Americans elected a stranger as president in 2008.

While the new heads of committees and the agenda for the 2013 session have yet to be determined, there are signs that next years education battles in the Florida Legislature will center around the state university system, as lawmakers debate how to raise much-needed funds and whether to create the Sunshine States first online university.

Ryan Duffy, spokesman for House Speaker-designate Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, was mum on details, but told Sunshine State News that higher education was shaping up to be the next frontier in Florida education reform.

Florida Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, wants the Florida Cabinet to grill executives from the state-backed insurance provider on alleged lavish travel expenses at a time when the agency is trying to reduce coverage and increase rates.

Barry Gilway, the new president and executive director of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., responded with his own letter to the Cabinet, saying hes all for such a discussion.

Political junkies get excited about the Republican and Democratic national conventions, but for many Americans they provide a stark reminder of how out of touch our political system has become.

At the request of Sunshine State News, award-winning professional photographer Steven Martine spent a few days this past week at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, in and particularly around the Tampa Bay Times Forum and Innisbrook Resort.

Here's a scrapbook-sampling of photos of downtown Tampa he left for our readers.

Incidentally, Martine, a former newspaper photographer, is a resident of Stuart.

Click on the photos to enlarge them and to get more details.

After reading Barack Obama's book "Dreams from My Father," it became painfully clear that he has not been searching for the truth, because he assumed from an early age that he had already found the truth -- and now it was just a question of filling in the details and deciding how to change things.