Morning political briefs | StAugustine.com

Republican Marco Rubio is running away with the U.S. Senate race in Florida according to a new Quinnipiac University poll on the race.

The poll out Wednesday shows Rubio with a 44-30 percent lead among likely voters over Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent, with Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek at 22 percent.

The results are basically unchanged from a Sept. 30 poll by the same organization, although in the new poll Meek has gained a few points, meaning Crist is getting squeezed from both sides. Respondents in the poll also said they disapprove of President Barack Obama’s job performance by a 54-43 percent margin, a slight improvement for the president from Oct. 1.

"As the clock ticks down to Election Day, there is no evidence that Marco Rubio's lead is narrowing,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Anything is possible since there are still three weeks left in the campaign, but it appears Rubio's opponents will need an earth-shaking development to deny him the U.S. Senate seat."

The poll surveyed 1,055 likely voters Oct. 6-10 with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Once political look-alikes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist are together again. 

The lame-duck California governor endorsed Crist and his independent bid for U.S. Senate on Tuesday via Twitter, calling him, a “Great leader, works with both parties, and our country needs someone like him in DC right now.” 

Crist and Schwarzenegger melded two years ago on global warming – with Crist following California’s lead by signing a series of executive orders aimed at reducing carbon emissions in Florida.  Most of Crist’s proposal languished – ignored by his then-fellow Republicans in the Legislature and later by his Republican U.S. Senate opponent, Marco Rubio.

Crist also steered clear of advancing environmental legislation during last spring’s session, fearing it could alienate the Florida Republican Party’s conservative base. 

But since breaking with the GOP in April, Crist has gone green – again. In accepting the nod from the California Republican, Crist said, “We have worked together on such critical issues as reducing climate change and promoting alternative energy….I’m honored to have the support of this independent leader.”

The Florida Medical Association Political Action Committee has endorsed Republican Rick Scott for governor, with its president saying Scott is "not afraid of taking on personal injury lawyers," who doctors say are making malpractice insurance too expensive.

State officials recently said that the medical malpractice marketplace has improved in recent years, but doctors dispute that, saying Florida is still a bad place to practice medicine, largely because of a high number of malpractice claims.

“Florida is not a physician-friendly state to practice medicine because of the high cost of medical liability insurance and excessive lawsuits,” FMA PAC President Madelyn E. Butler, an OB/GYN in Tampa, said Tuesday. “The FMA PAC supports Rick Scott for Governor because he shares our goal of increasing access to quality health care for all of Florida’s citizens. Rick Scott is not afraid of taking on personal injury lawyers and shaking up the status quo in order to get things done for the people of Florida.”

National Democrats are bailing on plans to help U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas in the homestretch, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is dropping plans to spend more than a half million dollars in support of the freshman Democrat in the week leading up to Election Day, which Republicans have interpreted as a sign the Democrats have given up on her.

Democrats have said, however, that they’re not giving up – Kosmas has enough money to defend the challenge from state Rep. Sandy Adams, an Oviedo Republican seen as having one of the best chances to unseat a sitting Democrat this year.

"The DCCC constantly makes adjustments based on the level of Republican activity in a district," DCCC chairman Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a statement. "We … remain confident that our efforts, coupled with Suzanne's overwhelming financial advantage, will ensure a victory in November."

Kosmas reportedly as about $450,000 on hand after already having made media buys for the next few weeks. Adams has just under $300,000.