It became a lesson on the ”lesser of two evils”.

The Republicans, he told me, tend to favor “for profit” institutions, which most liberal arts schools are not.

The Democrats, he said, would like to see an expansion of the two-year community college system, which would impact the enrollment (and cash flow) of four-year traditional institutions.

With research showing that 1 in 5 households faces student loan debt, can graduates of 4 year schools pay off their ever growing debt while earning entry-level salaries–providing they can find work at all?

I can’t imagine another occasion where I could have had a one-on-one conversation with Florida Governor Rick Scott for 10 minutes (I found out his wife comes from Mobile).

I sat and talked with former Alabama Governor Bob Riley (who said he feels fine after his motorcycle wreck in Alaska).

Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward thought it was important to make the trip to London–spent a good deal of time speaking with him. Also talked with Mobile Mayor Sam Jones and County Commissioners Connie Hudson of Mobile and Tucker Dorsey of Baldwin.

I also discovered that Congressman Jo Bonner is a pretty fine photographer.

On a crowded train to Farnborough now, ready for the first day of the International Air Show.

Dawn Quarles says there’s no way she could have gotten them mailed to the Supervisor of Elections office in time.

The Pace High School teacher may be the first person fined for violating Florida’s new election law. The old law gave third parties 10 days to turn in applications.

The Republican-sponsored law has drawn fire from critics who say it will suppress voting by minorities, young people and the elderly who often tend to vote Democratic.

Quarles agrees.

She called the new law “crazy” and said it’s an example of why the United States has the worst voter turnout among the Western democracies.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)