Picking on the Tampa Bay Times has always come easy to me.
I'm from the old school in at least one regard. I like daily newspapers to select stories fairly and keep their opinion on the opinion pages. And from where I sit, no mainstream daily in Florida crosses that line with as much bounce in its step as the Times.
Their liberal heart is larger than the sleeve they wear it on.
Yet, every now and then the Times shows me why it is still one of America's great newspapers. And just lately, it's Political Editor Adam C. Smith who's doing the showing.
I'll keep this short and to the point.
Smith's twin columns on Friday, "The Case for Charlie Crist" and "The Case for Rick Scott," are about as fair and even-handed as any political analyses I've seen in the past two or three election cycles.
Actually, I'm not as surprised as you might think. Smith, with Times staff writer Michael Kruse, wrote the definitive, three-dimensional Charlie Crist profile, "Who is Charlie Crist? The answer is complicated," published Aug. 8. Though I got the sure impression the rest of the media wanted to sweep it under the rug, the story blew me and everybody I know away. The good, the bad and the ugly of Charlie from the working journalist who probably knows him in greater depth than any of the rest of us -- and again, fair, even-handed, enormously insightful.
In the Friday story, the crux of the Rick Scott case came in a quote fromSen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon. At the suggestion Crist is warmer and more charming than Scott, Lee said, "... The bottom line for me is are you looking for somebody you want to go have a beer with or are you looking for somebody you want to run a $77 billion business that we call the state of Florida?"
Excellent point from Lee. And there you have it. Personally, I don't think when he was governor from 2007 through 2010, no matter how many hugs and kisses on the cheek he gave, Charlie ever was focused enough or sincere enough or ready to work as hard as it takes to govern the fourth largest state in the nation. Wasn't then as a Republican, won't be now as a Democrat.
The best said for Crist probably came from Democratic former state Sen. Steve Geller of Broward County: "More than any other major politician I have seen, Charlie listens to the people, and tries to do what they want him to do. Some people disparagingly call him a populist; I don't see anything wrong with listening to what the people want."
Neither do I. Except for one tiny hiccup.I would ask, are you sure Charlie's really listening? And even if he is listening, what does he intend to do about it? What's his plan? I would ask, is promising everybody who asks for something he knows he can't deliver really the kind of listening that makes him a good leader? It's one thing to want people to like you and vote for you, but it's another to hand them empty words when they're looking to you for real hope.
But more about that in a column on another day.
For now, I just wanted briefly to recognize Adam C. Smith and call your attention to his columns. They're just good election-season reading. And the only point of what I've written here -- I swear, the only one -- is to pay Smith the best compliment I can give: He was scrupulously fair.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter @NancyLBSmith
