In Ybor City, Jeb Bush defends Chris Christie against conservative attacks

In his short speech in the very crowded bakery on 15th Street in Tampa, Bush praised Romney for being a leader who will be bipartisan and work with Democrats, citing his work with a majority Democratic legislature when he served as governor of Massachusetts, as well as his work in business, where Bush said Romney could have never had a take-it-or-leave it attitude and hoped to be successful.

After the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported yesterday that unemployment was at 7.9 percent with 171,000 new jobs created in September, some economists have suggested that it's a fact that whoever takes the White House in January will certainly be inheriting a more positive economic future than what was handed to Barack Obama in January of 2009, months after the country was rocked by the financial crises.

CL asked the former Florida governor if he agreed with that premise, since he has gone on the campaign trail this week to blast President Obama for always blaming his brother, former President George W. Bush, for the economic woes that he's attempted to deal with over the past four years.

Bush did not agree with the premise.

"For four years we’ve had the worst recovery in modern times. Presidents learn that without leadership, we can’t solve problems, and this president has spent a lot of energy around blaming others for the tepid recovery that we have." Bush added that "of course there's been a rebound," but emphasized that it was still the "worst" economic recovery the country has ever had.

Bush and Adam Putnam were positively buzzing about Mitt Romney's chances in Florida now, boosted by a poll in today's Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald that shows the Republican up by six points in the Sunshine State, 51-45 percent (A Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist poll has Obama up by 2 points in Florida, 49-47 percent).

Putnam says he was "pleasantly surprised" by that six-point gap, saying, "If it's that big, it has enormous implications for down ballot. Bill Nelson can't be happy with a six-point lead for Mitt Romney," referring to the Democratic incumbent running against Republican Connie Mack IV.

Lieutenant Governor Carroll stuck to the GOP talking points on why it's better to have fewer days of early voting, even though it's more popular than ever. Citing statistics showing the record early turnout, Carroll said that validated the Legislature's wisdom in passing SB 1355 last year, the controversial elections bill.

And Bush said there was no reason to keep the polls open tomorrow as requested by Democrats. "I don't think we need to," again citing the record high numbers of people who have already cast ballots.

Bush looked a bit disgusted when asked why Rick Scott hasn't campaigned at all with Mitt Romney. Reportedly Scott will join Romney in Sanford on Monday.