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Welcome to Thinking Out Loud, a blog that contains postings from The Tampa Tribune’s Editorial Board and from various Tribune Community Columnists. Unlike the unsigned editorials that represent the newspaper’s institutional voice, the blog postings offer personal perspectives on the issues, personalities and events of Tampa Bay. We invite you to participate by posting your comments. We’ll do our best to respond.

Contributors:

Joe Guidry

Joe Guidry is the deputy editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune. He is a Tampa native and a graduate of the University of South Florida. He is married and has an adult son.

Jeff Stidham

Jeff Stidham grew up and lives in Bartow. He has been with the Tribune for nearly 22 years, the last 10 on the editorial board.

William Yelverton

William Yelverton is a Tribune editorial writer who has worked for the paper nearly 22 years. He lives in the Dade City area.

Jim Beamguard

Jim Beamguard is a Tribune editorial writer. He is a native of North Carolina and a graduate of Davidson College. He and his family live in Brandon.

Jackie Papandrew:

Jackie Papandrew is a freelance writer and editor. Her syndicated humor column appears in publications in the United States, Canada and India. She lives in Largo with her husband and children. Visit her website at www.jackiepapandrew.com.

Camille Beredjick

Camille Beredjick is a senior at Chamberlain High School, an avid musician and a scribbler with a quirky sense of humor. In the fall, she will be attending Northwestern University to study journalism, political science and music, and she plans to pursue a career in journalism.

Jim Harnish

Jim Harnish is in his 17th year as Senior Pastor at Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa. He and his wife, Marsha, have two daughters and two grandchildren. He is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Bethune-Cookman University. He is the author of six books and numerous articles and studies. He enjoys playing with his grandchildren and cheering for the Florida Gators.

Angela Hunt

Angela Hunt is a novelist living in Pinellas County with her husband and two 220-pound mastiffs.

Sheryl Young

Sheryl Young was a Tampa Tribune Community Columnist in 2005-2006. A freelance writer since 1997, including the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Tampa Style Magazines, St. Pete Times and nationally in Better Nutrition, Today’s Christian Woman and more. She’s received a First Place Amy Foundation national "Roaring Lambs" Writing Award, and has lived in Tampa Bay with her family for over 20 years.

Christie Gold

Christie Gold teaches English and journalism at Freedom High School in Tampa where she advises Revolution, the school newspaper. She has been both the Hillsborough County Teacher of the Year and Florida Journalism Teacher of the Year. She lives on a small farm in Wesley Chapel where she trains as a competitive equestrian.

Natalie D. Preston

Natalie D. Preston is a karaoke singing, only-child pouting, Seminole Tomahawk waving, newlywed bride blushing, 50-state traveling, girlie girl who loves to shop, read, run and jump up and down on her soapbox.

Fernando Figueroa

Fernando Figueroa is a researcher, educator and lives in Riverview.

Gary Beemer

Interests include humor, politics, economics, community and world affairs, finance, people, religion, music, sports, current events, the arts and education.

Nicole Yunger Halpern

Nicole Yunger Halpern is an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, where she studies everything she can get her nerdy little hands on. Desired major: life. No, not necessarily biology. Life.

Kris DiGiovanni

Kris DiGiovanni is a Tribune Community Columnist, Huffington Post contributor, Daily Kos diarist, and teacher, who recently moved from NW Hillsborough to another planet - a small beach community in Pinellas County. She also blogs at www.sandscript.wordpress.com

H. David Braswell Jr.

H. David Braswell Jr. is an Information Systems Professional. He is a native New Yorker and a lifelong NY Giants fan. He attended college in California (Cal State Northridge) and moved to Tampa in 1998.

Sean Marcus

Sean Marcus teaches creative writing, journalism and reading at Chamberlain High School. He has one son and is expecting a daughter in early March. He can be reached at wuizabug@gmail.com

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Dear politician: What do you wanna be when you grow up?

Posted May 3, 2010 by Sheryl Young

Updated May 3, 2010 at 02:31 PM

Politicians want what they want when they want it.

Never mind that the people of Nevada voted for Harry Reid to represent their issues…he got so full of himself that he knew better. During a recent trip to that state, I heard that nobody wants to admit voting for him. Yet, if he runs again, he will keep being elected on name recognition alone by people too lazy to do research into other candidates. And he knows it.

Never mind that the people of Illinois voted for Barack Obama to be their Senator for six years…he did less than a quarter of that time before running off to campaign for President, and was rarely seen in his seat after that. Some of my relatives, staunch Illinois Democrats, were disappointed enough in his performance as Senator that they didn’t vote for him as President.

Never mind that Arlen Specter was a Democrat, then a Republican, then a Democrat. Hey – whatever way the wind blows in your favor, buddy, that’s what you gotta do.

And now we have Florida Governor Charlie “I don’t approve of gambling expansion” Crist. Yes, we all have the right to switch parties, or to be a part of no party. But one has to wonder what Crist will want to be next.

Crist, the first-ever Florida Attorney General to be elected, ran for that office on the Republican ticket and won by a handy landslide. Riding on the coattails of his success in that office, Crist won the gubernatorial election as a Republican as well.

But we’ve seen him turn moderate (not that there’s anything wrong with that, as Seinfeld would say) and now it appears he needs to get out of the Republican party entirely.

Does the Republican party no longer represent what Charlie believes will do the people the most good, or do the Republicans no longer represent what can get Charlie to the next level?

Politicians who run for different offices while holding one have the best of both worlds. They get to use their current office as a jump-off point. They don’t have to give up the power of their current position. They can still vote – if they decide to show up.

If Crist ran as a Republican against Marco Rubio, the party vote would still have been split, so running as an independent doesn’t necessarily do the damage in that respect that some people say.

But what matters most is that while his time is split between U.S. Senate campaigner and Governor, and his desire runs toward a national office, Crist cannot possibly pay sufficient sincere attention to his duties as Governor.

While we know the stated reasons for his party switch, these questions will always be in our minds: Is the real reason that he feels he wouldn’t be re-elected Governor because the state’s economy is in shambles? Is he cutting and running while the getting is good? Did he run for Governor not out of a desire to serve the people but to pole vault to his higher aspirations?

So whether or not he loses or wins the race, the people of Florida have lost.

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