Third parties have had an unbroken record of failure in American presidential politics. So it was refreshing to see in the tea party an insurgent movement, mainly of people who were not professional politicians, but who nevertheless had the good sense to see that their only chance of getting their ideals enacted into public policies was within one of the two major parties.

Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford visited South Florida Monday to tour the Indian River Lagoon, the site of one of the two coastal estuaries battered by heavy summer rains.

Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, played tour guide to the Wesley Chapel Republican in order to push for funding for projects outlined in the committee's report, which was approved Nov. 5 in Tallahassee. The suggested actions are meant to help the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.