Florida Megathread

[Niemeyerite]

I don t think that will change a lot of things...

I m still believing Scott can win.

Why are you always so pessimistic?

[Donerail]

I don t think that will change a lot of things...

I m still believing Scott can win.

It's a stunning display of pettiness on the part of a sitting governor. Scott then followed that with a fairly poor debate, including implicitly admitting the reality of global warming, while Crist got questions about the environment - an area where his record is undoubtably superior. It's enough to shift a percentage point or two, which is all that matters.

[President Johnson]

Scott had a very poor showing in the debate (even without the fan-issue), but likely it won't change that much.

[windjammer]

I don t think that will change a lot of things...

I m still believing Scott can win.

Why are you always so pessimistic?

Well, short answer, I think I tend to overestimate incumbency .

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I don t think that will change a lot of things...

I m still believing Scott can win.

It's a stunning display of pettiness on the part of a sitting governor. Scott then followed that with a fairly poor debate, including implicitly admitting the reality of global warming, while Crist got questions about the environment - an area where his record is undoubtably superior. It's enough to shift a percentage point or two, which is all that matters.

I hope you're right seriously Sjoyce. Really. Scott is one of the worst governors.

[Flake]

FWIW, the three minutes Scott didn't walk on stage has been played on nearly every news station here. People are talking about it.

[Donerail]

FWIW, the three minutes Scott didn't walk on stage has been played on nearly every news station here. People are talking about it.

Yeah, I heard about it on the normally nonpolitical talk show I listen to in the mornings, and several of my largely apolitical classmates were talking about it. Nobody seemed to be justifying Scott.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

The debate organizers confirm that Crist broke the rules. Doesn't matter though, Scott really messed this up. It would have better if he just refused to debate entirely and waited for the confirmation that we now have today.

[user12345]

And it's made the CBS Evening News.

[IceSpear]

We can sew them back on if they make the right decision in November.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

Does Scott have cancer ? His bald paleness makes me think he is undergoing chemo.

[Vega]

Scott was just on CNN with Wolf Blitzer.... man, he's so awkward. Wolf kept pressing him, too.

[Donerail]

Pete Begala on the race.

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[Donerail]

When I saw the fan incident first on Google News at minimum 12 hours after the conclusion of the debate I could not help but think of four years earlier involving another debate between candidates for Florida governor with Alex Sink and two of her campaign aides. Rick Scott wins in 2010 by 60000 votes; a wider margin. Maybe I think elections are closer than they actually are but 60000 votes is a solid difference between two candidates. A state voting for a presidential candidate who represents the party opposite of the one that holds the state house in the state is not unusual. As a matter of fact a sign of a rejection by the Florida electorate of Rick Scott would be clear had the state gone for Mitt Romney. Rick Scott may well be Florida governor twice because he follows the rules.

See, the difference is that with the Sink thing it was clear to the average voter that Sink was cheating - the debate rules said she couldn't use a cell phone, and yet she used a cell phone to receive info on how to debate. Here, Scott's throwing a tantrum because Crist has a fan on a day when it's 90 degrees outside. General consensus is that this helps Crist - he's probably up 2 or 3 today.

[IceSpear]

https://twitter.com/MarcACaputo/status/522566175210094594

[Dixie Reborn]

Fangate is a stupid reason not to vote for Scott.

[IceSpear]

Fangate is a stupid reason not to vote for Scott.

Yeah, being a criminal Medicare fraudster is a much better reason, but I'll take what I can get at this point.

[windjammer]

I hope this is over but I have the feeling this is not the case

[eric82oslo]

Fangate is a stupid reason not to vote for Scott.

He embarrassed himself to the utmost degree, and politicians of his stature (Governors, Senators, Presidents) shouldn't embarrass themselves in public like that. Especially since it was clearly all intentional from his side. This incident was actually more embarrassing than Rick Perry's Ooops moment, and everyone agrees that that comment disqualified Perry from becoming president in 2012 and probably for the rest of his lifetime as well. Likewise, many people will say (certainly most Democrats) that Romney's condescending 47% comment disqualified him from ever becoming president.

[Donerail]

[Flake]

Lmao this is gonna be wonderful when Crist curbstomps him. Florida is finally going to be Scott-Free™.

I don't understand why people keep saying "oh it was 90° crist needed that fan " like every building here is air conditioned and it can get very hot under stage lights but why do they keep saying it was 90?

[Donerail]

I don't understand why people keep saying "oh it was 90° crist needed that fan " like every building here is air conditioned and it can get very hot under stage lights but why do they keep saying it was 90?

IIRC the candidates were doing all their prep in RVs outside and would be walking right in to debate from outside.

[Flake]

Sun Sentinel endorses Crist

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Really says stuff along the lines of "Even though Crist has changed his positions and is an opportunist, he's done some good things when he was Governor and Scott really hasn't, Scott also blames Florida's economic state in 2010 because of Crist, so we think Crist is better.

[Mr. Morden]

A must-read history of Crist's fan:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/10/charlie-crists-fan-a-love-story/381529/?single_page=true

[Donerail]

With the Herald today, that brings the Crist campaign up to three major papers (Herald, Times, and Sun-Sentinel). Obama only got the Times and Herald.

[Miles]

Reportedly Scott is self-funding $22M (!) for ads these next two weeks.