Childhood and politics.
Not really sure they go together, but teaching our children the political process and making them aware of how America selects the folks who ultimately shape the country's future is probably a good idea.
When I was a child, I remember asking my mother a lot of questions "why."
Why is there war, crime, poverty, sadness...things that, to a child, seem to have easy answers:
Be kind; don't take things that don't belong to you; respect others; share if you have extra.
Too bad solving all the world's ills isn't that easy.
Or is it?
While covering a recent Presidential campaign stop in Tampa, I came across Breanna Duhart, 8, reading "Barack Obama, Our President" as she waited in line with her family to see President Obama at the Hillsborough Community College in Tampa.
Maybe when Breanna grows up, she'll have some ideas.
--Tiffany Tompkins-Condie
Grant Jefferies, a native of Palmetto and chief photographer at the Bradenton Herald, has been capturing moments in the lives of Manatee County residents for over 25 years. Images from the streets of Cuba and Haiti to the clay fields of the Little League World Series and beyond have been captured through the lenses of Jefferies' cameras. Jefferies can be found on his sailboat when his feet are not on land.
Tiffany Tompkins-Condie is in her 13th year as a photojournalist at the Bradenton Herald. Through the years she has covered crimes and carnivals; feasts and floods. Her postings will vary from events in Manatee County's back yard to the work of photojournalists covering the stories of our times from around the world. 
Paul Videla has been a staff photographer with the Bradenton Herald since 2002, when he made the move from Detroit, Mich. When he's not working,
he enjoys hunting for unique LPs at the area's plethora of thrift stores and continually works to improve his baking chops(as the records spin and his dog waits for handouts).
