Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Florida Governor Scott Diverts Debate Attention to Crist's Electric Fan

Magicians and politicians both rely on misdirection frequently to succeed in their profession. Last night, Governor Rick Scott skillfully misdirected the voters in Florida and the political media by delaying the start of his debate with challenger and ex-governor Charlie Crist. The pretext was Mr. Crist's 12-inch electric fan that he takes everywhere and which was set inside his podium. For 7 minutes, the debate was delayed while Mr. Scott fussed. It helped bury the content of the debate beautifully.

Governor Scott is one of the most unpopular, if not the most unpopular, governor in the US. Charlie Crist was a Republican when he was governor, then he was an independent and now he's running as a Democrat. Floridians don't seem to want to elect either man, which usually benefits the incumbent by depressing turnout.

There were some solid exchanges in the debate. Politico states Crist "accused Scott of slashing education, causing utility rates to spike and caring more about the rich than the middle class. He also said he perpetrated the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history during his pre-political career as a hospital executive." In fact, Mr. Crist said "Rick, this is also a fact: You plead the Fifth 75 times so you wouldn't have to answer questions about your involvement with it."For his part, Politico notes, Scott said Crist trashed the economy as governor, losing 832,000 jobs and watching the unemployment rate increase from 3.5 percent to 11.1 percent during his term in office."

What one hears most from voters that both candidates sound like whining children. Alan Gomez of USA Today wrote "Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, said such complaints are not hyperbole. The intensity and frequency of the negative ads have so clouded the minds of voters that she recently received an e-mail from a complete stranger asking whether MacManus could help her understand which candidate's ads are true. 'This has been the longest, most negative ad campaign in Florida history,' said MacManus, a Florida native."

Last night's chicanery merely added to the despair of the voters. Adrian Wyllie, the Libertarian Party's candidate for the governor's mansion, sued to be included in the debate, but a court denied him. Despite that, he is polling 9% out of sheer frustration the electorate feels. With both major party candidates polling at 44%, it is likely that the next Governor of Florida will not have won a majority of votes.

Rather than raise the level of debate, though, and rather than have a media story that appealed to the issues Floridians care most about, Mr. Scott provided a few minutes of "is this really happening" on statewide TV, as well as C-SPAN and most of the cable news networks that broke away to cover.

How effective was Mr. Scott's delaying strategy? When asked what was trending on social media as the debate post-game played out, Manny Garcia, the editor of the Naples Daily News, said in all seriousness, "Well, the fan."

© Copyright 2014 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



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