One of the fundraisers is at the home of Donald Hinkle, a Florida attorney who donated to the Obama campaign in 2008 and has poured cash into other Democratic campaigns and organizations around the country, according to campaign finance filings. A Democratic official told CNN of the fundraisers on the condition of anonymity.

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Tickets start at ,000 per person, the official said, and 20 attendees are expected.

The official said a second fundraiser at the Challenger Center is expected to bring in 200 people at 0 per person.

Florida is one of the most coveted of swing states: it is the state which narrowly decided the 2000 election for then-Gov. George Bush of Texas and helped his reelection in 2004, but went for then-Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in 2008 by a margin of 236,000 votes.

Obama faces a tight battle to win the state in November, according to polls released before the GOP primary there in January. His job approval stood at 46%, and disapproval at 49% in the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald/Bay News 9 survey released Jan. 29. Polls of registered voters showed a neck-and-neck race between the president and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, but his lead widened when he was matched with others in the Republican field.

President Obama announced tourism policy changes at a high profile Disney World event in mid-January. The reelection campaign has also dispatched surrogates to aide the President’s effort in this key state, including first lady Michelle Obama, who held DNC campaign events in Palm Beach and Sarasota last month.

Biden will speak on college affordability at a visit to Florida State University on Monday morning. He addressed the topic in a December visit to Duncan U. Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Florida.

- CNN’s Paul Steinhauser and Gregory Wallace contributed to this report.

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In order to avoid conflicts of interest and satisfy ethics watchdogs, soon-to-be presidents often sell assets or relinquish control of their investments to a trustee.

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According to a Quinnipiac University survey released Friday morning, 38% of likely Florida Republican primary voters say they are backing the former Massachusetts governor for their party’s presidential nomination, with 29% supporting the former House speaker.

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The poll indicates 14% are backing Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, with 12% supporting former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.

Six percent say they are undecided, but another 32% say they could change their minds by Tuesday’s winner-take-all primary, where 50 delegates (the biggest haul so far) are up for grabs.

The poll was conducted Tuesday through Thursday, entirely before Thursday night’s explosive CNN/Republican Party of Florida Debate here on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

It suggests that Gingrich’s big momentum coming out of his double-digit victory in Saturday’s South Carolina primary may be fading. Gingrich had a 40%-34% advantage over Romney in the Sunday and Monday portion of a Quinnipiac Florida survey released earlier in the week.

“Speaker Newt Gingrich’s momentum from his South Carolina victory appears to have stalled and Gov. Mitt Romney seems to be pulling away in Florida,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “Romney also has a better favorability rating from likely primary voters, which supports his lead in the horse race. Of course, with four days before Election Day, there is time for another reversal. Three in 10 voters say they might change their mind.”

The poll indicates men back Romney 36% – 29% percent, a shift from the previous poll, when men backed Gingrich 37% – 33% percent. Romney leads by ten points percent among women, virtually unchanged.

The Quinnipiac University poll was conducted January 24-26, with 580 likely Republican primary voters in Florida questioned by telephone. The survey’s overall sampling error is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

– Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @PSteinhauserCNN

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Jeb bush offers no endorsement, but a warning

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“The fact is we want to run not a Republican campaign – we want to run an American campaign,” he said.

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For the verdict on each question, click the headline:

Tune in Thursday at 8 p.m. ET for the CNN/Southern Republican Presidential Debate hosted by John King and follow it on Twitter at #CNNDebate. For real-time coverage of the South Carolina primary, go to CNNPolitics.com and on the CNN apps for iPhone, iPad, Android or other phones.

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Not doing so, she said, could lead to devastating consequences that would injure his candidacy in the weeks before November’s general election.

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“Don’t be surprised that that’s all coming out today, because it would come out as an October surprise had these GOP candidates not brought those out today,” Palin said on the Fox News program “Hannity.”

She continued, “Barack Obama and his machine and the billion dollars that he’s got behind him will bring all of this stuff out anyway.”

Candidates need to be prepared, Palin said.

“It’s rough and tumble, not beanbag as Romney and others have called it. You’ve got to be prepared for this.”

In the interview, Palin characterized Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s attacks on Romney’s tenure at Bain as questions about his job creation claims.

“This isn’t about a politician making huge profits in the private sector,” she said. I “think what Governor Perry is getting at is that Governor Romney claimed to have created 100,000 jobs at Bain and you know, people are wanting to know, is there proof of that claim?”

Republicans, she said, should vet candidates “within our own party.”

But Palin’s comments do not mean she is closer to choosing a candidate to support.

“I’m still with the majority,” Palin said. “Searching.”

Also see:

Poll: Romney, Santorum tied with Obama in Florida

Gingrich fires up down South

S.C. Republicans plan presidential forum in conservative upstate

Santorum to spend fundraising haul immediately in S.C.

CNN Political Ticker

In their first weekly addresses of 2012, Republicans argued that Senate Democrats are holding up their job growth efforts, and President Barack Obama said progress is being made.

“We’ve got to keep creating jobs,” Obama said. “And we’ve got to keep rebuilding our economy so that everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share – and everyone plays by the same rules.”

He touted his recess appointment of a Consumer Financial Protection Board director on Wednesday – an appointment Republicans decried, arguing that Congress is in session because it holds “pro forma” meetings every three days.

The President also pointed to “Insourcing American Jobs,” an upcoming White House forum focused on “bringing jobs back home.”

In their address, Republicans said Senate Democrats were holding up jobs progress.

“Right now, there are nearly 30 jobs bills passed by the House with support from both Republicans and Democrats that are awaiting action in the Democratic-run Senate,” New York Rep. Nan Hayworth said.

“In the coming weeks, the House will consider job-creating proposals to reduce unnecessary and burdensome regulations, and repair and improve America’s roads and bridges,” she said. “Instead of just spending more on short-term fixes, we’d be permanently removing government barriers to job creation.”

Numbers released by the government on Friday showed 200,000 new jobs created in December and 1.6 million added on the year, an increase over the 940,000 created in 2010.

The President called that “steady progress,” and said the economy is “heading in the right direction.”

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One more provision evoked criticism and this provision is closely related to the imposing sanctions on foreign financial firms that are associated with dealing with Iran’s central bank. The opponents say that these sanctions will increase the prices for oil which could prevent the economy from recovering. Obama also commented negatively on the suggestion of the Congress to present a report before sharing the information on a U.S. ballistic missile defense system with the Russian Federation.

Obama assured the Congress that his Administration will interpret and implement section 1244 in the way that would not interfere with the President’s constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs and avoids the undue disclosure of sensitive diplomatic communications.” Considering Signing statements, it allows presidents to raise constitutional objections to circumvent Congress’ intent.

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The last time Ayla was seen was at her father’s home in Waterville, Maine around 10:00pm on December 16. The father reported that she was missing just before 9:00am the next morning when he found her bed empty.

According to Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey, efforts to find Ayla are still ongoing. Investigators go through leads as soon as they come in. Most of the leads are prompted by the coverage that the case received, especially after the airing of the segment on America’s Most Wanted TV show during the weekend.

At this point of the investigation, the police is confident to say that Ayla didn’t leave the house on her own. They believe that someone got Ayla from the house and this is where they are focusing their investigation.

AT present, the police don’t have any leads as to who took Ayla out of the house and the motives to why she was taken. They are concerned for the toddler’s safety the longer the investigation goes on. She was reportedly living in Portland with her mother and grandmother until mid-October when Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services took Ayla from her mother’s care.

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President Obama kept the tab to just a little over . The White House has started a campaign called “What Does Mean to You?” that was meant to show the money the average family would lose each paycheck if the payroll tax cut expires by the end of the year.

After buying the stuff for his dog, President Obama went to Best Buy to buy gifts for his daughters. He got Just Dance 3 for the Nintendo Wii. The game allows up to four players to dance together, which could mean that a dance party can happen involving the president, the first lady, and their two daughters. He told the reporters that they’d never get a photo of him playing the game he just bought.

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