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Was Alex Sink wrong to fire her campaign aide? UPDATE

UPDATE -  CNN's John King had this to say tonight about the debate:

"We listened very closely to the audio, and the makeup artist, when she approached Alex Sink, said I have a message from the staff. And that at point they looked, it was on a cell phone, it was two sentences. It was essentially advice after the last segment of the debate telling her if that question comes up again, remember this, and be more aggressive when Rick Scott questions you. It was two sentences. it was clear that she looked at it and read it. Mr. Scott called her out on that, if you will. His campaign says it's proof that she cheated in the final exam."

King's remarks seem to support Crowley Political Report's earlier assessment of what Sink's off-camera reaction.

And it begs the question again - Should Brian May have been fired?

Here's what we said earlier:

Democrat Alex Sink was caught during Monday night's debate on CNN reading a text message on a phone handed to Sink by her make-up artist during a commercial break.

It was a violation of the rules of debate and Republican Rick Scott quickly called her on it.

Sink later fired campaign consultant Brian May for sending the message to Sink.

Should he have been fired? And what does that really mean?

Sink explained the firing this way:

“I said ‘Find out where that text message came from,’ and actually it came from somebody on my campaign staff –  clearly against the rules – and that person’s had to leave my campaign. When I heard what had happened and got to the bottom of it I took accountability.”

CNN still had the camera's rolling during the commercial break. Sink is clearly seen reading the message on the telephone handed to her by the make-up artist.  Her reaction - well there really isn't any.  In fact, it would not be a stretch to suggest that at that moment she did not appear displeased.

And when Scott called her on it as the debate restarted, Sink offered no explanation.

Now perhaps she immediately knew something was wrong and planned to take action. And not reacting during the debate was probably a smart tactical move at that moment.

But the firing seems like a harsh political stunt. What May did was stupid and careless but a firing offense?

Or was he fired simply because the St. Pete Times accused Sink of cheating and someone had to pay the political price.

 

 

Comments

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Abondroit

Of course it wasn't a firing offense. First, it's a stupid rule. Boxers get coached between rounds. Who cares if candidates get coached during breaks? Listening to some commentary tonight from cable pundits, you'd think that the candidate who best stays within the guardrails is the best, the "most trustworthy" person. Or, that the "debates", as currently mounted, are meaningful. Nonsense.

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