ORLANDO, Fla. _ In a rousing speech before a capacity crowd at the University of Central Florida, President Barack Obama late Friday called on Florida voters _ especially young millennials _ to carry on his legacy by electing Hillary Clinton president and Patrick Murphy senator.
"Young people, let me say this," Obama told the crowd of about 9,000 at CFE Arena. "You have the chance right now to reject mean-spirited politics that takes us back ... You have the chance to shape history. Don't let that chance slip away."
Obama's message was tailored to a largely young crowd that likely included many voters who supported Clinton's Democratic primary opponent, Bernie Sanders.
One warm-up speaker, state House candidate Carlos Guillermo Smith, admitted that "Earlier this year I was 'feeling the Bern.'" But he said he was voting for Clinton immediately after the rally at the nearest early voting location _ one literally name-checked by Obama later.
"Here in Florida, you can vote early," Obama said. "You can vote right now ... The nearest voting location for Orange County is right down the road at the Alafaya Library. In Seminole County, the nearest voting location is the Oviedo Aquatic Center."
The event was held shortly after news of an FBI investigation into emails reportedly connected to former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner and his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin, and not emails sent by Clinton herself.
Obama didn't address the investigation directly, but he warned the crowd the election remained close _ and, as he did throughout, criticized Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"Media stories go up and down; there's a lot of noise," Obama said. "It's hard for folks to sort out what's right and wrong, true and false. Which is why the other guy thinks he can just say whatever he wants."
Obama cited an improved economy, lower unemployment, gay marriage and increased access to health care as his accomplishments and warned that they were all at stake in the election.
"In almost every measure, we are significantly better (off) than we were eight years ago," he said. But, he added, "All the progress made over the last eight years goes out the window if we don't win this election."
In criticizing Trump, Obama said, "Just like you want a surgeon who studied surgery, a pilot who did his homework on flying a plane, you don't want the slacker as president. You want someone who knows how to do the job ... In a debate with the other guy, she (Clinton) knows what she's talking about and the other guy's just making things up."
The president also gave U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Florida, a shout-out _ literally, by starting a "Patrick" chant and by attacking his opponent, Republican incumbent Marco Rubio.
"Unlike his opponent, (Murphy) actually shows up for his job," Obama said, also criticizing Rubio for saying at a debate in Orlando that he doesn't accept sea-level rise.
"Now, he's from Miami," Obama said of the city where seawater is often spotted in the streets. "Apparently, what 99 percent of scientists and what your own eyes tell you is not true."
Obama also said Rubio, who has been critical of Trump but still said he would vote for him, should have renounced Trump as several other Republican senators did.
"If you run for office on family values, you should've walked away months ago from someone who calls women pigs, dogs ... or rates women not on the content of their character but on a scale from one to 10," he said.
The president called for the election of a Democratic Congress, alleging that Republican members of Congress have "given up on their own nominee, but they promise more unprecedented obstruction in Washington."
"If you think 'Vote for us & get gridlock' is a good slogan, vote Republican," he joked, again aiming his comments at young voters. "But I hope you're not that cynical."
He ended his remarks by saying, "If you want hope instead of fear, you will elect Hillary Clinton as president of the United States, Patrick Murphy as senator, and we'll continue what we started eight years ago."
Thousands thronged to UCF in the hours before the speech, and when the presidential motorcade drove by just before 5:30 p.m., hundreds of people were still lined up along North Orion Boulevard waiting to get inside the arena. Many sprinted from the line to the roadside to take pictures as the president passed.
About 7,000 people remained outside when the arena hit capacity, the campaign estimated, disappointing many people who said they had tickets.
Before the speech, Brandon Jenkins, a 19-year-old health science major, said he was willing to wait in the heat for the rare opportunity to see Obama in person.
A Hillary Clinton supporter, he said he's "nervous" about the upcoming election.
"I've seen that people are saying it's getting tighter and tighter, closer and closer," he said.
Some Clinton backers proudly wore shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Nasty Woman," a reference to a remark Republican nominee Trump directed toward Clinton during the final presidential debate.
Other shirts referenced the historic first of a potential Clinton presidency: "Madame President (Get used to it)." said one popular design.
Near the front of the line, members of a club called Progressive Action at UCF staged a protest against the Trans Pacific Partnership, the international trade agreement backed by Obama that has become a flash point in progressive politics.
Inside the arena, the only disruption was a protester who shouted for several minutes, yelling the name of a conspiracy website, before being escorted away.
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