Gubernatorial Debate
Date: 10/15/14 Time: 7:30-8:30 Location: WA-104
Both Charlie Christ and Rick Scott ecpressed their views on a variaty of issues.
The Gubernatorial debate took was between Republican Governor Rick Scott and the Democratic challenger Charlie Christ.
The Debate got off to a bumpy start when Rick Scott refused to come onto the stage. Governor Scott claimed that Charlie Christ violated the rules of the debate by bringing with him a personal fan and Governor Scott didn’t want to participate because there wasn’t a fan at his podium. After a 15min delay the debate proceeded.
One of the core issues that was discussed in the debate was job creation and job loss. Gov. Rick Scott accused Charlie Christ of being responsible for the loss of many jobs during his time as Governor of Florida. Charlie Christ countered that claim by blaming the economic downturn as the cause of the job loss seen in Florida and that Rick Scott didn’t create as many jobs as he claims to have.
Another issue that was discussed in the debate was the environment, specifically the everglades. Charlie Christ was accused of not preserving the everglades like he promised and that he allowed some of the land that was purchased by the state to be developed when it should have been protected. Gov. Rock Scott was accused of not being active enough in protecting the everglades.
Ultimately, it was hard to decide who the real winner of the debate was because there was so much back and forth between the candidates. One would claim that he was telling the trough and that the other was lying. Both candidates even had their own websites that validated their claims and discredited the claims of the opposing candidate. It was hard to tell which candidate was best for Florida based off of this debate.
In the governing the good life section of the course we learned about the individuals role in becoming involved in a democratic society. Ultimately it is up to the individual to get involved if they want to see change. This debate relates to this concept because it is up to the individual to research the issues relevant to him/her in order to decide which candidate to vote for due to the lack of clarity between the two candidates.