Politico: Bill Clinton Tried To Talk Kendrick Meek Out Of Florida Senate Race UPDATE: Meek Denies, Crist Confirms UPDATE 2: Crist On Olby

As I asked on Twitter, pushing the black guy out in favor of the white(ish) one is racist, right?

Clinton thought he had it done last week but Meek wouldn't pull the trigger.

“The argument was: ‘You can be a hero here. You can stop him, you can change this race in one swoop,’” said another Democrat familiar with the conversations, who said Clinton had bluntly told Meek that he couldn’t win the race.

Clinton campaigned with Meek in Florida on October 19 and 20, and thought he had won Meek over in an evening conversation the night they spent together in Jacksonville. But as the week wore on, Meek lost his enthusiasm for the arrangement, spurred in part, a third Democratic source said, by his wife’s belief that he could still win the race. Clinton spoke with Meek again at week’s end, three Democrats said, and again Meek said he would drop out.

“It was a completely done deal,” one source said.

The Crist, Meek and Clinton camps even set a date for an endorsement rally: the following Tuesday, October 26. Meek was to give Crist his blessing and explain to his disappointed supporters — many of whom deeply distrust the governor, who was elected as a Republican — that their votes could save the Senate for the Democrats and save America from the rise of Rubio, who is viewed both as a hard-line conservative and a potential national figure.

The story says Meek backed out because his wife thought he could still win. It's very sweet that Mrs. Meek is so dedicated to her husband but...no, he can't.

I'm not sure how much it would or rather, would have helped Crist. Given voting patterns you have to assume that a fair bit of Meek's support comes from the black community. Is there any reason to believe that's transferable? Also, I recall seeing a poll that showed that if Crist ran with the blessing of the Democrats, he'd lose a good bit of his support that came from Republicans. It might have been a wash anyway.

You know who this benefits? Rick Scott, the Republican running for Governor who is pretty much tied with Democrat Alex Sink. Also helped are Republican House candidates in close races in Florida. Announcing that your party has given up on the top of its ticket 5 days out is not exactly going to help close the enthusiasm gap the Democrats are already suffering from.

Be the Wave!

UPDATE: Meek says never happened, Crist says yes it did. Rubio? I can only imagine he's looking for a place to live in D.C.

In a statement released Thursday by Meek’s campaign manager Abe Dyk, Meek categorically denies that he was asked to or considered dropping out of the race.

"The article is not true. Kendrick Meek was never dropping out of this race, is never dropping out of this race, and will never drop out of this race. Kendrick Meek will always stand up for the middle class and will not leave Floridians a choice between two lifelong conservative Republicans who only stand with the special interests. Kendrick is the Democratic nominee so if anyone should drop out, it's Charlie Crist."

However, Crist said differently.

"While this story is accurate, the governor's focus is on uniting common-sense Democrats, independents, and Republicans behind his campaign because he is the one candidate who can defeat Tea Party extremist Marco Rubio and deliver bipartisan results for Florida in Washington," according to a statement from Crist’s campaign.

Meek has to deny it since Bubba just torpedoed what little shot he had and Crist needs people to believe it did so they will vote for him.

This is going to take up the next day or two for the two of them. Rubio meanwhile will just go about the business of winning.

Update 2: How much does Keith Olbermann want to keep Rubio out of the Senate? He has Crist on right now.

The only logical conclusion is that Keith Olbermann wants to keep Hispanics and blacks out of the Senate.

posted by DrewM. at 07:14 PM

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