Florida's final Republican Presidential Debate offered a strong opportunity to see more of the differences and personalities of the candidates.  Wolf Blitzer's controlled but dry mediation of the debate kept the aggressive energy flowing in spite of an ocean of boos to his topic choices.  

Once again we return to a Gingrich/Romney conversation, luckily Wolf Blitzer reminded everyone that Ron Paul and Rick Santorum were on stage.  Even the cameras needed the reminder.  When Santorum was able to get face time he tried to show himself as a more passionate and aggressive.  Ron Paul maintained his light-hearted attitude and assured answers that should seem so simple and obvious to everyone - in his opinion.  

The Tampa Bay Times did not offer coverage or live updating at the CNN event.  Political Editor, Adam C. Smith, and reporter Alex Leary provided a recap of the debate in an article that noted the debate being focused on Romney and Gingrich's continued sparring.  PolitiFact has the best recap with a fact check of the debate.

The race is down to Gingrich and Romney.  Santorum's participation is becoming a shadow dance, but he's committed to staying in.  Paul's passive attitude has made attendance at events is all he's really contributing.
 
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Loading the TampaBay.com Home page there is a very traditional news feel.  Content on the site is strong and they provide a deep analysis in the Political category. From 1884-2011 the paper had been known as the St. Petersburg Times, making the change to The Tampa Bay Times to better reflect their impact on the region.

As the page loads, heavy banner advertising and a paid press release ticker also detract from category and article links. Web usability experts would be able to offer an ocean of advice on the layout of the Tampa Bay Times website.  Aesthetically, their site is lacking in the smoother edges and crisp design that makes navigation easy.  According to Alexa.com, the site is loading slower than 88% of websites.  

On the flip side, the Tampa Bay Times does have it's PolitiFact site to show us they value infographics as much as we do.  Keeping the content simple, covering all the political players comments and making clear points, the PolitiFact portion of the Tampa Bay Times is a real winner.
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    Blogging for my JOUR4953 course at Marquette University focusing on the 2012 elections and the media.

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