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“Fangate” Delays 2nd Gubernatorial Debate

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DAVIE (CBSMiami/NSF) – After tens of millions of dollars worth of television commercials and the slinging of massive amounts of mud, could the Florida gubernatorial election come down to an electric fan?

“We have been told Governor  Rick Scott will not be participating in this debate,” said CBS4 Anchor Eliott Rodriguez  who was moderating the debate.

In the latest strange chapter in the always-fascinating politics of Florida, Gov. Rick Scott skipped the first few minutes of a televised debate Wednesday with his Democratic challenger, former Gov. Charlie Crist, because of the presence of an electric fan at Crist’s feet.

CLICK HERE To Watch Cynthia Demos’ Report 

Actually, debate organizers were unsure at first whether either of the candidates would be on stage, though Crist strode out.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have an extremely peculiar situation right now,” Rodriguez said.

READ: CBS4’s Eliott Rodriguez On Moderating The Gubernatorial Debate 

Scott eventually came out as well, but the incident brought a whole new meaning to the “spin room,” where surrogates for the two candidates gathered and tried to make sense of a nonsensical turn of events.

On Thursday, Scott issued a statement on the whole fan incident. In part it read, “With his record I think he was sweating so much he was worried he needed a fan. I think next time he’s going to ask for some dry ice.”

Scott also blamed Crist for the delay.

“Charlie was throwing a fit, said he wasn’t going to go on stage so we waited to see if he was even going to show up. So eventually he did. I think he was probably worried about his track record.”

The Crist camp’s description of events: They had learned that after an event last week featuring CNN anchor Candy Crowley, the stage at the remodeled venue, Bailey Hall at Broward College, was described as uncomfortably warm. Debate organizers promised to fix the problem — with fans if necessary.

CLICK HERE To Watch Eliott Rodriguez’s Report 

“They said they were going to fix it,” said former state Sen. Dan Gelber, who signed the debate agreement on Crist’s behalf. “And they said … if they don’t, they’ll have something available.”

The Crist campaign quickly produced the copy of the rules they signed, where Gelber had written in “with understanding that the debate hosts will address any temperature issues with a fan if necessary.”

Scott and others said he didn’t immediately take the stage at the beginning of the debate because he wanted to make sure Crist did.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio echoed the Scott campaign’s explanation.

“When I got here today for this debate, I was told that Charlie Crist was going to cancel the debate, because unless there was a fan on that stage, he would not come out,” said U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. “So I think that Governor Scott was waiting to see if Charlie would actually pull that off or not.”

Click here to watch the full debate.

Crist’s nearly ubiquitous fan was already famous, memorialized by a Twitter account and obsessed over by MSNBC host Chris Matthews. Rubio said that “a similar incident” happened in a 2010 Senate debate between himself, former Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek and Crist, then running as an independent, when Meek complained about the fan.

Both campaigns tried to blow off the issue Wednesday night, but only after scoring a few political points from it.

“What looked bad was this bizarre incident tonight where Charlie Crist insisted on ignoring the rules of a debate, just like he’s ignored the rules time and again when it comes to telling the truth about what he stands for on issue after issue,” Rubio said.

“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 Rick Scott,” Scott campaign manager Melissa Sellers said in a statement issued after the debate, an apparent effort at damage control. “Crist should buy a fan for the 832,000 Floridians who lost their jobs while he was governor.”

Crist’s campaign said Scott was afraid to address issues.

“I think it’s outrageous that he’s worried about that when he’s not worried about a million Floridians without health insurance, he’s not worried about teachers. He’s not worried about my kid who goes to a public school,” said Annette Taddeo, Crist’s running mate. “That’s what he should be worried about, not about a fan….I was shocked but sad that Charlie Crist was standing out there waiting to see if we were going to have a debate.”

Both candidates addressed the fan flap near the end of the debate, with Crist defending having his cooling system on hand.

“Is there anything wrong with being comfortable?” Crist said. “I don’t think there is.”

Watch Gaby Fleischman’s Report

Once the debate did begin, the candidates continued the squabbling that started in television commercials and carried through a debate last week at Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo.

“That’s not true,” Scott said at one point during a discussion of insurance rates.

“Oh, it’s true,” Crist shot back.

Crist once again brought up a years-old deposition in a civil case where Scott invoked his right not to incriminate himself 75 times.

“That is not the kind of leadership that Florida deserves,” Crist said.

In response to a question about gay marriage, Scott noted Crist’s evolving position on the issue — part of a narrative seeking to portray Crist as a habitual flip-flopper.

“We don’t actually know what Charlie believes on this issue, because he’s taken every side of this issue,” Scott said.

But most of the talk on social media and at the debate venue concerned the fan — and whether or not it will make any difference.

“It’s funny, but in terms of pushing people, I doubt it,” said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida. “But it may make them watch the next one.”

For viewers “fangate” didn’t completely outshine the issues.

“I believe the minimum wage. I believe it should be increased,” said voter German Vazquez.

Education also stood out.

“If you don’t want $7.40 an hour, go to college and improve yourself,” said voter Kirk Faryniasz.

Overall voters said they did get a little substantial take away from the debate but know in history that the one topic that will be remembered for blowing everyone away was that fan.

Click here to watch CBS4’s Irika Sargent talk about social media in the gubernatorial debate. 

Click here to get more information on the debate.

The News Service of Florida’s Brandon Larrabee  contributed to this report.

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