For Immediate Release: Chapter Twenty-One, Part 2

Essays and Lessons From 30 Years in Politics and Government

Hi, and welcome to the Sun Shine Republic. I’m really glad you’re here.

This is “For Immediate Release,” my essays and stories of politics, government, and a little bit of life in between. They span 30 years, from Little Rock, Arkansas to Washington, D.C. to St. Petersburg, Florida. I’ll be sending it out to paid subscribers here on Substack over the coming days and weeks. I hope you’ll consider a paid subscription and check it out. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you very much. I couldn’t do this without you.

As always, thanks for reading.

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St. Petersburg, Florida

My second bias is simple: I like Tropicana Field, the dome constructed in the 1990s meant to attract an Major League Baseball team to St. Petersburg. It’s air conditioned, it’s comfortable, and when it’s raining — which happens a lot during Florida summers — you’re going to stay dry. I don’t particularly care that the players don’t like the lights or the scaffolding walkways overhead. They’re playing a game, and to quote Trey Wilson’s Skip in the iconic baseball movie, Bull Durham, it’s “a simple game. You throw the ball. You hit the ball. You catch the ball.” The players can get over it. Beyond that, I’d like a hot dog, some popcorn, maybe a pretzel and a Coke, and if the multi-millionaire owners of the team want to construct a new stadium, the right thing to do is to do it on their dime.