First up -- the national GOP (RNC, etc.) has officially thrown Katherine Harris to the wolves. Hardly surprising given the downward spiral of Harris' campaign, but it does represent a final nail in the coffin. Harris can probably expect little or no cash from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, effectively dooming her already quixotic campaign.

BRING ME THOSE PUPPIES!! I WANT THOSE DALMATIONS!!!!

Continuing in the News You Expected to Happen Dept., we learn that Democratic Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim "Marie Antoinette" Naugle has endorsed Charlie Crist for governor. This hardly comes as a shock, as Naugle endorsed Jeb Bush for governor in both his campaigns, George Bush for president in both of his campaigns, and has been an ardent supporter of Republican Rep. Clay Shaw. Why he hasn't switched parties already is beyond me -- probably just to piss people like me off.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle

And finally, in the most desperate attempt to use 9/11 for political purposes since ... oh, since the last time the president gave a speech, Republican Rep. Clay Shaw, running for re-election in a very close race, has announced free lung screenings for 9/11 emergency workers from Florida. Yes, it's an incredibly crass political move -- if he really cared, he'd have done something like this a long time ago, when he wasn't running for office -- but at least maybe some brave people will get some much-deserved help. Pity the EPA -- staffed by Republican operatives up to and including its leader, Bush appointee Christine Todd Whitman -- said right after 9/11 that the air around Ground Zero was perfectly safe.

What? Me? Politicize 9/11? Come now!