The gubernatorial campaign is starting to heat up as Republican nominee Rick Scott and Democratic nominee Alex Sink spar over debates, clash over tax returns and jump in on an event planned to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks by burning Qurans.
The Scott campaign staff announced Wednesday that its candidate had accepted two debates with Sink. The first debate, sponsored by Leadership Florida and the Florida Press Association at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, will be Wednesday, Oct. 20. The second, sponsored by the St. Petersburg Times, will be at the University of South Florida at Tampa and hosted by CNNs John King. Both debates will be broadcast across the state.
Rick looks forward to debating the issues important to Floridians, said Jen Baker, a spokeswoman for Scott. People deserve to know that there is a clear choice between an outsider and successful businessman with a proven track record of creating jobs, balancing budgets, and a Tallahassee insider and Obama liberal who supports job-killing policies and as chief financial officer has presided over historic job loss, increased insurance premiums and mismanaged pension trusts.
Noting that, at the end of August, Sink had called for a series of five debates, her campaign team insisted that two debates were simply not enough.
"This is another example of Rick Scott trying to hide from Florida voters, insisted Kyra Jennings, a spokeswoman for Sink. He would rather talk about national issues through 30-second negative ads than talk directly with Florida voters about Florida issues."
Jennings said that the Sink campaign was still calling for more debates.
"We still want to have five statewide televised debates and are open to considering CNN as one of them," she said.
The Sink campaign announced that it would release the 2005-2009 tax returns for Sink and her husband, attorney Bill McBride, best known for being the Democratic gubernatorial nominee who lost to Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002.
"It's vital to be open and transparent with the people of Florida -- which is why I will be releasing my tax returns and my husband's tax returns for the last five years and why I am calling on Rick Scott to do the same," said Sink. "Floridians have a critical choice in this election and they deserve to know about a governor's background and finances. Rick Scott needs to stop hiding from the people of Florida."
The Sink campaign claims that every Democratic and Republican gubernatorial candidate of the last four decades released their tax returns, and demands to know if Scott is hiding anything.
The Scott campaign countered Wednesday afternoon by telling the media that Scott intends to release his tax returns soon and has always planned on doing so.
As if Wednesday were not busy enough for the Sink and Scott campaigns, both candidates took aim at Saturday's scheduled Quran-burning event, being led by Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
As an outsider fighting to turn our state around, my priority remains focused on creating jobs and getting Florida moving again, said Scott. But, as the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaches, anyone who seeks to lead this state has an obligation to speak out on an entirely different matter.
The eyes of the nation have turned to Florida and a small group here who plans to burn the Quran on Sept. 11, said Scott. I sincerely ask the organizers to stop, reflect and change their plans.
I agree with General Petraeus. This kind of provocation is deeply wrong and even dangerous, he added. As this situation unfolds, Floridians of all faiths should come together and say this provocation doesnt reflect the values of our great state.
Said Sink a half-hour after Scott's statement on the subject, "I stand with General Petraeus in condemning the planned burning of the Quran, as it could put our brave troops in harm's way. I also feel this display of hatred and intolerance is not in keeping with the values and spirit of our state."
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
