Republican Rick Scott gave Charlie Crist, his Democratic opponent in the Florida governor's race, a gift earlier this week when he refused to take the debate stage after Crist placed a small electric fan at his feet. But even though Scott had set himself up as a petty politico, Crist still had to play his hand, and he played it amazingly well, innocently asking the debate's moderators, "Are we really going to debate about a fan? Or are we going to talk about education and the environment and the future of our state? I mean, really." Later, when Scott joined the debate and the fan came up as a topic, Crist followed that up with another gee-whiz beaut: "Is there anything wrong with being comfortable?"

The crowd ate it up. But can Crist ride Fangate all the way to the governor's mansion? His campaign certainly hopes so, with a new fundraising pitch that cheekily refers to his debate coup:

Caputo's reference is to Crist's fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, who apparently has his own overheating problems.