Charlie Crist on Debating Nan Rich: Hell, No, I Won't Go

Hate to say I told you so, but ...

Charlie Crist admitted Tuesday he has no intention of meeting Nan Rich in a primary debate.

Reporters nabbed Crist outside a Fort Lauderdale fundraiser Tuesday, asked him if he had any plans to debate Rich, his opponent for the Democratic nomination for governor.

"I'm not even thinking about that right now, to be honest with you," he said.

Instead, he's "focused on doing everything I can to help the people of Florida, and this is not really a race about candidates. This is a race about the people of our state - about teachers, about law enforcement officers, about firefighters. People that in my opinion have not been honored the way they deserve to be honored."

Really? So, the people of Florida don't want to know about the candidates in this race?

Crist wants voters focusing on his talk not his walk, on his promises not his record, on his charm not his character.

You would think he might have said something to leave the door open to a debate. Even if he blew reporters off with a simple "We can look at that later." But he didn't. He's not debating. I and several million other Floridians knew all along he doesn't have the stomach for it. You don't step in front of the cameras against Nan Rich with nothing but a tan and a smile.

Rich is ready to climb into the ring.

"I'm an issues person," she told The Miami Herald in a phone interview. "I'm a policy person. To me, to have a dialogue and a debate back-and-forth about the issues is probably the most important thing that you can do to educate voters about where the candidates stand."