President Obama will campaign with Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal later this month.

(CNN) – President Obama will travel to Connecticut later this month to stump for Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal, a spokesperson for the candidate told CNN Saturday.

Obama will campaign with Blumenthal in Stamford on September 16 – the same day he is slated to attend a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in the state.

"I look forward to welcoming the President of the United States to Connecticut. It is an honor to have his support and his assistance,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “His visit will make a difference for us, energizing our supporters and helping us raise the resources we need against my opponent who is spending an unprecedented $50 million on her campaign."

Blumenthal slowly has been dropping slowly but steadily in the polls. A Quinnipiac University survey of Connecticut voters conducted five weeks ago indicated that Blumenthal held a 10-point lead over his challenger, former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon. Blumenthal held a 20-point lead in the same poll in June.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee pounced on news of the fundraiser and said it reeks of desperation.

"It speaks volumes that a candidate who was up by 30 points earlier this year in a deep blue state is now forced to call in the president for reinforcements,” NRSC communications director Brian Walsh told CNN. “Clearly Dick Blumenthal and national Democrats are seeing the same polls that we are."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday walked back her claim that there have been beheadings in the Arizona desert.

(CNN) – After standing by her claim for more than two months that there have been beheadings in the Arizona desert as a result of rampant illegal immigration, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Friday walked back her controversial statement.

"That was an error, if I said that," Brewer told The Associated Press. "I misspoke, but you know, let me be clear, I am concerned about the border region because it continues to be reported in Mexico that there's a lot of violence going on and we don't want that going into Arizona."

Brewer first mentioned beheadings in June, when her state’s controversial new immigration law piqued the national interest. Four in ten Americans opposed the law that month, according to a CNN poll. Brewer cited violence–such as beheadings–near the border as grounds for signing such strict legislation.

Medical examiners from six of Arizona's counties, several of which boarder Mexico, later told the Arizona Guardian that they had never witnessed victims who had been beheaded.

Michaele Salahi (right) has not received an offer to appear in Playboy, her spokesman told CNN on Saturday.

(CNN) - A spokesman for Michaele Salahi of White House party-crasher fame batted down on Saturday morning a story that claims the “Real Housewives” star would be appearing nude in Playboy.

“It’s another rumor,” Salahi’s media liaison Michael Cruz told CNN. “We have no information about any official offer from Playboy.”

The celebrity gossip blog TMZ reported overnight that Salahi had a Playboy photo shoot booked for later this month and that Salahi would appear “full-frontal, birthday suit naked."

“I haven’t spoken to anyone at TMZ,” Cruz said. “I am trying to track down who at TMZ they are getting their information from.”

Salahi and her husband made news as the "White House crashers" in November after attending President Barack Obama's first state dinner without an invitation.

The CNN 100 takes a look at the top 100 House races, from now until Election Day.

Editor's Note: In the final 100 days before Election Day, CNN has been profiling one race at random each day from among the nation's top 100 House races, which we've dubbed "The CNN 100." Read the full list here. Today's featured district is:

West Virginia 3rd: Nick Rahall (D) vs. Elliott "Spike" Maynard (R)
Primary: May 11, 2010
Location: Southern West Virginia
Days until Election Day: 59

For more than 30 years, Nick Rahall has represented West Virginians in the heart of "coal country" and has very rarely had to break a sweat on Election Night. That may change in 2010. The 17-term Democrat now faces what will likely be one of his toughest re-election battles to date, though for Rahall, any race where he doesn't rack up a 30-point victory margin might be considered a squeaker.

Rahall was first elected in 1976 in a tough three-way race in which he won with only 46 percent of the vote. Of his 16 subsequent re-election bids, his winning percentage has dipped below the 60 percent mark only once, and that was 20 years ago. Since then, his average at the polls has been 75 percent of the vote.

As a member of Congress, he has voted reliably with his party on major Democratic policy initiatives, including health care reform, the economic stimulus package, and Wall Street reform. According to a CQ analysis, he has supported President Obama's position on 94 percent of key votes last year. He did break with his party on at least one key matter that, not coincidentally, is strongly opposed in his coal-producing district: the so-called "cap and trade" proposal to reduce greenhouse emissions. The measure barely passed the House in 2009 with only eight Republican votes and has since stalled in the Senate.

The president has been a major proponent of "cap and trade," which has not endeared him or his party to 3rd District voters. Nor have the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency under Obama's watch. There was an outcry in April when the agency tightened its requirements for mountaintop mining permits. The EPA said the new guidelines are necessary to prevent polluted waterways; the coal industry said the guidelines are impossible to meet.

Rahall voted against the "cap and trade" bill, but his early support of Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign may come back to haunt him in November. Obama not only lost the state and this district in the general election, he garnered only 27 percent of the statewide vote in the Democratic presidential primary against Hillary Clinton.

Rahall's opponent, Elliott "Spike" Maynard, is a former state Supreme Court judge who switched from Democrat to Republican before the race. Maynard told The (Huntington) Herald-Dispatch that he changed parties because "Washington liberals declared war on the coal industry and threatened thousands of West Virginia jobs."

Maynard's tenure on the bench has not been without controversy. After ruling in favor of Massey Energy Co. in a prominent 2007 case, photographs surfaced that showed Maynard vacationing with Massey's CEO in Monaco. The case had to be reheard. Maynard defended his friendship with the CEO and said it had no bearing on his decision, but the scandal didn't help his re-election hopes in 2008. He was defeated in the primary. Massey went on to make national headlines in April when an explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine, located in the 3rd District, killed 29 miners.

Still, Maynard's close ties with the coal industry might endear him to Appalachian Democrats who are fed up with the status quo. And the overall political climate has become increasingly unfavorable for Rahall's party. The 3rd District has more registered Democrats than Republicans, but in 2008 it voted 56 percent to 42 percent in favor of Republican John McCain.

Rahall is more vulnerable than he's been in any recent election, but he's still far better off than many of his fellow Red State Democrats. Financially, he has a massive advantage over his opponent, with more than $1.5 million in cash as of July 27, compared with $114,509 for Maynard. And he helped preserve his credibility with the coal interests in his state by opposing "cap and trade." But Democrats nationwide are expected to face a tough time at the ballot box this November, and it's possible that frustrated 3rd District voters looking to send a message to Washington may take their anger out on Rahall.

– CNN Political Research Director Robert Yoon contributed to this report.

(CNN) - President Obama focused on the economy and job creation in his weekly radio address.

(CNN) - Kentucky Rep. Geoff Davis delivered the Republican Party's weekly address on Saturday.

A new CNN poll reveals that only 40 percent of Americans approve of how President Obama is handing the economy.

Washington (CNN) – Just four in ten Americans say they approve of the job President Barack Obama's doing on the economy, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national survey. The 40 percent who give Obama a thumbs up is a new low for the president in CNN polling.

The survey indicates that 59 percent of the public disapproves of how the president's handling the economy.

Full results [pdf]

According to the survey, 93 percent of Republicans say they disapprove of how the president's dealing with the economy, with 72 percent of Democrats saying they approve of the job Obama's doing on the issue. Two-thirds of independents questioned say they disapprove, with 32 percent giving the president a positive grade.

"There is also a big gender gap on that question," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Some 45 percent of women and only 34 of men approving of Obama's track record on the economy."

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted September 1-2, with 1,024 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @PsteinhauserCNN

TOPICS: Space shuttle

Full results (pdf)

The Tea Party Express launched new ads supporting Delaware Republican primary Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell.

Washington (CNN) - Fresh on the heels of Joe Miller's surprising win over Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska Republican Senate primary, the Tea Party movement is setting its sights on Delaware.

Now the Delaware Republican Party is taking heed – and taking on – the Tea Party-backed candidate in the state's Republican Senate primary, sparking a war of words between the state's establishment GOP and the Tea Party movement.

It's a race that pits conservative Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell against moderate Rep. Mike Castle, Delaware's former two-term governor and lone Congressman since 1993.

Both candidates' campaigns have become increasingly caustic, especially as Tea Party-backed candidates across the country have picked up win after win against GOP establishment candidates.

The Tea Party Express endorsed the conservative O'Donnell in July, and recently committed to spending at least six-figures in the state.

"We are launching an aggressive multimedia and multi-platform campaign to help propel Christine O'Donnell to victory, and we've only just begun," Amy Kremer, Chairman of the Tea Party Express, said in a statement.

The group originally planned to spend about $250,000 on the race, but is now considering expanding their presence with TV and radio ad buys in Philadelphia, said Tea Party Express political director Joe Wierzbicki.

A similar last minute media blitz by the Tea Party Express is credited with propelling Miller – a formerly little known candidate – to victory over Murkowski, the Republican Party-backed incumbent.

The group launched a series of TV and radio ads Thursday that support O'Donnell, and rail against Castle as a liberal candidate who "just keeps supporting the failed policies of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid."

It's a move that has the Castle campaign fighting back.

"Out-of-state interest groups have threatened to spend half a million dollars to fund the disgusting tactics being used by the O'Donnell campaign to make accusations," said Castle campaign manager Mike Quaranta.

Meanwhile, the Castle campaign has launched therealchristine.com, a site devoted to aggregating negative news about O'Donnell.

Tom Ross, state committee chairman of the Delaware Republican Party, defended the negative nature of the site. "The stories might not be flattering, but they are factual. ...Sometimes it is necessary to make sure that the facts get out there," Ross said.

O'Donnell has faced criticism over her personal finance issues and leftover debt from previous, unsuccessful bids for a Delaware Senate seat. She has also been accused of misstating the results of her run against Joe Biden.

When asked to clarify her remarks in an interview Thursday with radio host Dan Gaffney of WGMD, O'Donnell seemed to grow increasingly frustrated, and ultimately blamed her statements on a grueling campaign schedule.

Ross, who is backing Castle, said that O'Donnell's history is troubling.

"This is a group and candidate that clearly seem to have a problem with facts. It is shocking that they would come in and support a candidate of Christine O'Donnell's ilk," he said.

"It is sad that the group didn't investigate the candidate that they're supporting… and surprising they would take their supporters' money that they donated and squander it in such a fashion," Ross said.

Ross also questioned whether O'Donnell is capable of pulling off an upset similar to Miller's win in Alaska.

"In Alaska, it was that Joe Miller is an Ivy League grad, a war hero, excellent standing in the community," Ross said. "Look at Christine O'Donnell. She has none of those attributes. She is career politician. She's run unsuccessfully for Senate three times."

Yet, Wierzbicki criticized Ross for dismissing O'Donnell, calling her a true conservative.

"[Ross] is everything that is wrong with the establishment of the Republican Party. He should be fired for serving to undermine a Republican candidate who stands on conservative principles. It's his job to advance all Republicans in the state of Delaware. Instead he has become a tool for those who wish to thwart the Republican Party platform and turn the GOP into a Democrat-lite outfit. We find him reprehensible and shameless," Wierzbicki said.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie of neighboring New Jersey endorsed Castle Thursday.

The winner will face Democrat Chris Coons in the race for Vice President Joe Biden's former seat.

(CNN) - Embattled Republican nominee Dan Maes has decided to stay in the Colorado governor's race, despite increased pressure for him to drop out.

Maes released a statement Friday evening saying that he "[C]annot turn my back on the 200,000 voters who nominated me to run for this office."

Earlier Friday, Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck called on Maes to quit his bid for governor, the latest in a string of Colorado Republicans calling on the Tea Party favorite to step down before he is officially certified as the party's nominee.

Read the full statement after the jump.

"After speaking with, and hearing from, numerous Coloradans – from former Senators to family farmers – I've determined that I cannot turn my back on the 200,000 voters who nominated me to run for this office," said Maes. "During this time of deliberation, I listened equally to those who wanted me in this race and those who did not, and after internalizing that advice, I'm proud to say I'm in it to win it.

"To those who have withdrawn their support for my campaign, I am confident that the truth will be revealed. I hope you'll hear my side of the story and help our party regroup and unite to beat the Democrats. And for those who continue to stand strong by my side, people like Wayne Allard, Kent Lambert, Paul Tauer, and Dave Schultheis, thank you for honoring this endeavor with your trust and your confidence.

"And finally, to the citizens of this state, don't believe everything you read. This campaign found success through hard work, palm-pressing, and shoe leather, and that's how I plan to engage voters over the next two months and claim victory on November 2nd."

-CNN's Steve Brusk contributed to this report.

Sen. Tom Coburn has endorsed New Hampshire Senate candidate Kelly Ayotte.

Washington (CNN) - The New Hampshire Republican hoping to keep an open Senate seat in GOP hands picked up the endorsement of another out of state conservative on Friday.

Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma announced his support for Kelly Ayotte, the former New Hampshire Attorney General who also has the backing of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

"I look forward to having Kelly Ayotte join us in the Senate next year to help defend the Constitution's limitations on federal power and to fight for the fiscal survival of our country," Coburn said in a statement. "She has the experience, the commitment and the integrity to be a strong force for reducing spending, protecting freedom and making government effective yet manageable."

Ayotte has three opponents in the GOP primary, but the race has shaped up as a battle between her and Bill Binnie, a millionaire businessman who has loaned huge chunks of cash to his own campaign.

Palin's July endorsement of Ayotte got a chilly reception from one of the state's most conservative and influential newspapers, a reaction not uncharacteristic of a state known for its political independence.

Shortly after Palin's endorsement, a blistering Op-Ed on the front page of the New Hampshire Union-Leader by publisher Joseph McQuaid said Palin knows little about the Granite State and even less about its residents. Earlier this week, the paper endorsed Ayotte rival Ovide Lamontagne.

New Hampshire voters will decide the Republican Senate nominee in the state's September 14 primary.

Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes is facing calls to end his bid from several Colorado Republican leaders.

UPDATE: A source inside the Maes campaign tells CNN the embattled Republican nominee has decided to stay in the Colorado governor's race, despite increased pressure today for him to drop out.

(CNN) – Colorado Senate candidate Ken Buck is calling on fellow Republican Dan Maes to quit his bid for governor, the latest in a string of Colorado Republicans calling on the Tea Party favorite to step down before he is officially certified as the party's nominee later Friday.

"After having a lengthy conversation with Dan Maes, it is clear to me that Dan is struggling to determine the best path for his campaign, his family and for Colorado," said Buck in a statement. "I have decided that I can no longer support his candidacy for governor of Colorado."

Buck's statement comes after revelations Maes had embellished his resume about his business background and accused a Denver bike-sharing program of being an undercover plot orchestrated by the United Nations to advance an environmentalist agenda.

Maes – a Tea Party favorite who beat the establishment candidate and former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis in the GOP primary last month – is facing calls to resign from several state Republican leaders as well as two of the state's major newspapers.

If Maes does not resign before he is officially certified the winner at 7 p.m. ET, Republicans have little chance of removing him from the ballot.

Beck is laughing at critics who are making a big deal over his 'lie.' at last weekend's rally.

(CNN) -Glenn Beck is scoffing at recent attacks from MSNBC's Keith Olbermann and others after the Fox News host inaccurately told the crowd at his recent Washington, DC rally that he "held" George Washington's handwritten inaugural address.

"I thought it would be a little easier in the speech," Beck told his radio listeners Thursday as he dismissed the most recent liberal attack directed at him.

The uproar from the left came in response to a comment Beck made during his Restoring Honor rally on the National Mall last weekend in which he said, "I went to the National Archives and held the First Inaugural Address written in his own hand by George Washington."

Turns out the Archives' policy doesn't allow members of the public to touch rare documents like the First Inaugural Address. Instead, Beck was permitted to view the document through plastic – prompting Olbermann to declare "his story that he actually got to hold it…is wrong."

"His fib stands in stark contrast to the point of the rally, which was all about restoring the principles of courage and honor that the nation was founded upon," the publication Mother Jones chimed in.

But Beck himself didn't seem frazzled by the allegations.

"They are like, 'He's such a liar. Glenn Beck is such a lair!' said Beck laughing off the criticism.

"I thought I'd be a little easier than to say, 'Yesterday, I went to the National Archives, and they opened up the vault, and they put on their gloves, and then they put it on a tray, and they wheeled it over, and it's all in this hard plastic, and the because you're sitting down at a table and you can't – because of [Former National Security Advisor] Sandy Berger - you can't actually touch any of the documents because they are very rare'…..I thought it was a little clumsy to explain it that way."

"Might have been a little too much useless information!" Beck exclaimed. "Once again, they caught me."

President Obama is going to hold a fundraiser for Joe Sestak.

(CNN) - Time - and apparently campaign money - can heal old wounds.

Two Democratic officials confirm President Obama is headed to Philadelphia on September 20 to host a fundraiser for the Senate campaign of Democrat Rep. Joe Sestak, who survived a nasty primary battle that featured Obama backing incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D) over the Congressman.

Top White House officials, including Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, were enmeshed in a huge controversy over whether they used former President Bill Clinton to dangle before Sestak an advisory job in the executive branch in exchange for him dropping out of the primary contest.

The Congressman refused the offer while White House officials have denied that any laws or ethical regulations were breached, and Sestak's campaign staff now says it's time for Democrats to put everything behind them.

"We're honored that the President would do an event with Joe during his trip to Pennsylvania," Sestak spokesman Jonathon Dworkin told CNN. "He and Joe may have had their differences, but they can agree that it is critical to elect a Senator who will put Pennsylvania's working families first."

Sestak needs as much help as he can get right now because recent polls show him trailing Republican nominee Pat Toomey, though a significant portion of the Pennsylvania electorate appears to still be undecided.

A recent poll by Ipsos/Reuters poll found Toomey up double digits, 47 percent to 37 percent, with 15 percent undecided. Meanwhile, a Franklin and Marshall College poll found Toomey leading 40 percent to 31 percent, but there was a whopping 26 percent undecided.

That may be one reason why Sestak officials have also been lobbying White House official to send the extremely popular First Lady Michelle Obama to Pennsylvania for a separate visit, according to Democratic officials.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist received a surprising endorsement on Thursday.

(CNN) – The highest ranking Democrat in Florida's state Senate on Thursday endorsed Republican-turned-independent Gov. Charlie Crist in his bid for the U.S. Senate.

In doing so, Florida state Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson passed on an opportunity to endorse fellow Democrat, Rep. Kendrick Meek.

Lawson, known as the "Dean of the Legislature" for his tenure as the longest serving member of Florida's state Senate, is the only African-American state senator from North Florida; Meek is Florida's first ever African-American U.S. Senate nominee.

"Florida desperately needs an independent senator in Washington who will fight for good jobs and economic opportunity, a quality education for every child, and Social Security for all of our seniors regardless of what the political party bosses want," Lawson said in a statement. "Charlie Crist will be exactly that Senator, and I am proud to endorse his candidacy."

Crist said he was "honored" to receive the endorsement.

Lawson mounted a primary challenge against incumbent Democratic Rep. Alan Boyd in Florida's 2nd congressional district, but came up short in last week's election with 48.5 percent of the vote. The national Democratic grassroots network Organizing for America, which is run out of the Democratic National Commmittee, backed Boyd in the race, while Meek did not endorse either candidate.

"This is all about Al Lawson," Meek's campaign said in a statement provided to the Tallahassee Democrat. "We stand firm with our Big Bend supporters who need a strong Democrat like Kendrick Meek to fight for the middle class in the U.S. Senate."

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted August 11-16 showed Crist leading his Republican challenger Marco Rubio by a 39-32 percent margin. Meek registered at 16 points in the survey.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are at a stalemate over whether Israeli settlements should continue.

Washington (CNN) - After two days of meetings and talks led by President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli and Palestinian leaders leave Washington deadlocked over the contentious issue of Israeli settlements.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met alone behind closed doors Thursday, in a State Department room just outside Clinton's office. The one-on-one meeting followed their on-camera pledges to move the peace process forward and their hardy handshake with Clinton in the middle.

But several diplomatic sources involved in the summit said the two leaders emerged from their meeting in a stalemate over whether Israeli settlements should continue.

The two leaders met with Clinton to give a readout of their meeting.

According to Palestinian delegation member Fadi Elsalameen, the two leaders were very blunt about their opposing views.

Full story

President Obama’s approval rating is up, according to a new CNN Poll.

(CNN) - A new national poll indicates that President Barack Obama's approval rating has edged up three points, and it appears that the war in Iraq is behind the bump. But according to the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, Americans are giving the president bad marks on the economy.

The survey, released Friday, indicates that 50 percent of Americans approve of the job Obama's doing as president, up from 47 percent in last month, with 49 percent disapproving, down two points from August. And Obama's approval on how he's handling the conflict in Iraq now stands at 57 percent, an eight point jump from July. The poll was conducted Wednesday and Thursday, after the president gave a prime time address from the Oval Office on Iraq.

Full results [pdf]

"Obama's decision to remove combat troops from Iraq is very popular," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. "Only three in ten Americans say that the U.S. should still have combat troops in Iraq, with 28 percent saying that this is the right time to remove them and another four in ten thinking that should have happened before now."

But the poll doesn't suggest that the public's optimistic about Iraq - most say that the remaining U.S. troops will wind up in combat situations and that the Iraqi government won't be able to maintain order once all U.S. troops are removed.

"Only one in five think the war in Iraq is over, and the war itself remains very unpopular," adds Holland.

Six in ten questioned in the poll say the 2007 surge of U.S. combat troops in Iraq was a success. President George W. Bush ordered the increase of troops, but only four out of ten say they approve of how Bush handled the situation in Iraq, with 59 percent they disapprove.

Presidential candidate Obama pledged to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq. Tuesday night President Obama announced the end of the U.S. combat mission in the country. Do Americans think Obama's doing a good job keeping campaign promises? Fifty one percent of those questioned in the poll say yes, with 47 percent saying no.

The poll indicates that the public still give the president poor marks on the economy - with four in ten giving him a thumbs up on the economy and nearly six in ten disapproving of his track record on the issue, which remains upmost in the minds of Americans.

"The fact that Iraq is not the most important issue to most Americans indicates that any advantage Obama gained as a result of his speech on Tuesday will be temporary," says Holland.

Obama's overall approval rating got its biggest bump in two regions where there are a number of endangered Democratic House seats. His approval rating is up six points in the Midwest, to 49 percent. And his 48 percent approval rating in the South is four points higher than in August. More than eight in ten Democrats like Obama and more than eight in ten Republicans dislike him. His rating among independents, at 45 percent, is essentially unchanged since last month.

The poll was conducted as the president led a two day Middle East peace initiative at the White House, which has led to promises of a second round of negotiations later this month between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators. But the survey indicates that only one in four think peace can be achieved in the period ahead - the lowest number of record dating back to 1982, when the question was first asked.

The CNN/Opinon Research Corporation poll was conducted September 1-2, with 1,024 adult Americans questioned by telephone. The survey's overall sampling error is plus or minus three percentage points.

–CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report

Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio has withdrawn from what would have been his first debate with Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek, citing his father’s deteriorating health.

(CNN) – Florida Republican Senate candidate Marco Rubio is pulling out of what would have been his first debate with Democratic opponent Kendrick Meek, citing the health of his father.

The debate – in which independent candidate and current Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was not scheduled to participate – was set to air on NBC's Meet the Press.

"Unfortunately, the health of Marco's father, Mario Rubio, has significantly deteriorated in the last 48 hours. As a result, Marco plans to stay with his father and family during this time, and will be unable to participate in this Sunday's debate on Meet the Press," said campaign spokesman Alex Burgos.

Rubio's father, Mario, is 83 years old and has emphysema and lung cancer, according to Burgos.

Recent polls suggest Rubio and Crist essentially tied while Meek is running a distant third.

TOPICS: Obama approval rating, approval on issues, effect of Iraq speech, Mideast pace talks

Full results (pdf)