Editor's Note: This is a new feature where we get to know bloggers around Tampa Bay. You don't have to be a Patch blogger to be featured. E-mail blogger suggestions to charles.schelle@patch.com if you would like to be featured.
In this edition, we find out more about the go-to guy for Florida and Pinellas County politics, Peter Schorsch.
Blog: SaintPetersBlog.com
Town: Saint Petersburg
Writers: Flyin' solo.
Started: 2008
Social Media Pages: Facebook.com/SaintPetersblog
Why did you start your blog?
I was convinced the traditional media's coverage of state and local politics was dangerously missing the needed context to put its reporting into perspective. I started my blog to add some of this context and to influence those who were doing the reporting.
How has your blog evolved over time?
The most important evolution is that the blog has become a full-time enterprise with investors and a healthy advertising base. This entrepreneurial spirit drives me to try to improve the blog almost 24 hours a day.
When do you find time to write?
Every waking moment—and since we have a newborn, that's often.
What have you learned from your own blog?
The blog has been an absolute blessing in terms of the interaction it provides with some very smart people across a broad range of industries -- health care, law enforcement, technology, etc.
What makes Florida politics fascinating to you?
There's never an off-season. When Bill Clinton talked about the 'permanent campaign' he had to be thinking about Florida, which has not had moment to catch its breath, politically speaking, since the 2000 election debacle. That mess really put the Sunshine State on the radar of every assignment editor in the country. Now a day doesn't go by where some story breaks that makes you go, "Oh, Florida..."
Florida is known for all things unusual. What's the weirdest thing you had to blog about?
I occasionally make reference to the state lawmakers I know to be doomsday preppers. Here are these very well respected elected officials, who I've kept nameless, who believe the apocalypse is right around the corner. No wonder there's no long-term planning for the state.
