In a day’s worth of statements by Florida politicians condemning the Gainesville minister who wants to burn Korans on Saturday, give CFO candidate Jeff Atwater credit for tying last week’s anti-Muslim rhetoric to this week’s media firestorm.

Atwater managed to tie his “outrage” about the proposal to build an Islamic center a few blocks away from Ground Zero in New York City to his “disappointment” that Gainesville minister Terry Jones wants to burn Korans.

His statement is below:

Hatred, intolerance, and insensitivity to the traditions of others are not American values.

Just as I have been outraged by a proposal to build a mosque in the sacred area of New York City where thousands of innocent victims are entombed forever, I am disappointed to see a fellow Floridian advocating the burning of a sacred religious text.

With tens of thousands of American troops serving in countries where the population is predominantly Muslim, I am horrified to know that this stunt will actually put our service men and women in danger.

To better reflect our nation’s values and in the interest of protecting American lives abroad, I call upon minister Terry Jones to show the world that Americans do not simply speak about religious freedom, we live by these words as well.

Republican Pam Bondi's campaign for attorney general touted an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police on Wednesday. The organization cited Bondi's 18 years as a state prosecutor. Read the full release below.

Today the Pam Bondi Campaign announced that the Florida Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has endorsed Pam Bondi in the general election for Attorney General. The Florida FOP's endorsement affirms Pam Bondi as law enforcement’s choice and solidifies her commitment to protect Floridians’ freedoms, safety and jobs over the next four years.

“The support of the Fraternal Order of Police is so important because I am committed to fighting criminals and protecting our families, our neighborhoods and our communities,” said Pam. “Florida’s sworn law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every single day to keep our state safe, and I am honored to be their choice as Florida's next Attorney General.”

“As an 18 year career prosecutor in the 13th Judicial Circuit and a strong advocate for justice, Pam has demonstrated a commitment to the citizens of Florida that exceeds politics as usual. We have seen firsthand her willingness to step up and fight for what is right,” said James W. Preston, President, Florida State FOP Lodge. “We are confident the experience, remarkable leadership, knowledge and work ethic she will bring to the office of Attorney General will serve our great state with integrity and honor. Florida deserves no less.”

“As a prosecutor for nearly two decades, I've worked closely with our law enforcement community to protect our state and its citizens,” said Pam. “As Florida’s Attorney General, public safety will continue to be one of my top priorities.”

Bondi spent 18 years serving the State Attorney’s Office in Hillsborough County, where she prosecuted criminals of every type, including kidnappers, murderers, gang members, drug traffickers and child predators.

The Florida FOP represents 20,000 professional law enforcement officers state-wide. The FOP is the oldest and largest organization in the nation working for law enforcement members.

The Rick Scott campaign was quick to pick up on an appearance by Alex Sink on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown” earlier today — and with good reason. In less than five minutes of questioning by NBC’s Chuck Todd, Sink:

– Stumbled into acknowledging that she favors permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts, putting her at odds with not just President Barack Obama but even many Democratic centrists who say that, at best, the tax cuts should be extended for no more than a year or two to allow time for an economic recovery.

– Couldn’t (or wouldn’t) identify one issue where she differed with Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, with whom she’s served on the Florida Cabinet for nearly four years.

– Couldn’t (or wouldn’t) say how or what her campaign learned from the losing 2002 campaign of her husband, Bill McBride, against Jeb Bush.

In a statement, the Scott campaign described her as “incoherent.” That may be going a bit far, but the interview underscored that Sink has still not learned to talk comfortably and fluently about her policy positions.

You can watch the entire interview here.

A new CNN/Time poll of registered voters puts Democrat Alex Sink ahead of Republican Rick Scott in the Florida governor's race by a 7 point margin. Sink's 49 percent to 42 percent lead is built with a significant advantage among independent voters.

The poll includes "leaners" -- voters who aren't yet sold on their pick -- and is tempered by a 3.5 percent margin of error. See the full results here.

The fascinating numbers are in the cross-tabs. Sink hold the edge with support from South Florida where she tops her rival by a 62 percent to 33 percent margin (all other geographies are a dead heat or within the MOE) and among moderates where Sink leads Scott 67 percent to 24 percent (Sink wins liberals and Scott wins conservatives by similar proportions). Sink also bests Scott among those making less than $50,000 and those who live in urban areas.

According to a new CNN/Time poll, Alex Sink leads Rick Scott 49 percent to 42 percent in the gov race.

In the Senate, Republican Marco Rubio holds a two-point advantage over Independent Charlie Crist -- 36 percent to 34 percent -- with Republicans favoring Rubio 70 percent to Crist’s 21 percent. Another 24 percent of registered voters said they preferred Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek.

A new CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll is showing Florida’s three-way U.S. Senate race a toss-up, while Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Alex Sink sits with a slight, 49 percent-to-42 percent edge over Republican nominee Rick Scott.

Republican Rubio holds a two-point advantage over indy Crist, 36 percent to 34 percent, with 70 percent of Republicans favoring Rubio and 21 percent favoring Crist. The Democratic candidate, Meek, drew 24 percent of registered voters surveyed. The poll surveyed 899 registered voters with margin for error of +/- 3.5 percentage points for each result.

Here’s the survey, and keep reading for the release:

A new poll indicates that the three way-battle for Florida’s open Senate seat, arguably the most fascinating Senate contest this year, is deadlocked at the top.

And according to a CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey of registered voters in Florida, the Democrat holds a seven point advantage in the gubernatorial fight.

In the Senate contest, 36 percent of people questioned say they support Republican nominee and former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, with 34 percent backing Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, who earlier this year dropped his bid for the GOP Senate nomination and is now running as an independent candidate. Twenty-four percent say if the election were held today, they’d vote for Rep. Kendrick Meek, the Democratic nominee, with three percent saying they vote for none of the candidates and three percent holding no opinion.

“A three-way race is producing a three-way split among Florida voters,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Meek wins majority support among Democrats while Rubio picks up seven in ten Republicans. Among Independents, it’s Crist with 45 percent, distantly followed by Rubio with 29 percent and Meek with only 16 percent of Independents.”

The survey also indicates a geographical divide.

“Crist is doing best in the Tampa Bay area and along the southern Gulf Coast. Meek does best in the Miami area. Rubio’s best region is the northern part of the state, including the Panhandle.”

The winner will succeed GOP Sen. George LeMieux, who was named to replace fellow Republican Mel Martinez, who stepped down from his seat last year.

With Crist running for the Senate instead of bidding for a second term as governor, the gubernatorial contest is for an open seat. The poll indicates that Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee, has an edge over GOP nominee Rick Scott 49 to 42 percent.

“Sink is doing well among independents and moderate voters. She pulls two-thirds of the vote among moderates, and beats Scott among independents by a 50 to 37 percent margin,” says Holland.

Scott, a multi-millionaire former health care executive, spent around $50 million to top Florida Attorney General and former Rep. Bill McCollum in what turned into a bitter primary.

Bud Chiles, the son of former Florida Democratic governor and senator Lawton Chiles, recently dropped his independent bid for governor.

The CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted September 2-7, with 899 registered voters in Florida questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In response to Democrat Alex Sink's announcement that she and her husband will release their individual tax returns for the past five years, Republican Rick Scott's campaign said that he and his wife intend to do the same.

Sink said her returns will be available online next week. Scott plans to release them as soon as possible, said Jennifer Baker, Scott spokeswoman.

"Our intention has always been to release them, and we will release them shortly,'' Baker said.

Scott's campaign was first asked to release his tax returns on June 17, when his Republican primary opponent, Attorney General Bill McCollum urged him to release them. Baker said they promised to release their returns at that time but "Bill McCollum didn't release his and it got lost in the day to day issues of the campaign."

When Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink announced earlier that she and her husband would release five years of tax returns — and challenged Republican rival Rick Scott to do the same — The Pulse queried his uber-flack, Jen Baker. Here’s her response:

“We will release tax returns ….have never said we wouldn’t.”

More as we know it.

Now that Rick Scott and Alex Sink have released statements condemning the planned Koran-buring in Gainesville this Saturday, it appears the floodgates have opened. The latest candidate to issue a statement is Dan Gelber, the Democratic attorney general nominee, who in true Gelber style has kicked up the rhetoric just a notch. (And note his spelling of Quran.)

Read on:

The Dove church in Gainesville could not be more wrong and they should reconsider their patently offensive Quran burning. The demonstration will only inflame the very elements they seek to embarrass and as General Petraeus has pointed out, this action will endanger our troops who already put their lives in harms way and will only further threaten American security. This type of behavior is simply not consistent with bedrock American traditions and principles. The famous words of Pastor Martin Niemoller are instructive when he admonished against silence in the face of wrongdoing. It is particularly important for Americans to speak out to let the world community know that this small group does not represent in any manner the beliefs of the rest of our state or our nation. I urge every office holder and candidate in Florida to similarly condemn this behavior; and I urge righteous men and women of faith – no matter their religious convictions – to similarly admonish against this conduct from their churches and synagogues.”

Kendrick Meek's Senate campaign has been sending out old Charlie Crist for Senate e-mails every day to show the governor's ties to the Republican party -- but some reporters apparently aren't getting the point.

The Daily Caller reports that some reporters today falsely Tweeted that South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham endorsed Crist. He did, but back in the day when Crist was running as a Republican. He later pulled it back.

TALLAHASSEE — Who says Republican gubernatorial nominee Rick Scott isn’t weighing in on Florida issues?

Alright. It isn’t exactly transportation concurrency, but Scott has issued a release calling on Gainesville pastor Terry Jones to scrap his Koran book-burning festivities this weekend. Here’s Scott’s release:

“As an outsider fighting to turn our state around, my priority remains focused on creating jobs and getting Florida moving again. But, as the anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, anyone who seeks to lead this state has an obligation to speak out on an entirely different matter.

The eyes of the nation have turned to Florida and a small group here that plans to burn the Koran on September 11th. I sincerely ask the organizers to stop, reflect and change their plans.

I agree with General Petraeus. This kind of provocation is deeply wrong and even dangerous.

As this situation unfolds, Floridians of all faiths should come together and say this provocation doesn’t reflect the values of our great state.” 

Half an hour after Scott’s release, Democratic candidate Alex Sink put out her own statement condemning the burning.

“I stand with General Petraeus in condemning the planned burning of the Quran, as it could put our brave troops in harm’s way.  I also feel this display of hatred and intolerance is not in keeping with the values and spirit of our state.”

"The downright racism behind this hate-filled organization’s threat to burn copies of the Quran is disgraceful to American values. The issue here is not our coveted right of free speech; the issue is American values.

"Hate is hate and this is free speech running amuck.  It is irresponsible to hide behind the First Amendment and knowingly put our U.S. military in harm’s way. Not only do I condemn these proposed actions for their complete disrespect to the Islamic religion, but I condemn these actions for their potential to
incite further violence and hate crimes."

If the book burning proceeds, Hastings said he plans to introduce a House resolution next week condemning the burning.

Rick Scott just sent this statement regarding plans to burn dozens of Korans on the anniversary of 9/11 at a Gainesville church: “As an outsider fighting to turn our state around, my priority remains focused on creating jobs and getting Florida moving again. But, as the anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, anyone who seeks to lead this state has an obligation to speak out on an entirely different matter.

The eyes of the nation have turned to Florida and a small group here that plans to burn the Koran on September 11th. I sincerely ask the organizers to stop, reflect and change their plans.

I agree with General Petraeus. This kind of provocation is deeply wrong and even dangerous.

As this situation unfolds, Floridians of all faiths should come together and say this provocation doesn’t reflect the values of our great state.”

It seems like only yesterday that Rick Scott was taking to the airways to proclaim that, “Mr. President, Ground Zero is the wrong place for a mosque.” But now that he’s the Republican nominee for governor, Scott has apparently decided that inveighing against Muslims has its limits.

Here’s Scott’s statement on the Gainesville preacher who’s planning to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday to protest the acts of “Muslim terrorists” on 9/11:

“As an outsider fighting to turn our state around, my priority remains focused on creating jobs and getting Florida moving again. But, as the anniversary of the September 11th attacks approaches, anyone who seeks to lead this state has an obligation to speak out on an entirely different matter.

The eyes of the nation have turned to Florida and a small group here that plans to burn the Koran on September 11th. I sincerely ask the organizers to stop, reflect and change their plans.

I agree with General Petraeus. This kind of provocation is deeply wrong and even dangerous.

As this situation unfolds, Floridians of all faiths should come together and say this provocation doesn’t reflect the values of our great state.”

With five Florida congressional seats in hot play, the White House says President Obama will be back in Florida on Oct. 11 to attend a fundraising event for House Democrats.

The fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee will be held in Coral Gables, an administration official says, with details to follow. 

The big races in Florida are led by the open seat battle between Democrat Joe Garcia and Republican David Rivera for Mario Diaz-Balart's former seat in South Florida -- as well as GOP'ers seeing opportunity among Democratic-held seats: Boca Raton Democrat Rep. Ron Klein, facing a fiesty challenge from Republican Allen West; North Florida Democrat Allen Boyd facing a significant challenge -- his first since he was elected in 1996 -- from businessman Steve Southerland; and Orlando area Democratic Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Alan Grayson -- who took out Republicans in 2008 -- facing challenges from Sandy Adams and Dan Webster, respectively.

Newly independent U.S. Senate candidate Charlie Crist has added to his list of formerly-famous Democrats who’ve endorsed his candidacy. The latest is Walter “Skip” Campbell, the former state senator from Broward who lost to Bill McCollum in the attorney general’s race four years ago.

“In his time as Governor, Charlie Crist has worked across party lines to improve the lives of Florida’s working families,” Campbell said in a statement. “As a United States Senator, Governor Crist will take the best ideas from both parties to create jobs, protect our environment, and make sure every child has access to a high-quality public education. I am pleased to endorse his candidacy.”

Last week, Crist announced the endorsement of outgoing state Senate Minority Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee, who last month lost a bid for Congress against U.S. Rep. Allan Boyd.

Alex Sink is trying to turn up the heat on Rick Scott where the Republican seems most vulnerable: by trying to force hm to disclose more about his personal finances.

The Democratic gubernatorial candidate announced today that she and her husband, attorney (and failed 2002 gubernatorial candidate) Bill McBride, will post their tax returns for 2005-09 online next week and called on Scott to do the same.

“If Rick Scott refuses to open his tax returns for public scrutiny, his already evasive campaign will become the most historically secretive candidacy for Florida governor in decades,” the Sink campaign said in a statement. “In the tradition of sunshine in government and transparency that Floridians expect, Florida governors, both Republican and Democrat, have made their tax returns public dating back 40 years.”

Scott has been a reluctant discloser. He finally filed his net worth statement — roughly $220 million, as of last summer — on the last day he was required to do so. He’s repeatedly dismissed as “a private matter” a sealed deposition he gave in a lawsuit against his walk-in healthcare company, Solantic. So it will be interesting to see how he responds to Sink’s latest move.

TALLAHASSEE — Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott just announced he would take up Democrat Alex  Sink on two of her five debate proposals in Davie and Tampa.

Here’s the release:

Gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott today announced that he has accepted two statewide general election debates with liberal Democrat Alex Sink. 

Rick looks forward to debating the issues important to Floridians. People deserve to know that there is a clear choice between an outsider and successful businessman with a proven track record of creating jobs, balancing budgets and a Tallahassee insider and Obama liberal who supports job killing policies and as Chief Financial Officer has presided over historic job loss, increased insurance premiums and mismanaged pension trusts,” said spokesman Jen Baker.

The Rick Scott For Governor campaign has accepted a debate invitation for Wednesday, October 20th debate in Davie, Florida organized by Leadership Florida in partnership with the Florida Press Association. The debate will be held at Nova Southeastern University and will be broadcasted statewide.

The second debate will be held on Monday, October 25th at the University of South Florida’s Tampa campus and is sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times and CNN. The debate will be broadcasted statewide through CNN affiliates and hosted by CNN anchor John King.

UPDATED: Democrat Alex Sink said Wednesday she will release her tax returns for the last five years and called on GOP rival Rick Scott to do the same.

Sink plans to make public her tax returns and those of her husband, former gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, next week. Her campaign called it a "40-year tradition" for candidates for governor and hopes Scott and his wife, Ann, will release their returns at the same time.

"It's vital to be open and transparent with the people of Florida," Sink said in a statement.  "Floridians have a critical choice in this election and they deserve to know about a governor's background and finances.  Rick Scott needs to stop hiding from the people of Florida."

Sink's dig at Scott refers to his murkey financial disclosure form filed earlier this year when he ran for governor. Candidates can file the financial disclosure or an annual tax return when running for office.

The Democratic Governors Association argued in a conference call this morning that amid all the challenges facing the Democrats this year gubernatorial races are a bright spot where Democrats are looking to pick make gains rather than just minimize losses. And few if any states look brighter for a pick off than Florida:

"There is no state that I think better represents what's at stake in 2010 because it is an open seat governor's race with a very, very clear contrast between the parties,'' said executive director Nathan Daschle. "It is obviously a 2012 presidential battleground. And it also a state that is going to undergo redistricting, and the governor plays a very important role in that. So Florida is in some sense the trifecta of all this is important about 2010."

He and strategist John Anzalone argued that Republicans are miscalculated that the apparent Republican wave looming effects state races the way it may federal races.

The DGA feels better than ever about Sink's prospects, Daschle said, because Sink is getting stronger and stronger, Bud Chiles has dropped out, and Rick Scott is the GOP nominee: "We couldn't have asked for a better candidate to run against, simply because Rick Scott I think represents all that is going on in the Republican party right now and has a very clear contrast with Alex Sink. Rick Scott is the Madoff of Medicare. This is the guy who;s company had the single largest settlement for medicare and medicaid fraud, $1.7-billion. ... He pleaded the Fifth 75 times in depositions. I don't know how he can credibly say he wants to be the governor of this state."

-- Adam Smith