The second of the two FL-Gov debates aired live on MSNBC and Florida NBC affiliates last night. The debate was moderated by none other than our good friend "Tweety", aka Chris Mathews. The debate was also enlivened by the last minute court ordered addition of Reform Party candidate Max Linn.
Jim Davis, the Dem candidate clearly won this debate. If it was a fight, they would have stopped it.
There were many great moments in this debate, but my personal favorite is after the jump...
Cross Posted at: http://mrmainstream.blogspot.com/
and
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976828007
And at MYDD,com here: http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/10/31/121322/69
My personal favorite moment came whe Tweety was questioning Goper candidate Charile Crist, the Florida Attorney General, about the crime rate in Florida. Here is the verbatim transcript:
Matthews: Mr. Crist did you say that crime has gone down? And led us to believe that violent crime has gone down, when violent crime has gone up?
Crist: Crime has gone down in our state.
Matthews: But violent crime?
Crist: Violent crime has gone down in our state as well. The only violent crime that's up is murder.
Matthews: Well that's what Marion Berry used to say in DC when I was there. He'd say crime is down but sorry murder is up, the only exception. For most people, murder is the big one.
Crist: It is the biggest one.
Matthews: Well why didn't you say that. Why did you say crime has gone down when you knew that murder had gone up?
Crist: Because crime has gone down, Chris.
Matthews: That's a technical point.
Crist: It's not a technical point. Crime in our state has gone down. It's a 35-year low right now. I'm telling you the truth.
Mathews: I'm sorry the only reason I'm saying that is because it's exactly what Marion Berry said after his years in DC.
Crist: Well my name's Charlie Crist.
Poor Charlie, he can't help it. Nobody ever called him on an obfuscation before.
Poor Charlie, he can't help it. He never saw a deer in the headlights before.
Even the St. Petersburg Times political editor finally had to say something positive about Davis and negative about Crist:
The second and final televised debate Monday night was a rough one for the Republican front-runner. Moderator Chris Matthews pressed hard for specifics, rattling the normally unflappable attorney general ...
Davis had a strong performance in last week's debate and a stronger one Monday. Between Matthews barking followup questions that cut off Crist's normal sound bites and Linn's bombast about Socialist-leaning Republicans and Democrats, Davis came off as comfortable and quick on his feet.
Crist in contrast seemed not even to have a decent sound bite ready ...
Crist in coming days will surely have to explain how he could claim he spoke out against intervention in the Terri Schiavo case when he didn't. The claim contradicted what he told the Florida Baptist Witness newspaper - that he helped Gov. Bush fight to keep her alive.
And there was a downright weird exchange when Crist like Davis and Linn explained his opposition to gay marriage. Marriage, he said, is a "sacred" relationship - "like I had, before I got divorced."...
Someone just starting to pay attention to the race did not see in Jim Davis a man of warmth or humor. But they certainly saw a smart and steady prospective governor.
So now it is all about GOTV. If you can spare any time at all for Jim Davis you can make a real difference.
Don't wake up on November 8th wishing you had done more to help Jim Davis win.