Guest Author, Author at Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorMay 19, 2016

I hate crowds. So I don’t show up for opening night of the latest Tinseltown talkie. But, eventually, I’m gonna see “Captain America: Civil War.” Why? It finally introduces a character from my tweenage fanboy days: The Black Panther. Growing up black in the ’70s, it was hard for a guy who read encyclopedias for […]

Guest AuthorMay 18, 2016

Bob Sparks, an articulate and well-regarded writer for this publication, simply got it wrong when he offered that voters have plenty of choices without open primaries. They do not. His premise is that voters already have the choice to join one of two major political parties if they want to participate in — case in point […]

Guest AuthorMay 18, 2016

I believe in second chances. It’s what I do. Everyone, including my late father, makes mistakes. Some of those mistakes, like my father’s mistakes, mean prison time. That’s why every year the Florida Department of Corrections releases about 30,000 men and women from prison. But for the vast majority of them, it doesn’t include a […]

Guest AuthorMay 17, 2016

By the time you read this, all the presidential candidates, presumptive or otherwise, may have chosen their vice presidential running mates. You will have read or heard the term “vetting” or “to vet” many times. It refers to the detailed investigation of a candidate’s background to ensure that he or she will not blow up […]

Guest AuthorMay 17, 2016

When my daughter graduated high school, she took her talents to the University of Central Florida where she majored in musical theater. As patrons, my wife and I love the arts. As parents, not so much. We worried that four years hence our daughter would strut across the stage to “Pomp and Circumstance” only later […]

Guest AuthorMay 16, 2016

Religious liberty is a foundational right in the United States of America. Its pursuit brought the pilgrims to the New World in 1620. Our Founding Fathers enshrined the right to religious freedom in the Constitution. And yet today, we find religious freedom under assault. From political correctness dissuading businesses from saying “merry Christmas” to Obamacare […]

Guest AuthorMay 15, 2016

“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean – neither more nor less,” said Humpty Dumpty in “Through the Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll. A perplexed Alice responded, “The question is whether you can make words mean so many different things.” Politicians using language to mean many things is […]

Guest AuthorMay 15, 2016

For the past decade or more, Americans have heard this mournful tune: “The middle class is disappearing. Workers’ children will never be able to climb into the middle class. Without a strong middle class, our democracy will crumble.” And so on. All of which raises the question: just what is the middle class? How do you […]

Guest AuthorMay 15, 2016

I know a lot of opinionated people. Sometimes I get it (issues dealing with war and peace, perhaps a thought about which shoes go best with which blouse.) Other times I’m perplexed. Is Sia the next coming of Barbra Streisand? Who did more to damage the Batman franchise: George Clooney or Ben Affleck? Did Tommy […]

Guest AuthorMay 12, 2016

Blame Hurricane Wilma for your rarely seen Key West neighbor who is illegally renting his cottage by the week to rowdy folks from Minnesota and other points coldly north. Wilma surged into town in October 2005, smack in the middle of a decade of real estate island hot flashes. The Category 3 hurricane brought second-story […]

Guest Author

Darryl E. Owens: ‘Civil War’s’ Black Panther should prod battle to boost Black STEM presence

John Opdycke: Closed primaries do not give voters ‘plenty of choices’

Bridges of America settles, but still helps inmates

Bob Driver: The vetting of prospective veeps

Darryl E. Owens: Good teachers at poor schools deserve a fair shot at bonuses

Matt Gaetz: Protect Bayview’s Cross

Ed Moore: Where fantasy is fact

Bob Driver: Just how middle class are you?

Catherine Durkin Robinson: Let me and my kids drink our almond milk in peace

Linda Cunningham: Wilma blew apart Key West real estate market