Charlie Crist didn't have to answer a single question to win the gubernatorial debate Wednesday night. All he had to do is break the rules and take advantage.

(This column has been updated to include the comments of Florida Press Association and Intersect Media Solutions President and CEO Dean Ridings.)

In April, Amendment 2 looked indestructible. Poll after poll gave it upward of 80 percent in voter approval.

How much the Florida Democratic Party knows about William "Will" Rankin it isn't saying.

Rick Scott's campaign people aren't going to listen to me -- heck, my own kids don't even do that -- but here comes my advice anyway: Go on an all-out, total-market sweetness offensive.

"When you've got nothing going for yourself, you bang the other guy with a hammer. You make sure the voters have a big old headache and are so busy gawking at that other guy, they don't notice you."

New Hampshire Gov. Meldrim Thompson, 1976, identifying his favorite campaign strategy

Consider Florida's phenomenal educational progress over the last 15 years, due almost entirely to testing, accountability and great teaching.