Fox News | Serafin Gomez

Marco Rubio has no scheduled meeting with Palin, who will be in Jacksonville, Orlando and The Villages retirement community on Tuesday, but the former Florida House speaker’s spokesman said the campaign would fully appreciate support from the former Alaska governor and best-selling author.

*Gainesville Sun | Crist faces a tougher primary as luster dulls

Southern Political Report | Tom Baxter

Is the senatorial campaign of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, viewed only a few months ago as unstoppable, showing signs of implosion? Most of Crist’s problems are intramural, but they don’t seem to be going away.

• *Not to mention Rubio will give the CPAC keynote address. One candidate’s stock seems to be climbing, the other falling.

Washington Independent | David Weigel

The youthful Republican and ex-Speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives is pushing back against unsourced rumors that he’ll drop out of the 2010 U.S. Senate race.

“It’s not true,” Rubio said before addressing a meeting of the Northeast Leon County Conservative Club.

Trailing Gov. Charlie Crist in polls and in fundraising, Rubio said his campaign has been dogged by periodic reports that he was getting out.

“Those things have been going around every week,” he said with a shrug.

The Hill | Reid Wilson

The chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party is vowing to let Gov. John Hoeven (R) know just how much his constituents want him in the Senate.

But although GOP chairman Gary Emineth will have an uphill climb to convince Hoeven, serving his third term, to take on Sen. Byron Dorgan (D), who will seek his fourth term next year, the governor has made comments lately indicating he has not completely slammed the door on challenging the Democrat.

Roll Call | John McArdle

As they continue to mull endorsing former state Speaker Marco Rubio in Florida’s Republican Senate primary, the Club for Growth released a new poll Tuesday that showed Gov. Charlie Crist (R) as the clear frontrunner in this early stage of the race.

But Club for Growth executive director David Keating said Tuesday that the survey also showed that Rubio has room for growth while Crist’s support is “softer than what a lot of people are assuming.”

Pensacola News Journal | Bill Cotterell

The Mason-Dixon Florida Poll, conducted last week among 625 registered voters, indicated 51 percent support for Crist — compared to 23 percent for Rubio. But that was largely a factor of Crist being far better known statewide than the former West Miami legislator.

Among Republicans who recognized both names, Crist’s lead was 33 percent to 31 percent. With an error margin of 6 percent, and 36 percent of GOP voters saying they are undecided, the figures were encouraging for Rubio.

Miami Herald | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is endorsing Marco Rubio for Senate.

Huckabee, who was popular among conservatives during last year’s Republican presidential primary, said, “I’ve never seen a more energetic, articulate, principled conservative as Marco Rubio.”

Kendrick Meek (D): 29 (26)
Charlie Crist (R): 59 (60)
Kendrick Meek (D): 30 (24)
Marco Rubio (R): 31 (26)
(MoE: ±2.8%)

Charlie Crist (R): 59 (54)
Marco Rubio (R): 22 (4)
Other: NA (33)
(MoE: ±4.5%)

Data from Strategic Vision

H/T Swing State Project

Political Ticker | CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has rolled out a succession of endorsements from national Republicans since announcing his entrance into the 2010 Senate race.

Now his Republican primary rival, former Florida House speaker Marco Rubio, has a national endorsement of his own from a conservative heavyweight: Mike Huckabee.

Florida Capital News | Bill Cotterell

While insisting that he will “make no apologies” for taking sides in the race for governor, state GOP Chairman Jim Greer says the party is neutral in the U.S. Senate primary.

Several county Republican groups have protested Greer’s avid support of Gov. Charlie Crist in his Senate race with former House Speaker Marco Rubio. Greer has also discouraged GOP competitors for Attorney General Bill McCollum, who is running to succeed Crist as governor.