Channeling Ken Pruitt??

Its not easy staking out a position on crucial community issues ten months before the election. Part of the problem is that my views are still being shaped by the people I'm meeting with and part of it is knowing these words may stick. To make matters worse, the issues page on the campaign website starts with two big ticket topics, taxes and growth. In the material I had sent to the campaign webmaster was the following quote:

"Forces outside of County control have brought growth nearly to a standstill. Now is the time to take advantage of Sarasota’s growing reputation for sustainability to broaden our economic base, reducing our prior dependence on new residences and sprawl to make sure new population growth is smart growth that improves our county."

Imagine my surprise, then, when I picked up this morning's Sarasota Herald Tribune [Mixed Messages on State Economy] and read the following quote summarizing Senate President (and Republican leader) Ken Pruitt:

"Pruitt said slower population growth would allow the state to focus on "quality of life" rather than unmanageable sprawl."

So the question is:  Who is channeling who? Seriously, I'm pleased to be in his company.