The Democratic Campaign Congressional Committee began airing radio ads Tuesday targeting Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Young and others in senior-heavy districts nationwide for supporting a budget proposal that could reduce Medicare spending.

Young,  80, is the longest serving Republican in Congress and represents Pinellas County. That’s also home to politician-in-waiting,  former Gov. Charlie Crist, an ex-Republican turned independent — oft-rumored to be considering becoming a Democrat. 

But in Tallahassee this week for the unveiling of his gubernatorial portrait, Crist downplayed such talk.

“I’ve heard a lot of that speculation,” Crist said of the party-switch scenario. But I’m paying all my attention to (wife) Carole and the rest of my family. And working hard for the people at (Orlando-based trial lawyer firm) Morgan & Morgan. I’m enjoying being an independent, it’s a great place to be.”

Crist also seemed to distance himself from running against Young, or looking to succeed him should the veteran congressman choose to retire. Asked if he might be on the 2012 ballot, Crist replied, “I doubt it.”

Gov. Rick Scott is taking some credit for the last-minute federal budget deal — saying the $2.4 billion in high-speed rail money he blocked from coming to Florida helped settle the standoff between President Obama and Republicans in Congress.

“I am proud to have brought this waste to the attention of those in Washington,” Scott said Monday in a statement issued by his press office.  “These funds should either be returned to taxpayers as tax cuts or applied to reducing the burden that our national debt is passing to future generations.”

If anybody had any lingering questions about how Scott feels about the high-speed rail project, his first reference to the project labeled it a “boondoggle.”