Not that the Tampa Tribune is courting national notoriety; it just looks that way of late.
Editorially, the Trib has been rock solid Republican for more than a generation — endorsing every Republican candidate for president since 1968. This year, however, the Trib did not endorse the Republican incumbent, President George W. Bush. In fact, it endorsed nobody.
It’s obviously a function of an editorial transfusion — new blood in at publisher, editor and editorial page editor. It’s also a function of an editorial board apparently as polarized as the electorate at large. Moreover, the president hardly helped himself with those who look at fiscal policy and the size of government as conservative litmus tests. And the mess that is Iraq easily transcends any traditional ideology.
As for the widespread publicity per se, it’s the most national notice for the Trib since, well, a certain editorial was written and sent to press before the outcome of a certain hockey game barely four months ago.
At the very least, the Trib has been on the wrong side of a basic newspaper tenet. Report –and analyze — the news — don’t make it. Only tribulation can result.