Citizens United Political Victory Fund (CUPVF) announced that they were backing former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon for the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November. CUPVF is the PAC affiliated with conservative group Citizens United, best known for its successful challenge to federal campaign finance laws. CUPVF also put its money where its mouth is -- sending $10,000 to the Weldon campaign.

The economy is on center stage in national politics on Thursday as Barack Obama heads up to Ohio to offer a speech on the subject in the afternoon to argue that he needs more time to turn it around. Republicans have been firing away at Obama on the economy this week -- and a new poll shows they have the wind at their back on the issue as more Americans trust Mitt Romney to handle it. A poll of likely voters from Rasmussen Reports shows that 50 percent trust Romney to manage the economy while 42 percent think Obama would do a better job with it.

Former state Senate President Tom Lee is looking to get back into the Florida Senate -- but he has an interesting Republican primary battle with Rep. Rachel Burgin, R-Tampa, looming in August. Lee won the endorsement of one of the leading Republicans in the state on Thursday when Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she was backing him.

Endorsements keep coming in the race to replace term-limited Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, in representing parts of the First Coast in Tallahassee. On Thursday, Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, announced that he had won the backing of Mike Hogan, who served in the Florida House and as Duval County tax collector before losing out to Alvin Brown in the Jacksonville mayoral race in 2011. Hogan looked to showcase Weinsteins conservative credentials in his endorsement.

With President Barack Obama heading to Ohio on Thursday as he starts his efforts to convince voters that he needs more time to turn the economy around, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is going all out to attack him for wanting a mulligan. The RNC took aim at Obama in a video unveiled on Thursday -- and, just in time for the U.S. Open which also starts on Thursday, the ad does not shrink from making golf references.

Gov. Rick Scott expressed optimism as the states push to find non-U.S. citizens among the list of registered voters has moved into the court system. I cant image were not going to win, Scott said, while continuing to plead the states case in the court of public opinion in separate interviews on WFLA 970-AM in Tampa, WFLA 100.7-FM in Tallahassee and 9.25-FM Fox News in Fort Myers.

Gov. Rick Scott released the following statement on Barry Gilway being offered the position of president at Citizens Property Insurance and the service of Tom Grady as the interim president. I would like to thank Tom Grady for his service as interim president of Citizens Property Insurance, and congratulate Barry Gilway on his appointment as the new president.

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, isnt running to be the next president of his alma mater, his office stated. Cannons name has been floated after State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan on Monday said the University of Florida trustees shouldnt limit the search to replace its president strictly to the academic world. But Cannons spokeswoman Katie Betta quickly dismissed the UF rumors.

MedVance Institute, alleged to have made misleading marketing claims, has agreed to offer retraining to students and direct $600,000 in scholarships to Florida, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday. Students should be able to trust that the marketing information they received from any educational institution is complete and accurate, Bondi stated in a release. I am pleased that MedVance has cooperated fully with my office and demonstrated a commitment to act responsibly.

The great Eddie Cochran sang in his classic hit Summertime Blues (not all of us in Generation X associate the song with Alan Jackson) about the problems a teenager encounters when free from school -- and his lines about summer jobs and calling up congressmen came to mind on Wednesday as former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, now running in the Republican primary to take on Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November, weighed in on teenagers searching for jobs.

Gov. Rick Scott named Walton Fain Poppell to the Madison County School Board, replacing Abra Hill Tina Johnson. Poppell, 67, of Madison, has been the owner of Poppell Land Surveyors since 1976. Previously, he served on the Madison County Planning and Zoning Board from 2008 to 2011 and on the Madison County Board of County Commissioners from 1988 to 1992.

Larry D. Hart has been named Lee County tax collector by Gov. Rick Scott. Hart, 56, of Fort Myers, fills the vacancy created upon the death of Catherine M. Curtis. The term runs through the end of this year. Hart, a Republican who has been the assistant tax collector since 2001, is one of three people including one other Republican -- running for the office.

The Citizens Property Insurance board of governors agreed to negotiate with Barry Gilway, the president and CEO of Mattei Insurance Services, to be the president of Floridas insurer of last resort. Gilways success as president will be judged by how well he can shrink the size of the Florida-backed company.

On Wednesday, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed U.S. Rep. Connie Mack in the Republican primary to challenge Democrat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November.

Every few years, theres a movement to replace The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem -- but these efforts always fail miserably. As hard as it may be to sing, and while it may commemorate a battle in a mostly forgotten war --the country has done next to nothing to mark the bicentennial of the outbreak of the War of 1812 -- a new poll shows that Americans are solidly behind keeping The Star-Spangled Banner as the national anthem.