Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) canceled his upcoming appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," according to multiple reports.

The cancellation comes two days after Paul found himself in hot water after he questioned the legitimacy of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended sanctioned racial discrimination.  

Paul is only the third guest to cancel his appearance in the 62-year history of the show. The other two are Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in 1996 and Saudi Prince Bandar in 2003.

Paul's campaign had scheduled the appearance on Wednesday, but informed NBC that it wanted to back out Friday, according to "Meet the Press" producer Betsy Fischer.

Cross-posted from the Briefing Room.

Declining rate could help Dems in Senate races, but in bad news for Reid, Nevada bucks trend.

President Barack Obama will raise campaign cash next week for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Democrats' Senate campaign committee.

Obama will help raise funds for Boxer for the second time in a month and a half with a fundraiser in San Francisco. The president will also hold a separate fundraiser for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

The president last stopped in Los Angeles in late April, when a set of fundraiser brought in $3.5 million in funds for Boxer and the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Boxer is facing one of her toughest reelection challenges this year, with a number of Republican candidates -- most notably former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, and former Rep. Tom Campbell -- vying to unseat her.

California's major cities are some of the largest media markets in the country, making campaigns there some of the most expensive statewide races to organize.

Cross-posted from the Briefing Room.

A politically vulnerable House Democrat is speaking out against a popular bill that would rename the Department of the Navy.

Rep. Christopher Carney (D-Pa.) delivered a floor speech this week expressing his opposition to the bill, which would redesignate the Department of the Navy to the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), passed the House by voice vote this week. It has broad bipartisan support, attracting a record 425 co-sponsors. The Senate companion, authored by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) has 47 co-sponsors. Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Jim Webb (D-Va.) oppose the measure. And so does Carney.

In his speech, Carney said, "I have been a member of the United States Navy for more than 15 years and I am proud to be one of three members of Congress still serving in the Navy Reserve.

He added, "Past, present and future Marines should certainly be proud of the Corps, but also of the Department of the Navy. The Marine Corps was, is, and should remain, part of the Navy, both in name and in mission. A name change at the Department level will do nothing but foster animosity in the ranks of the Navy and Marine Corps. We should focus instead on the fight at hand and not worry about a change in nomenclature. Unfortunately, the spirit of H.R. 24 is counter to that notion."

Carney will face former U.S. attorney Tom Marino (R) in November. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) won Carney's district by nine points over then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in 2008.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who's making an independent run for the Senate, has hired a Democrat to join his campaign team.

Eric Johnson will join the campaign as its South Florida political director, according to the Palm Beach Post.

Johnson served as chief of staff for former Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.). The Post reports Johnson "guided many Broward and Palm Beach county campaigns in recent years and is now president of Johnson Campaigns, which operates in Washington, D.C., and South Florida."

Crist is Johnson's only non-Democrat client for the 2010 election.

Crist lost most of his staff when he announced he'd run as an independent instead of pursuing the Republican Senate nomination.

Those who submitted their resignations included campaign manager Eric Eikenberg, campaign chairman former Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) and campaign attorney Benjamin Ginsberg. Crist also lost his Republican polling firm, Public Opinion Strategies.

Earlier this month Crist hired his sister, Margaret Crist Wood, to be his interim campaign manager.

Fresh off his victory in Pennsylvania's GOP gubernatorial primary, commonwealth Attorney General Tom Corbett raised some eyebrows by conducting a probe into his opponents on Twitter.

Corbett used grand jury subpoenas in an attempt to unveil the identities of his harshest critics on the microblogging site.

Here is more from Philly.com:

Earlier this month, Corbett's office subpoenaed the online social networking site Twitter Inc., seeking identifying data on "CasablancaPA" and "bfbarbie." Both daily excoriate Corbett and his office's long-running political-corruption investigation known as Bonusgate.

The subpoena was apparently part of prosecutors' efforts to show one Bonusgate defendant's lack of remorse as he awaits sentencing.

But news of the subpoena unleashed a cascade of criticism from First Amendment and electronic-privacy advocates, who contend that Corbett is engaging in a Big Brotherlike attempt to silence and intimidate people who don't agree with him.

Twitter, based in San Francisco, has declined to turn over the information. The ACLU of Pennsylvania says it will seek to quash the subpoena on behalf of the two anonymous tweeters.

The issue promptly entered the governor's race, with Corbett's Democratic opponent, Dan Onorato - fresh from his own primary victory - saying in Philadelphia that he found it "outrageous" and "unbelievable" that the attorney general would use the powers of his office to subpoena critics.

— Cross-posted from the Twitter Room.

Florida Senate candidate Kendrick Meek (D) is demanding BP show his state the money as part of their reparations from the oil spill in the Gulf.

Meek, in a conference call with Florida reporters, said the company should pay more than the $25 million it pledged to spread the word that Florida's beaches have been unharmed by the spill.

Florida is a popular tourist destination, particularly with the summer vacation months looming, and tourist dollars are one of the state's major sources of revenue.

Meek said that BP should kick in at least $100 million, which he argued was only half of the revenue the company generates in a day, according to the Jacksonville Daily Record.

“While I applaud your company’s promise to make $25 million available to promote Florida tourism, it simply is not enough,” Meek wrote in a letter to BP CEO Tony Hayward.

“I am writing to request that you pledge an additional $75 million - the amount of money required by conservative estimates to run an adequate domestic and international marketing campaign. This type of ad campaign will cost at least $8 million a week. Over 12 weeks, it will cost the state at least $100 million.”

The company has not offered a public response to Meek’s request.

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Crist, who's running for the Senate as an independent candidate, wants $35 million from BP.

He said the state would spend the money on "an an emergency advertising blitz to calm tourists worried that Florida beaches might become fouled by the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico," according to the St. Petersburg Times.

Crist also wrote to BP, and a company spokesman told the paper that BP was "reviewing Crist's letter and planned to meet with the governor and visit Florida officials."

Colorado Democrats kick off their state convention today and Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) is working to ensure a place on the ballot against his primary challenger, former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D).

Bennet needs to exceed 30 percent of delegates' votes to make it to the ballot, but he's been collecting signatures as an alternative way to get on the ballot.

Romanoff holds a significant lead among the party faithful, who attended county assemblies and local caucuses this year and gave him about 57 percent of more than 4,000 statewide delegates, according to the Denver Post.

It's worth noting Romanoff has a loyal party following after years in Democratic politics, while Bennet was appointed to the seat 16 months ago.

Delegates vote Saturday and their top pick gets the Number One ballot spot heading into the August 10 primary. Both candidates will address the convention.

Bennet did get some good news Wednesday: the latest Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey showed him leading likely GOP nominee Jane Norton 44-41.

PPP's Tom Jensen notes: "They were tied in a March PPP poll of the race, and this is the largest lead Bennet has posted in any public polling to date."