Some early/absentee voting is by necessity, some by convenience. Here’s hoping that convenience isn’t, in effect, a tradeoff for what would become irrelevant gubernatorial debates for a significant number of voters.
After the onslaught of slick, context-contorting campaign ads, voters just may, ironically, want to take advantage of the only opportunity to see the candidates unfiltered and juxtaposed. The dynamics can be revealing.
For example, answering a question–any question–with a rote, non-sequitur mantra about “Obamacare” or “jobs” plays differently in front of a statewide TV audience than it does in print largely in front of the press corps.
Frankly, the debates, as well as Democratic–notably minority and South Florida–turnout, will represent Charlie Crist’s best chance to counter Gov. Rick Scott’s deep-pocketed media ad machine. Television is not in Rick Scott’s rhetorical–or optical–wheelhouse. Conversely, Crist’s mien is media friendly. It would be too bad if too many voters didn’t look in for a final assessment in the consummate candidate comparison.