WLRN-Miami Herald Reporter Kenny Malone and Herald photographer Patrick Farrell have been traveling the state for the last 5 days to document Florida voters and issues in anticipation of the 2012 Presidential Election.
The project is called Dispatches from the Swing State.
Patrick and Kenny recently came across a very frustrated David Shealy who runs the Skunk Ape Research Headquarters - and campgrounds - off the Tamiami Trail in Ochopee, Florida.
Shealy runs a kitschy establishment that makes a lot of its money off t-shirts, hot sauce, and bumper stickers of South Florida’s version of Bigfoot. But he told the Dispatchers that his issues with government are serious. Shealy says the Big Cyprus National Preserve that surrounds his campgrounds and is controlled by the National Parks System has been slowly killing his business by offering free camping.
“Basically even though my place looks nice, and if you drove by you’d think, ‘man he’s got it going on,’ our income level has been at a poverty for over 19 years now”, said Shealy. “Just because I pick up the trash and keep the place looking nice, that’s no reflection of where I’m at financially.”
Shealy says he’s voting for Mitt Romney in November. He hopes a change of political guard will change how National Parks are run.
You can follow the Dispatches from the Swing State Journey on Twitter and Instagram: #FLDispatches