ROMNEY’S GOT 47 PROBLEMS Fla. foes greet Romney with wave of ’47 percent’ ads [Tampa Tribune] “As Mitt Romney arrived in Florida and President Barack Obama prepared for a visit to Tampa, state Democrats orchestrated a major publicity effort blasting Romney’s controversial “47 percent” comments.”

Obama campaign exploiting “47 percent” video among seniors  [Orlando Sentinel] “The re-election campaign of President Barack Obama is taking Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” comments to senior citizens, seeking to convince them that they are whom Romney was talking about when he said, “my job is not to worry about them”

Is Florida a state of ‘moochers’? [Palm Beach Post guest column] “Step away from the nursing home, grandma. Give back that child-tax credit, low-wage working mom. And all you smart-aleck teens: Don’t even dream of burdening us with your subsidized college educations.”

MoveOn tries to turn Romney’s wannabe-Latino joke into TV-ad outrage [Miami Herald] “MoveOn.org Political Action and PresentePAC say they’re putting this ad up on Florida TV (it’s in English below but also runs in Spanish) that plays off Romney’s Boca Raton quip that he wished he were Hispanic so he could do better in the election.” 

New Obama ad seeks to warn Floridians about Romney’s Medicare plans [Tampa Bay Times] “The Obama campaign has this fresh Medicare ad in Florida.” WATCH “PRESERVING” HERE. 

OBAMA, NELSON LEAD IN POLLS Fla poll: Obama 49%, Romney 44%; Bill Nelson 49, Connie Mack 35 [Tampa Bay Times] “A new Sept. 16-18 Fox News Florida poll (MoE +/- 3%) finds Barack Obama leading Mitt Romney 49 percent to 44 percent and Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson blowing out Republican Challenger Connie Mack IV 49 percent to 35 percent” 

Polls, housing data boost Obama campaign [AP] “Fresh signs of a national housing rebound and growing support in public opinion polls boosted President Barack Obama’s bid for a new term in the White House on Wednesday as Republican rival Mitt Romney struggled to quell his video controversy.”

ON THE CONGRESSIONAL FRONT — LAWSON, SENIORS HAMMERS SOUTHERLAND ON MEDICARE 

Lawson holds Round Table With Seniors, Hammers Southerland for Ending Medicare As We Know It [FDP] “Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith joined congressional candidate for CD-2 Al Lawson and Florida seniors this morning for a roundtable discussion on protecting Social Security and Medicare and how Republicans like Steve Southerland have tried to end Medicare as we know it.”

DCCC DISTRIBUTES “GOP’S MOST WANTED” FLYERS TO HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS [DCCC] “Congressman Rivera was implicated in a new criminal investigation by the FBI and Miami-Dade police for helping to run a shadow political campaign and the prosecution’s chief witness has disappeared;” 

Romney’s comments ripple across battleground map [AP] “In Florida, Democrat Lois Frankel sent out an email fundraising solicitation linking Romney’s comments to her opponent Adam Hasner, who is Romney’s Florida campaign co-chairman.” 

Murphy and Democratic super PAC launch ads highlighting West’s ‘neutering’ remark [Palm Beach Post] “Democratic House hopeful Patrick Murphy and a Democratic super PAC have both launched ads this week featuring a 2011 clip of Republican U.S. Rep. Allen West decrying ‘all these women that have been neutering American men and bringing us to the point of this incredible weakness.'”
 

ON THE STATE LEG FRONT — DUDLEY TOUTS ENDORSEMENTS, PLAKON’S PAST WILL HURT 

Plakon’s conservative past may not help in new district [Orlando Sentinel] “The same record that has made him so popular with conservatives may now be Plakon’s greatest liability. Redrawn political boundaries forced Plakon out of a safely Republican seat and into a much more moderate district — and Florida Democrats have made defeating him one of their top goals this fall.”

Dwight Dudley announces support of local leaders for HD 68 campaign [SaintPetersBlog] “Dwight Dudley, Democratic candidate for House District 68, on Thursday announced a list of prominent municipal elected officials supporting his campaign.  The local leaders so far include Pinellas Park Councilmember Patricia Johnson and Pinellas Park Councilmember Jerry Mullins and St. Petersburg Councilmembers Charlie Gerdes, Bill Dudley, Steve Kornell and Karl Nurse.”

OTHER NEWS WE THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW 

Gov. Scott helps for-profit company launch charter school [WTSP] “The school is managed by Charter Schools USA, a for-profit company that operates 48 schools with 40,000 students in five states.”

Fox Poll: Scott still underwater by 10 points in voter disapproval rating [Miami Herald] “The Fox News Poll of Florida voters released tonight not only shows President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney 49-44 percent, and Connie Mack IV trailing Bill Nelson 35-49 percent but it has Gov. Rick Scott with more voters unhappy with his job performance than satisfied with it.”

Michael Bloomberg gives $10k to committee supporting Nancy Soderberg [Florida Times Union] “New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has written a $10,000 check for a committee associated with state Senate candidate Nancy Soderberg.”

Rod Smith casting Florida’s votes at the Convention [C-Span] “Roll Call of States”