THOUSANDS TURN OUT FOR MICHELLE OBAMA IN NORTH FLORIDA  FDP Chair Rod Smith: “Now is the time. This is the place. You’re the generation that can help us win this race” [CNN] “Now is the time. This is the place. You’re the generation that can help us win this race. Today, I ask you to join this first lady. Welcome this first lady and the president. Fight with the president as they continue. For as it has been said, four years ago, folks, it was about changing the guard. Now it’s about guarding the change! Thank you, Gators!” 

First Lady fires up college crowds as campaign appeals to youth vote [Times/Herald] “The first lady spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of 10,750 cheering supporters at the Stephen O’Connell Center at the University of Florida and then darted to Tallahassee to another packed house of 8,850 at the Leon County Civic Center…About two dozen members of Florida State University’s Young Republicans Club greeted Bush for the first-of-its-kind event intended to counter the Democrats’ successful youth campaign four years ago.”

Mrs. Obama says UF crowd her largest yet in 2012 campaign [Palm Beach Post] “First lady Michelle Obama chomped, chopped and rattled her way through North Florida, packing stadiums in Gainesville and Tallahassee to fire up the youth vote that helped boost her husband into the White House four years ago.”

10,000 turn out to see first lady [Tallahassee Democrat] 
Thousands Show Up To See The First Lady in Tallahassee [ABC 27] 
First lady rallies Gators at O’Dome [Florida Aligator] 
Crowds Form for Michelle Obama [WCTV] 
Michelle Obama addresses full Civic Center in Tallahassee [FSU] 
First Lady urges supporters to ramp up their re-election efforts in Florida [First Coast News] 

ROMNEY’S INSULTING REMARKS MADE IN FL Romney made his ’47 percent’ remark in Boca Raton; he’s coming back to Palm Beach County on Thursday [Palm Beach Post] “Mitt Romney‘s remarks that nearly half of Americans are “dependent upon government” and will vote for President Obama “no matter what” were uttered in May at the Boca Raton home of private equity mogul Marc Leder, Mother Jones magazine reported Monday night.” 

Romney is way off on middle class [Tampa Bay Times editorial] “Perhaps it feels like that in wealthier pockets of the country such as Manhattan, but not in most of America and most of Florida. The latest round of U.S. Census results released last week and a Pew Research Center study from last month show that middle-class Americans are lucky to make half of what Romney supposed.”

Courting Hispanics, Romney Avoids Immigration Specifics [FLDemocracy2012] “Romney’s campaign has struggled to come up with a response to Obama’s June executive order that suspended deportations of those who came here as children of illegal immigrants and are students or serve in the military.”

FL DEMS LAUNCH NEW TV AD IN HD 68: “FIRST” In 1st TV ad, Dwight Dudley promises to take on Rick Scott, Tally “culture of corruption” [Tampa Bay Times] “In the competitive St Pete-area state House 68 race between Democrat Dwight Dudley and Republican Frank Farkas, the first TV spot comes from the Fla Democratic party. It’s an introductory spot. So far we’re not aware of any state GOP ad spending in that race, just a mailer paid for by the Farkas campaign”

ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — DEMS SLAM HASNER TV AD, NEW AD HITS WEST, CLINTON FOR BEAVEN

Florida: DCCC to Launch First Ad Against Allen West [Roll Call] “The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s independent expenditure arm on Wednesday is launching its first television ad of the election cycle against firebrand Rep. Allen West (R) in Florida’s newly configured 18th district.”

Democrats slam Hasner TV ad, release their own video [Palm Beach Post] “Less than two hours after The Palm Beach Post posted Republican Adam Hasner’s first congressional TV ad, the Florida Democratic Party struck back with their own video and criticism of Hasner’s claims…while Hasner was in the state house, he supported the 2003-04 budget which contained a 2.5 percent salary raise for himself”

Val Demings drops two new TV ads in 10th District  [Orlando Sentinel] “Congressional candidate Val Demings comes out swinging against incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Webster in two new TV spots launched today in Florida’s 10th Congressional District.”

Bill Clinton endorses Heather Beaven [Florida Times Union] “Former President Bill Clinton is backing Democratic congressional candidate Heather Beaven, the campaign announced Tuesday. ‘We need more people like Heather in Congress,’ said Clinton in a news release. ‘She has lived a real life with real people. She comes from a place where people believe that it’s not a Democrat or Republican idea to be able to send your kid to college.'” 

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW 

Education climate reaches new lows as Scott tours state [WUFT] “Alachua County teachers union president Karen McCann said she thinks he’s only listening because he’s afraid to lose his job.”

Records Show Rick Scott Campaign Hired Alleged Boletera, Or Absentee Ballot Broker, In 2010 [Huffington Post] “Campaign finance reports show Florida Governor Rick Scott — who framed recent evidence-defying efforts to purge state voter rolls, limit registration and reduce early voting hours as a protection of “honest” elections — hired an alleged Miami-Dade absentee ballot broker during his 2010 gubernatorial campaign.”