Starting to Ramp Up

What a crazy few days. I spent so much time research for the two sand mine articles that I did not really think much beyond that. No idea what I want to cover the rest of the week... my brain is fried at the moment, so we will see what catches my attention. Just going to wing it.

I assume we will get some updates from the county on what I questioned in regards to the mine site. I have a few things out to SWFWMD as well and will likely hear back on that. Other than that.. not sure where we are going. Should be fun.

For today, we are going to talk a bit about the upcoming elections and things I plan on doing to help keep you all informed. Some of this is a repeat from what I had said before, but many were not around a few months ago or may not have read it, so worth mentioning.

First, I am planning on more candidate spotlights. I ran the first one for Holli Herndon a few weeks ago because she is new to the political arena and I wanted to get some type of introduction of her out to everyone. I plan on doing a spotlight for each of the other candidates... likely starting with challengers and then into incumbents.

I also am planning on doing at least one, maybe two debates. Working on the timing but I am hoping June and July. That will ensure that the fields are set and no surprise candidates pop in. Also, closer to election so people are more in election mode and willing to digest the politics of it all. We are still 5 months out from the primary, so it has not even hit people's radars yet.

I will keep everyone posted on those, but the plan here is to allow back and forth between the candidates. Think of this as a mini presidential debate. That is something we have not seen around here to my knowledge. No Q/A here. I want to see how each person's vision contrasts with their opponents and how they react when challenged on various topics.

I am also planning on doing "60 minute" style interviews where I ask questions and they answer them... but these are the tough questions people actually want to know the answers to. Tell me where they stand on issues.. Explain votes they made in the past or how they would have voted had they been in office.. Expect a bit of pushback from me as I question their responses. To my knowledge, no one has done the hard interviews with them. This will be that.

Timing again after the qualifying period is over. I plan to record them all before posting any of them... and then releasing each race at the same time. This way no one has an advantage of watching a video of their opponent going through this interview.

I will likely have some more things, but not ready to share just yet. I want this election season to have the best coverage you have seen locally. Big plans for this election season, so stay tuned for all of that.

In the mean time, the first big reporting deadline is looming. The end of the month wraps up the first quarter of fundraising. Those reports should be known shortly after. I am interested in how each candidate is doing in the fundraising department. I am interested in seeing the names backing each of the candidates. I will keep a running total for everyone to see and doing break downs by donor categories so you can see where the money is coming from.

One thing to note. You will likely see my name come up on these reports. Why? Because I will be attending events. Some events will be free. Some will ask for donations/tickets to enter. My plan is to visit at least one campaign event for each candidate, likely a couple for each. I want to get a pulse of each campaign and it is a lot easier doing that in person than from watching on the outside.

So if you see my name on the contributions form, that is all that it is. I am going to each campaign to watch/chat, not necessarily because I support that person. I am debating if I want to do an endorsement type thing... but just because you see me at an event or see my name come up in the contributions, do not take too much from that other than I want to learn more about each.

I encourage you all to do the same as well. You may have your minds made up, but it does not hurt to go visit the other candidates and see what they have to say. Sometimes things are not always what they seem. Sometimes a candidate has something to say that resonates with you.

The fair is next week. Most, if not all, the candidates will be there. It is a good time to come out and have a chat with them before things really start to kick off.