Sink and Scott Pound Each Other on Ethics and Ignore Florida

After a break, the debate between gubernatorial rivals Democratic candidate state CFO Alex Sink and Republican nominee Rick Scott continued to focus on ethical issues.

With the debate halfway over, the focus has been on President Barack Obama and ethical attacks. With the state's continuing economic problems -- including a near 12 percent unemployment rate -- you would think the debate could actually touch on issues impacting Floridians.

Moderator John King from CNN brought up Scotts record at Columbia/HCA and fraud matters and asked if he intended to run the state as he had his businesses. What you do as CEO is surround yourself with the smartest people you can and you trust them, said Scott. King continued to ask Scott about the case and then Smith jumped in asking Scott about sealing a deposition concerning matters at Solantic, a company he invested in.

It has nothing to do with running for governor, said Scott. This race is about jobs. Scott then tried to fire away at Sink, insisting she never built a private-sector job.

Asked about her record as state CFO, Sink fired back at Scott insisting she had built jobs. She again hammered Scott on ethics issues, saying he was a corporate raider who left as a disgraced chief executive officer.

Scott responded by attacking Sink. Youre a failed fiscal watchdog, he insisted before hammering away at her record at NationsBank.

King then followed up on Sinks record at NationsBank. Sink said she was not involved with the problems that Scott was mentioning.