The law firm where former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (I) works, gave $50,000 to a pro-Obama Super PAC, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The head of the firm is “a big time Democratic donor” but the donation also “adds a layer to Crist’s political conversion, from Republican governor to independent candidate for U.S. Senate to talked about Democratic candidate for governor.”

Edward Luce: “By this stage in the 1984 election, Ronald Reagan was proclaiming ‘Morning in America’. Barack Obama has so far had no such opportunity. Unlike the sharp rebound from the brutal recession of Reagan’s first term, today’s recovery has yet to break through dawn. It began just under three years ago. Most Americans say they feel no different.”

“Nor has Mr Obama found a good catchline to frame his side of the story. Last year he picked the slogan: ‘Winning the future’. It quickly vanished. In his State of the Union address this year, he switched to ‘An America built to last’ — and that was pretty much the last that was heard of it. He has yet to find a campaign theme that is built to last.”

Former Rep. Cynthia McKinney is preparing to run for her old House district on the Green Party ticket, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

A “lightning-rod political figure,” McKinney was defeated in 2006 by Hank Johnson (D) “after a much-publicized run-in with a U.S. Capitol police officer and her accusations that the Bush administration may have known beforehand about the 9/11 terrorist attacks.”

“If Rubio passes the vetting process, assuming he does, I think he’s the obvious choice. And if he says he doesn’t want the office, he’ll find a horse’s head in his bed. The next day he will accept. Romney’s not going to take no for an answer. We have ways, we Republicans.”

— Charles Krauthammer, on Inside Washington.

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“Most millionaire politicians achieve wealth before winning office,” the Omaha World Herald notes.

But Nebraska U.S. Senate candidate Jon Bruning (R) “blazed a different path, one in which an ambition for affluence led to involvement and investment in at least 17 private companies, nearly all while serving as Nebraska’s attorney general.”

“Along the way, the Republican front-runner for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat built a multimillion-dollar net worth while drawing a salary that ranged between $75,000 and $95,000 as the state’s top lawyer. His business pursuits have emerged as an issue in the campaign, prompting critics to question how he could find the time to fulfill his public responsibilities.”

Former Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH): “The president is in full campaign mode. So is Congress. The federal government has been put into a holding pattern until the November elections… President Obama could go back to Chicago and campaign from there… Members of Congress could go back to their districts or wherever else it is they live, since everyone knows that nothing is going to happen.”

“If Washington was vacated, it would be a more honest expression of the reality of the status of governance for the next six months. It might help the American people believe that there is some integrity to the situation.”

Chris Cillizza thinks the fact that GOP insiders back Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) as Mitt Romney’s running mate may actually doom his chances.

The reason: “People really, really dislike politicians. They hate Washington. They think politics is broken — maybe irreparably. Congress’s approval rating in the latest Gallup poll was at 17 percent — and that was an improvement (!) from where it’s stood for most of the past few years… Choosing someone who is seen as the favorite of party insiders then could erode rather than bolster the contrast Romney is trying to drive against the incumbent.”

An improving economy is “swinging the pendulum” in President Obama’s favor “in the 14 states where the presidential election will likely be decided,” the AP reports.

“What’s made the difference is that unemployment has dropped more sharply in several swing states than in the nation as a whole. A resurgence in manufacturing is helping the economy — and Obama’s chances — in the industrial Midwestern states of Ohio and Michigan. And Arizona, Nevada and Florida, where unemployment remains high, are getting some relief from an uptick in tourism.”

For the last six months, Bill Clinton has argued that the Obama re-election campaign should stop attacking Mitt Romney as a flip-flopper, Politico reports.

“A more effective strategy, Clinton has told anyone who would listen, would be to focus almost exclusively on Romney’s description of himself as a ‘severe conservative,’ to deny him any chance to tack back to the center.”