THE NEWSPAPER ENDORSEMENTS CONTINUE

We wake up today to see that here at home, the Lakeland Ledger has endorsed Attorney General Charlie Crist in the GOP primary for governor. It mentions that:

"He has gone to court many times to combat consumer fraud, regardless of partisan considerations.

Crist also knows when not to use the power of the state. He deliberately stayed out of the Terri Schiavo case and let the courts resolve it. He made this choice at a time when most Republican politicians were screaming for the state and/or federal governments to intervene. One of those politicians was (State CFO and primary opponent Tom) Gallagher."

But, it's kinda of confusing when you also read:

"Gallagher has a vast amount of experience in government; in fact, The Ledger supported his candidacy in the 1994 primary. But his lurch to the right raises too many questions about how he would govern in 2007 and beyond."

The confusion is because Crist has also taken that sharp right hand turn to satisfy the conservative extremists he so angered not that long ago.

The Palm Beach Post is recommending State Senator Walter G. "Skip" Campbell in the Democratic primary for Attorney General. That's the third newspaper endorsement this week, and is a three-for-three sweep for those major newspapers who have endorsed in this race.

Turning to more local races, the St. Petersburg Times endorses three candidates in contested primary races for the Hillsborough County Commission: Rose Ferlita in the District 1 Republican primary, Chloe Coney in the District 3 Democratic primary, and Lisa Rodriguz in the District 4 Democratic primary. In the contested Pinellas County Commission primaries, the Times is backing Calvin Harris in the District 2 Democratic race, and Susan Latvala in the open District 4 primary. Both are incumbants