Gov. Rick Scott will headline the Martin County GOP’s annual Lincoln Day dinner on March 5 at the Marriott on Hutchinson Island. Tickets are $125 a piece and go on sale Monday at the Martin County GOP website.

VERO BEACH — At the Indian River County GOP’s Lincoln Day dinner Thursday night, down-in-the-polls Gov. Charlie Crist offered this observation about proto-Republican Abraham Lincoln:

“You know, when he was running for reelection for president, nobody thought he’d win. He was down in the polls. That happens from time to time.”

Crist paused and got a few laughs, then continued: “But he pulled it out, because the people trusted him and they understood. And he said something at Gettysburg that we all should never forget…”

Crist was introduced by America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, who is looking beyond Crist’s 2010 U.S. Senate race.

“We need Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate. I have a game plan for him. I want him to go right on the Senate Judiciary (Committee), with Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch, etc, etc. I want him to kick some ass up there on the Judiciary. He has 22 years of experience. He’s run everything you can on a state level and then I figure he’d be a very good candidate for United States president.”

Having America’s youth listen to a speech by President Obama and then, at the suggestion of the federal Department of Education, write letters to themselves about “what they can do to help the president” sent many conservatives and Republicans into rhetorical orbit this week.

Our Laura Green reports that Palm Beach County school district officials haven’t decided whether to air Obama’s remarks to students on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Department of Education appears to be backing away from its “help the president” language, instead suggesting that students should write letters about “how they can achieve their short-term and long-term education goals.”

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