Deeper budget cuts may be needed to satisfy Wall Street, a top senator said Thursday, as a decade of heavy borrowing is forcing a call for higher budget reserves, which now loom as a driver of lawmakers’ spending decisions.

While the jury may be out on whether U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan will enter what could be an increasingly crowded Republican primary field to take on U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in 2012, the Florida congressman has raised his profile significantly in recent weeks.

Spurred by a neck-and-neck race that has them smelling the governor’s office, Democrats had their best two-month fund-raising period ever, making the electoral money race with the Florida Republican Party mirror the contest between Rick Scott and Alex Sink: pretty much tied.

Members of Congress may be heading home by week’s end to start the final campaign for the fight of their political life.

Florida Republican lawmakers and major contributors who fiercely opposed Rick Scott during the party’s August primary for governor wasted little time sliding over to support the nominee.

The tea party movement muscled its way into the American political psyche over the past year with huge rallies, angry voters and colorful rhetoric. It’s not clear how much voters are responding, but in Florida, at least, the Republican Party appears to have taken notice.

Did he forget the secret handshake?