Hi. Hello. How are you? Ready for the debate between two candidates you're not all that fired up to see become our governor?
No?
Well, fear not. Because we here at New Times are gonna be blogging the shenanigans live from Broward College.
We'll be bringing you every issue, and stance these two knuckleheads have. Including all clichés, all the name-calling, and all the pandering.
It's important because if you're like most Floridians, you have no idea which way you're going to vote and the last thing we need is another "too-close-to-call" nightmare scenario.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy all the crazy with us.
See also: Rick Scott-Charlie Crist Debate at Broward College (Photos)
The debate starts at 7.
(be sure to hit refresh to get the latest updates)
And, if you haven't already, be sure to print out our Scott-Crist Debate Drinking Game and play along! If you do, you should know you'll probably be calling in sick to work tomorrow.
See also: Charlie Crist's Fan: On Twitter Since 2010 ________________________________________________________________
To wrap things up, here's video of FanGate as it happened:
7:59: That concludes the weirdest debate we've seen in some time.
Thanks for joining us!
7:58: Candidates give their closing statements.
Crist talks about how the truth has been laid out tonight.
Scott thanks his dead mother for divorcing an abusive husband.
He also said: "I want to thank my daughters for being such great family members."
He then closes with some really garbled spanish which we're very much doubting was actually spanish.... OMG RICK SCOTT JUST COMMUNICATED TO HIS HOME PLANET TO ATTACK AT DAWN!
Not again. If you don't speak Spanish, don't speak Spanish! #FLGovDebate
— Annette Taddeo (@Annette_Taddeo) October 15, 20147:56: RUNDOWN: Scott had the second part of this debate in the bag. His strategy seemed to be focusing on Crist's failures as governor. But Crist delivered the death blow with the "That was Jeb Bush" line.
Round 2 Goes to: Crist
7:54: The candidates are asked to say something nice about each other:
Crist: "I want to commend him on how he's handled the ebola case... uh... I want to commend him."
Scott: "That was nice of him."
7:54: Both candidates asked about FanGate. Both give wacky non-answers.
The state's future is in the hands of these two....
Crist was asked why he brought a fan to the stage. "Why not?" he says. "It's important to be comfortable."
7:53: And now.... THE LIGHTNING ROUND!
7:46: Crist delivers the blow of the night after Scott talks about Charlie's signing of the 2006 nuclear cost recovery bill.
"That's not true," Crist says, stopping Scott mid-sentence. "That was Jeb Bush."
LOL "That was Jeb Bush." - Charlie Crist. Even the moderator had to nod in agreement during loud audience response. #FLGovDebate
— Nicole Robinson (@alamanecer) October 15, 2014Go to Rick Scott's lies for Fl for more of his lies. His response to blaming Crist for something. Crist retort "that was Jeb Bush!" Snap
— Nicole Sandler (@nicolesandler) October 15, 2014"That's not true. That was Jeb Bush!" @CharlieCrist delivered the line of the night in the #FLGOVDebate
— MoreRon (@RonCanTailgate) October 15, 2014Elliot Rodriguez has told the audience several times to hold their applause... but they keep applauding. Elliot Rodriguez is gonna bring down vengeance and furious anger on some people Samuel L. Jackson-style in a minute....
7:44: Scott asked if he'd change Stand Your Ground, he says no.
7:43: Crist asked the same question. "It's hard to say. Neither of us were on the jury."
Crist says that Stand Your Ground needs to be fixed, which brings about applause.
I'm seeing a flurry of angry tweets related to trayvon Martin, Ferguson and stand your ground.
— Lynn Hatter (@HatterLynn) October 15, 20147:41: Scott asked if justice was served in the Travon Martin case.
Scott talks about how he had met with Trayvon's parents. Says the case went through the system and that he respects it.
7:39: "We don't actually know what Charlie's opinion is on this issue (same same marriage) because he's taken every position on it." - Scott
7:38: Again, Scott doesn't answer the question... is the same-sex marriage ban discriminatory. He's been asked twice. His answer, twice: "I don't believe in discrimination."
7:36: Scott asked if the same-sex marriage ban is discriminatory. Doesn't directly answer the question.
DRINK!
Scott says he will abide by whatever law SCOTUS rules on same-sex marriage.
7:35: Both candidates said they read the Bible every day. The Politifact FALSE meter just exploded, maybe.
7:34: Crist says climate change must be dealt with. Scott says hundreds of millions have been spent on protecting the environment.
7:33: Crist is asked what his answer would be if he was asked the age of the Earth. Somewhere in the audience Marco Rubio started getting a bad case of the ass-sweats.
7:30: We have our first break of the evening.
RUNDOWN: Scott's bizarre refusal to join the debate made for a rocky start, and he was slow in getting into the groove of things. Crist was quick with some zingers and appears to be the cooler of the two candidates. MUST BE THE FAN.
Round 1 Goes to: CRIST.
7:28: Medicare is now the subject... once again, the candidates talk about how each did their part to turn down Obamacre expansion.
Scott gets a smattering of applause as well as some groans from the audience as he talks about how Obamacare is making people broke.
7:27: Both candidates asked about the environment, and both pointed out how each have done bad things for the environment when they were governors.
Scott spoke about the record funding for environmental protection. But....
.@FLGovScott has talked about 'record funding' for environmental protection in the past. False. http://t.co/weop7HR4O7 #FLGovDebate
— PolitiFact Florida (@PolitiFactFL) October 15, 20147:26: After every question asked, someone from Rick Scott's campaign hands the press Myth Vs. Facts sheets. It's creepily annoying...
.@FLGovScott says 3,000 teachers lost their jobs because of @CharlieCrist. We said that's Mostly False. http://t.co/OOsuhLzhym #FLGovDebate
— PolitiFact Florida (@PolitiFactFL) October 15, 20147:23: "Rick, you pled the 5th 75 times..." - Crist
DRINK!
7:20: Crist asked about tuition and debt...
"What Gov. Scott did, in they first year he allowed tuition to go up 15%. If you have the hope to go to college, 50,000 of you are unable to because of Rick Scott. I'll restore Bright Futures Scholarships." -- Crist
7:16: "Rick, there you go again... trying to blame me for the global economic meltdown. It's amazing."
7:15: "Charlie lost 832,000 jobs..." - Scott
DRINK!!
7:14: Crist talks about the importance of raising minimum wage to $10.10.
"What a difference that would make," he says.
Crist reiterates that raising the minimum wage will encourage people to spend, which would help the economy.
7:13: "832,000 people lost their jobs" -- Scott
DRINK!
7:13: The cooling fan just high-fived Charlie Crist.
7:12: Scott talking about how jobs were lost under Crist. "He raised taxes," Scott says.
Crist's response: "I'm not responsible for the global economic meltdown."
This brings on applause from the crowd.
7:11: OK on to the issues....... maybe?
7:07: Rick Scott has now come out onto the stage and will debate.
Once again: The debate was stalled because Crist has a fan cooling him and Scott refused to come out because of it. Because....... FLORIDA.
7:05: Crist has been asked if the rules he received forbid a fan. Crist's response: "Not that I'm aware of."
This is actually happening. Charlie Crist is on the stage by himself.
7:04 RICK SCOTT IS NOT JOINING IN ON THE DEBATE. He flat out refused to come out and join Charlie Crist.
Charlie is standing on the stage by himself.
Apparently Crist had asked for a fan to be placed under his podium and for this reason Scott has bowed out of the debate.
"Are we really going to debate about the fan? Or are we going to debate education, and the issues?" - Charlie Crist #FLGovDebate
— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) October 15, 2014Maybe we should install some fans at the Governor's Mansion to keep Scott out of there, too.
— Alfred Spellman (@AlfredSpellman) October 15, 20147:02: Scott and Crist were late to the stage after being introduced. THEY WERE BACKSTAGE FIGHTING THUNDERDOME STYLE!
6:15 pm: Joe Biden is here! We parked right next to him and now we're following him into Bailey Hall!
(no. not him. it's just some guy. damn)
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