Rick Scott belongs in prison for massive Medicare fraud ~ but he, supported by Marco Rubio, wants us to believe that up is down, day is night, cold is hot ~ I'm hopeful Crist will win ~ emphasis/bolding below is mine ~ Sooz

Fanning the flames in Florida’s race for governor
10/16/14 08:00 AM—Updated 10/16/14 08:01 AM
By Steve Benen

It’s easy to remember political debates in which a candidate performed so poorly, it helped ruin his or her career. It’s also not hard to think of some debate performances that were so impressive, they are remembered as an important part of a politician’s legacy.

But last night in South Florida was something altogether different: the most memorable moment in a televised gubernatorial debate occurred when one candidate hid backstage, briefly refusing to participate.


The Miami Herald’s Marc Caputo noted that Scott supporters “privately” said that the moment the governor refused to go onstage “was the moment he lost the election.”

For context, it’s worth noting that the high yesterday in South Florida was, quite literally, 90 degrees with high humidity. I don’t care what your politics are – if you’re wearing a suit on a hot day in the subtropics, getting ready to stand under stage lights for an hour, a small fan seems like a rather modest, sane idea.

But according to Scott and his team, fans were against the rules, prompting the governor to throw an odd tantrum.

The Democratic challenger seized the opportunity to stand alone on the stage. “Are we really going to debate about a fan? Or are we going to talk about education, and the environment and the future of our state?” Crist asked. “I mean, really.”

The former governor added Scott’s absence was “the ultimate pleading of the Fifth I ever heard” – a brutal reference to the Republican taking the Fifth 75 times during a deposition in which Scott didn’t want to talk about his company’s Medicare fraud.

The incumbent governor eventually realized his absence was hurting his cause, but after Scott emerged, his explanation for his behavior was just as strange as his conduct.

Asked specifically about his decision to hide backstage, the Republican argued, in reference to his challenger, “I waited to see, until we figured figure out whether he was going to show up” for the debate.

In the post-debate spin room, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a leading Scott surrogate, stuck to that line, saying “it wasn’t clear [Crist] was even going to show up.”

So, let me get this straight. The official Republican explanation is that Rick Scott wasn’t sure Charlie Crist would come onstage, even after Charlie Crist was already onstage. The GOP governor and his allies would have voters believe they couldn’t be sure the guy who’d already showed up would show up.

This, apparently, was the best argument they could come up with.

Adam Smith, the political editor for the Tampa Bay Times, referencing the bizarre developments, added simply, “That is one for history books.” That sounds about right – every Campaign Management 101 course forevermore will be able to point to this as what not to do.

Recent polling shows Scott and Crist nearly tied. Early voting in the Sunshine State begins next week.

[Video accessible via the end link]

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/fanning-the-flames-floridas-race-governor

Here's more ~ love the references to "word salad" and "Palinese" ~ ~ Sooz

WATCH: Gov. Rick Scott’s rambles incoherently when asked about debate delay
David Ferguson | 16 Oct 2014 at 08:55 ET

On Wednesday night in Florida, former Gov. Charlie Crist and current Gov. Rick Scott squared off in their first televised debate in the state’s 2014 gubernatorial race.

Scott, it has been widely reported, had something of a meltdown before the debate began because Crist had been provided with a small, electric fan at his podium.

So, as Crist stood at the podium, undoubtedly enjoying the light breeze, Scott sulked backstage and refused to come out, arguing that the rules of the debate specified that there would be no electronic devices allowed on stage.

Finally, the governor relented and the debate commenced.

Moderator Elliott Rodriguez asked Scott, “And Governor Scott, why the delay in coming out over a fan?”

Scott’s response was a garbled little word side-salad that we shall endeavor to transcribe as, “I waited to be –’til he — we figured out if he was gonna show up. He said he wasn’t going to come to the uh…uh…he was — he said he wasn’t gonna come to the debate.”

If any of you can translate that from the original Palinese or explain how Crist’s standing at his podium in front of the cameras and waiting around for Gov. Scott to come out signals his unwillingness to come to the debate, please let us know in the comments.

Watch the video, embedded below via YouTube:


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/watch-gov-rick-scotts-rambles-incoherently-when-asked-about-debate-delay/

It gets curious-er and curious-er ~ here's another version, including a clip of the beginning of the debate ~ Sooz

TPM LIVEWIRE
WATCH: Rick Scott Refuses To Take The Stage Over A Fan In Bizarre Debate
By Catherine Thompson Published October 16, 2014, 7:01 AM EDT

The temperature's rising in the Florida gubernatorial race.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) lost his cool on Wednesday night when he initially refused to debate his opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist (D), because Crist brought a small fan to his podium.

Neither candidate was present at the start of the debate at Broward College, prompting the moderator to call it an "extremely peculiar situation." Then Crist walked out on stage alone.

"We have been told that Governor Scott will not be participating in this debate," the moderator said. "Now, let me explain what this is all about. Governor Crist has asked to have a small fan placed underneath his podium. The rules of the debate that I was shown by the Scott campaign say that there should be no fan. Somehow there is a fan there, and for that reason ladies and gentlemen, I am being told that Governor Scott will not join us for this debate."

"That's the ultimate pleading of the fifth I've ever heard in my whole life," Crist said to cheers from the audience.

Scott emerged to join the debate after about six minutes, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

After the debate, the Crist campaign posted a copy of the rules the candidate signed that includes a note reading "with understanding that the debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary."

The Scott campaign disputed that the governor refused to debate Crist.

"So, let's get one thing clear: Rick Scott never refused to take the stage and debate. In fact, our campaign was not notified Charlie had even taken the stage because the last we heard, Crist was in an 'emergency meeting' with debate organizers pleading for his precious fan," campaign manager Melissa Sellers said in a news release. "But Charlie Crist can bring his fan, microwave, and toaster to debates - - none of that will cover up how sad his record as Governor was compared to the success of Governor Rick Scott."

Crist's fan has long been a fixture on the campaign trail, as the Atlantic's Molly Ball chronicled. During a 2006 Republican gubernatorial primary debate, Crist's rival Tom Gallagher said it was "not fair" that Crist was allowed a fan and held up the proceedings for several minutes until he could procure his own.

Watch below:


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rick-scott-loses-it-over-fan-debate

Are they in kindergarten? Sheesh!

It does seem like a silly argument but, if the rules said "no fan" why did Crist bring a fan? Seems like he was as bad as Scott.

Other than that, who won the debate?

jim, the article said this:

After the debate, the Crist campaign posted a copy of the rules the candidate signed that includes a note reading "with understanding that the debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary."

Rick Scott has always impressed me as being something of an odd duck.

roseanne wrote:

jimwilliam wrote:

It does seem like a silly argument but, if the rules said "no fan" why did Crist bring a fan? Seems like he was as bad as Scott.

Other than that, who won the debate?

jim, the article said this:

After the debate, the Crist campaign posted a copy of the rules the candidate signed that includes a note reading "with understanding that the debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary."

So how come he never mentioned the note during the opening minutes of the debate? By the same token, it appears from watching the clip the panel knew nothing of the note nor, apparently, did Scott's crew.

Maybe because he didn't want to appear as silly as Scott.

Florida... same thing.

If you watched the clip he didn't really succeed.

Neener, neener.