TWO ARTICLES ON HARRIS AND NELSON:

I returned from my trip to the Panhandle this weekend only to find articles in the St. Petersburg Times about Katherine Harris supporting Speaker Hastert and her Republican Party; and another article about Senator Bill Nelson supporting the Democratic Party.  No mention is made of Independent candidates nor references to the war.

TV APPEARANCE AND EDITORIAL BOARD INVITATION FOR HARRIS AND NELSON:

The two articles also reported on Ms. Harris’ Sunday morning interview on Bay News 9’s Political Connections Program (CNN affiliate), at 11 AM, prime time, during all the other national talk shows; and the other article spoke of Senator Bill Nelson’s editorial board appearance with the St. Petersburg Times this week.  To my knowledge, no Independents and third party candidates have been invited to participate in the upcoming senatorial debates (2), editorial board interviews nor media interviews with the mainstream media and newspapers.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING ALSO INVITES TWO MAJOR PARTIES ONLY FOR POLITICAL SHOW:

Following that, at 12:30 PM, today, the local Public Broadcasting Station (PBS), Tampa-St. Petersburg-Sarasota affiliate, aired its local political program with Rob Lorei, with representatives from the two major political parties, and the two newspapers.  No mention was made of third party candidates in any of the races nor were their representatives from either the alternative press or third party political organizations participating. 
 

LOCAL CONGRESSWOMAN FINALLY OPPOSES WAR AFTER FOUR YEARS OF DIRECT CRITICISM:

There have also been two articles on our local congresswoman, Ginny Brown-Waite, regarding the Foley scandal and her changing view on the Iraq War, this weekend, including an editorial in the St. Petersburg Times today (Sunday).  While I am not running against Ms. Brown-Waite this year, I did run against her in 2002 and 2004, as the only antiwar congressional candidate in the two races.  She adamently supported the war in both congressional races and beyond.

Well, lo and behold, Ms. Brown-Waite participated in a Thursday night debate and a St. Petersburg Times editorial board interview Friday, and responded to questions that she now thinks “we should pull out of Iraq in the next year.”  She has also expressed her worry about the amount of money being spent on the war as well.

Kudos to the antiwar coalitions and peace groups in Citrus, Marion, Hernando, Pasco and Sumter counties for their ongoing efforts these past three or four years.