There have been some bad debates so far in this presidential elections.

I mean, really bad.

We've seen candidates act like children and moderators like doofuses.

CNBC was rightfully skewered last week for asking Republicans questions both petty and spiteful.

Moderator John Harwood's first question to Donald Trump — asking the billionaire whether his candidacy was really just "a comic-book version of a presidential campaign" — was a perfect example.

As if Harwood thought Trump might respond: Why, yes, John, it is. What an insightful inquiry.

Harwood's salvo would've been better suited as a blog rant than a debate opener.

However, one of the big problems when moderators throw out harebrained bombs early on is they allow candidates to dismiss legitimate questions later.

Florida's own Marco Rubio took spectacular advantage of that.

Moderator Becky Quick asked Rubio to explain a litany of well-documented financial problems from his past.

Said Quick: "You accidentally intermingled campaign money with your personal money. You faced foreclosure on a second home that you bought. And just last year, you liquidated a $68,000 retirement fund … that cost you thousands of dollars in taxes and penalties" — all to ask whether Rubio had the ability to handle the nation's finances.

Rubio refused to answer, describing the question as "a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents."

That's simply not true.

Rubio has a string of financial messes, personal and political. And anyone who watched his record in Florida knows it.

He was mired in debt, even while living a life of limo rides and travel and telling others to live within their means.

Don't take it from me. Take it from court documents. And investigative reports.

Heck, take it from conservative commentator Joe Scarborough, a former GOP congressman from Florida who has offered hearty defenses of Rubio in the past.

After the debate, Scarborough was incredulous.

"Marco just flat-out lied to the American people there," Scarborough said, going on to ridicule the audience cheering his denials. "Everybody's going, 'Oh, Marco was great.' No, Marco lied about his financials."

The facts are all there.

See, I can't claim to have watched Ben Carson, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump up close during the past decade.

But I have watched Rubio. And he has been dogged by financial and ethical questions from the moment he became Florida House speaker and immediately spent $559,000 in taxpayer money to renovate offices and build a new members-only dining room.

He entered the Florida Legislature nearly broke and with $30,000 in credit-card debt — but managed to live high on the hog thanks to a GOP credit card funded largely by special interests that wanted legislative favors.

He used this Amex to charge everything from plane trips to limo rides. Even stone pavers at his home, an incident he described in his book as a mistake.

Once, he was caught double-billing taxpayers and the GOP for the same airfare.

Rubio's home did indeed face foreclosure. Not his family's house, mind you. A second house he owned with a legislative buddy. Court records said they stopped paying the mortgage for five months.

And while railing against government spending, Rubio snagged an unadvertised teaching position at a taxpayer-funded university and crafted a budget that included $800,000 for artificial turf at his former flag-football team's home field. Gov. Charlie Crist — of all people — vetoed it.

Rubio has admitted most of this, repaying improper expenditures and expressing regret for what he called mistakes. But last week facts became "discredited attacks."

Listen, people can forgive financial pitfalls. But they don't like dishonesty … especially when it's about money and largess connected to public service.

I still think Rubio's debate performance — especially his emasculation of one-time mentor Jeb Bush — will help him rise in the polls.

His assets are his life story, his stage presence and his doe-eyed delivery.

Rubio's baggage is his actual track record — much of which runs counter to the virtues he claims to embrace.

smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com