminder that we are a nation still at war. The facts surrounding the failed bombing plot are alarming. It is troubling to hear that this attempt was not stopped long before the plan was enacted.
“As more details emerge on who knew what and when, it is important that all facets of our homeland security redouble their efforts to protect the American people as we fight the ongoing war on terror.

“While I appreciate that a review has been conducted, it is much more important that our entire intelligence community proactively works to make sure this type of attempt doesn’t happen again.”

Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican running for governor:
“I am thankful President Obama is fully engaged on national security issues and the business of keeping Americans safe. Our approach must not be reactionary and it must not be passive. We must successfully execute a coordinated and proactive intelligence and counter-terrorism strategy to ensure the safety of our citizens. (more…)

President Obama tonight ordered 30,000 more U.S. troops to be deployed in Afghanistan and pledged to begin withdrawing forces in 18 months.

The president delivered a prime-time speech from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

Some Florida reactions after the jump…..

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U.S. Sen. George LeMieux ruled out a run for attorney general next year but was less definitive when asked today about challenging Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012.

Republican LeMieux was interested in the AG race before Gov. Charlie Crist appointed him to serve the final 16 months of former Sen. Mel Martinez’s Senate term. LeMieux has said he won’t run for a full Senate term next year when Crist seeks the seat.

In response to an audience question at today’s Forum Club of the Palm Beaches lunch, LeMieux said he can’t serve in the Senate and run for AG.

“This is the most important time in American history for Florida to have two senators. So as much as I would like to be attorney general — it’s a wonderful position, I was the deputy attorney general (when Crist was AG) — I don’t think I can do both.”

He continued: “As for 2012, the future will take care of itself. I’ve got to do the job I’m doing now and hopefully the best job I can and then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do…We’ll make whatever decisions we can for the family after my time is over.”

U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who’s in Palm Beach County today, told a business group this morning that a Democratic health care overhaul bill will probably pass and cause a deterioration in the overall quality of health care.

“I think it’s going to be bad for America. What I fear is down the road all we’re going to have is Medicaid for the masses…If this goes down the road 5 or 10 years from now, everybody’s going to have really poor health care. You may have it, but it’s not going to be any good. You’re going to wait — 100 people in the waiting room,” LeMieux told trustees of the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches.

Read about it by clicking here.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 GOP presidential hopeful who now heads the Free and Strong America PAC, will speak at the Forum Club of the Palm Beaches in March. In the insanely early speculation about the 2012 presidential race, Romney is one of the most bandied-about names.

Florida Republican Sen. George LeMieux will speak at the Forum Club on Nov. 23 — his first major address to a Florida audience since being appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist in August.

Forum Club lunches are held at the Cohen Pavilion at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. Public tickets for LeMieux’s speech are $55 and must be purchased in advance by calling the Forum Club at (561) 304-0570.

Florida Sen. George LeMieux delivered his first Senate floor speech this morning, with excerpts in the video above and a full 18:44 video version here.

“We cannot afford the government we have, let alone the government that the majority in this Congress wants,” said LeMieux, who took office last month after being appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace the retired Mel Martinez.

“Our national debt is close to $12 trillion and growing. Every day we spend more than $700 million on interest payments alone. The Federal government needs to address this issue before we saddle our children and their children with a debt that will suffocate our ability to provide government services and our nation’s prosperity.”

Bowing to pressure from federal officials, Sen. Jeff Atwater said today he’d like a December special session to address rail issues.

Gov. Charlie Crist said this afternoon that he would welcome the reconsideration of a controversial commuter rail project that lawmakers failed to pass in the spring and another stab at a gambling compact with the Seminoles.

“That’s a great idea,” Crist said.

Senate President Jeff Atwater, meeting with leaders from Congress and the White House today over Medicaid and rail transit issues said he wants a December special session to show the federal government that Florida needs $2.5 billion in federal stimulus money for high-speed rail.

“The President would like to give the Federal government an answer by the end of the year, December being the earliest we could feasibly have a special session. He plans to talk with the Speaker, Governor and Senate members in coming days,” Atwater’s spokeswoman Jaryn Emhof said in an e-mail.

Here’s our front-page story this morning on some of the issues facing high-speed rail in Florida.

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Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink raised $1.6 million in the third quarter for her bid to be governor, her campaign reported today.

That brings the Democrat’s total fundraising to more than $4 million with more than a year to next year’s election.

Campaign experts estimate that Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum, the presumptive GOP candidate, will raise and spend upwards of $20 million each to replace Gov. Charlie Crist, who is leaving office after one term to run for U.S. Senate. Crist appointed his closest advisor, George LeMieux, to the post after U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez vacated it more than a year before his term expired.

More than 4,550 donors contributed an average $215 to Sink’s campaign in the third quarter this year, her campaign said in a press release. And she brought in just over $100,000 from online contributions.

Last Wednesday’s announcement that 11 Florida employees of activist group ACORN were being charged with voter-registration fraud — after being turned in by ACORN itself — was just the beginning of a week of brutal news for the controversial left-leaning group.

On Thursday, a conservative activist began releasing a series of undercover videos in which he and a female friend pose as a pimp and prostitute and appear to receive advice from ACORN employees in Baltimore, Washington and New York on how to get a mortgage for a brothel.

In response to the videos, ACORN released a statement accusing conservatives of trying to make the organization “their Willy (sic) Horton for 2009.”

The U.S. Census Bureau severed ties with the group Friday.

On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 83-7 for an amendment to block any federal housing grants from going to the group. Both Florida’s Senators — Democrat Bill Nelson and Republican George LeMieux — were in the majority.

George LeMieux was sworn in as a U.S. Senator this afternoon by Vice President Joe Biden in the U.S. Capitol. LeMieux, an attorney was was a Broward County GOP chairman and right-hand man to Gov. Charlie Crist, was appointed by Crist last month to replace Sen. Mel Martinez, whose resignation took effect Wednesday.

LeMieux, who’ll serve the final months of Martinez’ term, has said he won’t seek election to the seat in 2010 when Crist runs for it.

“There are tremendous issues facing this nation, and although my time in Washington will be brief, I intend to work hard every day to address these critical challenges and serve the people of this unique, diverse and wonderful state,” he said in a statement released by his office.

Read LeMieux’s entire statement after the jump……

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George LeMieux, the attorney and former top aide to Gov. Charlie Crist who was tapped by Crist to serve the last 16 months of Mel Martinez’ Senate term, will be sworn in this afternoon on the Senate floor at 2:45 p.m.

Martinez officially retired Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden, in his constitutional role as president of the Senate, will administer the oath to LeMieux.

C-Span 2 will carry it live.

Gov. Charlie Crist performed as the Sunshine State’s chief pitch-man, blowing off Florida’s historic population loss and touting the fine weather in a CNBC interview this morning.

Florida saw a drop of 58,000 residents last year, the first population decrease since military residents left the state after World War II.

“It’s not that big a deal, to be honest with you,” Crist shrugged off the decline on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” show today.

The governor then launched into a Sunshine State sales pitch, touting declines in property taxes and property insurance rates and the weather.

“And it’s Florida. It’s a beautiful place. It’s a gorgeous day today down here in South Florida. You just can’t beat the Sunshine State,” said Crist, who is in Miami. Florida I really think is on the rise and it’s a great deal for an awful lot of people, too.”

Although Florida’s unemployment rate is nearly 11 percent, Crist was upbeat about the job market and pointed to Palm Beach County as a shining example.

Palm Beach County’s unemployment rate was 11.7 percent in July, one percentage point above the state average.

“Even in the Palm Beach County area where Scripps and Torrey Pines and some of these other scientific institutes have located, Max Planck…it’s been great for that area of the state,” Crist said. “We’re very pleased with the direction things are going. We wish they were better, don’t misunderstand me. But we’re not sitting still. We’re on the move. And I continue to be optimistic and encouraged about where we’re going.”

Crist, who drew the wrath of fellow Republicans by urging Congress to pass President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan, reversed that position on the health care reforms now being considered in Washington.

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Democrats were quick to decry Gov. Charlie Crist’s appointment of former top aide George LeMieux to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy as cronyism. But this The New York Times politics blog post argues that Crist appointing LeMieux as a placeholder while he runs for the seat in 2010 isn’t much different from the Kennedy family arranging for Benjamin A. Smith II to keep John F. Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat warm until Ted Kennedy was old enough to run for it in 1962.

A more recent parallel, writer Peter Baker notes, is this year’s appointment of Vice President Joe Biden’s former Senate chief of staff, Ted Kaufman, to hold Biden’s Delaware Senate while the VP’s son, Beau Biden, is expected to run for it next year.

U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez:“I congratulate George LeMieux for being appointed by the governor to fill the remainder of my term. George is bright, capable, and an accomplished
administrator. My staff and I stand ready to ensure a smooth transition.”

Former House Speaker Marco Rubio, who is running against Crist in the GOP primary to replace Martinez: “This is a disappointing pick for Florida. George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate. Governor Crist had a wealth of consistent and principled conservative candidates to choose from, all of whom would have been a reliable check and balance on the excesses of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda.”

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate: “Governor Crist was afforded a high responsibility with this appointment. Instead, he treated this process like a mockery, politicizing his selection by flying around the state at taxpayers’ expense, touring major media markets and drawing this selection out. Well respected Floridians with a wealth of elected service experience from Congressman Clay Shaw to Mayor John Delaney to various Hispanic leaders were in a position to hit the ground running if appointed, but that possibility is now nonexistent.”

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer: “Once again, Charlie Crist has demonstrated his commitment to serving Floridians, by appointing George LeMieux who is well qualified, a dedicated public servant, conservative Republican and an excellent choice!”

Progress Florida executive director Mark Ferrulo: “It’s shocking. We wonder why Gov. Crist didn’t just appoint himself if he was going to pick his former chief of staff and campaign ‘maestro’. “The so-called ‘People’s Governor’ has made clear through this appointment that he places personal loyalty and his own political benefit above the interests of Floridians.”

Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican running to replace Crist as governor: “I congratulate George LeMieux on his appointment as Florida’s U.S. Senator. I have known George for a long time, both as a friend and as a former Deputy Attorney General, a capacity in which he served this office
well. I wish him the best in serving the people of Florida in the U.S. Senate.”

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Hari Sevugan: “With Florida’s economy in shambles, Charlie Crist could have selected a Senator who would be able to hit the ground running in Washington to tackle the problems that face Floridians. In appointing a political crony as a placeholder until he can run for Senate himself, Charlie Crist is using the Governorship to advance his own political ambitions rather than advancing the lives of the Floridians he was elected to serve.”

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a Democrat from Boca Raton: “In short, George LeMieux will make an excellent Senator. I wish him great success and look forward to working with him in any way I can.”

Republican operative and political consultant Mac Stipanovich: “He was not the obvious choice.”

Marion Hammer, former NRA president who now lobbies for the same organization and the Unified Sportsmen of Florida: “The NRA and Unified Sportsmen of Florida are very pleased with Governor Crist’s appointment of George LeMieux as Florida’s new junior U.S. Senator. George is rated ‘A’ by the NRA and will be a strong supporter of the Second Amendment in the U.S. Senate. Gun owners can count on George LeMieux to fight to protect freedom and the Second Amendment.”

Florida Democratic Party spokesman Eric Jotkoff: “This is just one more example of the Republican leadership in Tallahassee putting cronyism and corruption above the people of our state. From Ray Sansom, to former lobbyist Bill McCollum, to George LeMieux, it is clear that we must stand together and pledge to end the Republican culture of cronyism and corruption in Tallahassee.”

Former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, who was a finalist on Crist’s list of possible Martinez replacements and for whom LeMieux once worked as an intern: “George is a very, very capable guy and I’m sure he’ll do a good job. He’s a quick study, he’s articulate, he’s very close to the governor. I think it’s a good choice.”

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, active with LeMieux in Broward County GOP politics since the mid-1990s: “He’s a smart guy, politically savvy, a hard worker. There’s nothing negative to say about George….He’s certainly smart enough to wade through the issues.”

Kirk Fordham, head of the Everglades Foundation: “George LeMieux is the right pick for Florida. He has a deep understanding of a wide range of regional issues that are unique to Florida. When it comes to protecting the people’s water supply and restoring the Everglades, we couldn’t ask for a better ally than we’ll have in Senator George LeMieux.”

Gov. Charlie Crist’s rival in next year’s Republican U.S. Senate primary, former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, blasted Crist’s appointment of former chief of staff George LeMieux to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy for the next 16 months.

Said Rubio: “This is a disappointing pick for Florida. George LeMieux is a talented political operative and the governor’s best friend, but that doesn’t make him the right choice to represent Florida in the Senate. Governor Crist had a wealth of consistent and principled conservative candidates to choose from, all of whom would have been a reliable check and balance on the excesses of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid agenda.”

After weeks of intrigue, Gov. Charlie Crist made it official this morning: He’s appointing George LeMieux, his former chief of staff and close political mastermind, to fill the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mel Martinez.

LeMieux — a fellow Republican whom Crist has dubbed “the Maestro” — would serve as a placeholder, keeping the Senate seat warm until Crist can run for the post himself in the 2010 election.

“I know his soul,” Crist told reporters and others at the old state capitol building (now a museum) in Tallahassee.

Early on, Crist had ruled out appointing himself to the Senate seat, a gambit that could have alienated the voters he still would need to face next year. Crist also bypassed potential elder-statesman figures such as Jim Smith, a former Florida attorney general and secretary of state, or former U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale.

LeMieux said he is resigning immediately as chairman of the influential law and lobbying firm Gunster, Yoakley & Stewart. The firm has been representing U.S. Sugar Corp. in negotiating a proposed $536 million land deal with Crist’s water managers, although LeMieux has said he’s had no role in the talks. LeMieux also has been sitting in on the state’s casino gambling negotiations with the Seminole Indian tribe, even after leaving Crist’s office last year.

LeMieux, a Fort Lauderdale native, said he will move next week to Washington, where his top priorities will be health care and the budget deficit.
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