Meek, Clinton, and Obama

The Democrats are in a panic. It's a meltdown.

A perfect illustration: Kendrick Meek and the U.S. Senate race in Florida.

From FOX News:

Former President Bill Clinton tried last week to get Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek to quit the U.S. Senate race in Florida and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist's independent bid, Politico reported Thursday, adding that the effort nearly succeeded.

Politico reported that during Clinton's trip to Florida, Meek agreed twice to drop out of the race to help Democrats defeat the Republican nominee, Tea Party loyalist Marco Rubio, but Meek eventually changed his mind.

The premise was that if Meek's followers threw their support behind Crist, the former Republican likely would defeat Rubio.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Rubio's lead is shrinking in the final days of the race. Rubio has 42 percent of the vote to Crist's 35 percent and Meek's 15 percent in their three-way contest. Rubio led Crist by a margin of 44 percent to 30 percent two weeks ago.

Meek's campaign denied he ever considered throwing in the towel.

"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," Meek campaign manager Abe Dyk said in a written statement. "Kendrick is the Democratic nominee, so if anyone should drop out, it's Charlie Crist," he added.

But Crist confirmed the report in an interview Thursday night with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, saying he had discussed the matter with Meek.

"Those conversations did take place," Crist said, asserting that Meek initially had agreed to quit, to "do what was right ... stop a right-wing radical, if you will, from getting elected to the U.S. Senate."

This really looks bad.

Pressuring Meek, winner of the Democrat primary, to get out of the race with less than a week to go to prevent a Marco Rubio victory is disregarding the will of the people. Democrats in Florida chose Meek to be their nominee.

Bill Clinton and Obama shouldn't be undermining the will of the people.

Also, we have a lot of lying going on here.

Meek's campaign is adamant about him never considering quitting the race. Clinton's people tell a different story.

From the Washington Post:

Former president Bill Clinton tried to persuade Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the Florida Senate race, telling Meek that he could make a greater impact if he quit the three-way race and endorsed Gov. Charlie Crist (I), a Clinton official confirmed Thursday.

Clinton, a longtime friend of Meek's, first worked through his senior adviser Doug Band to make the deal before getting personally involved, spokesman Matt McKenna confirmed. The discussions were first reported Thursday evening by Politico.

Meek seemed amenable, and on two occasions nearly went through with it, McKenna said, but he ultimately changed his mind.

This plot blew up in the Dems' faces.

If I were a Floridian, I'd be ticked off about Clinton and Obama meddling in my state's U.S. Senate race.

The liberal media outlets are putting less focus on Obama's role, but he has also been involved. They're clearly trying to leave Obama out of this mess and protect him. They've failed.

Michael Steele makes a valid point:

Last week, Clinton spent two days in Florida to campaign on Meek's behalf. He also used that time to try to persuade Meek to quit the race, Politico reported.

Meek, who won a four-man Democratic primary in August and is aiming to become the first African American elected statewide in Florida, cites Clinton frequently on the campaign trail and considers him a political mentor.

Republican Party chairman Michael S. Steele decried Clinton's dealings, saying they send "a chilling signal to all voters, but especially African Americans. One can only imagine the response if Republican leadership tried to force out of the race - in the 11th hour - a qualified black candidate."

The Democrats and their mouthpieces in the liberal media would have a field day if Republicans tried to pull what Clinton and Obama attempted.

This is interesting.

From Rick's Blog:

I called a source very close to the Meek campaign who confirmed that Clinton and Obama have been pressuring Meek to drop out. “Kendrick has been under tremendous pressure,” I was told, “but he is not dropping out and will continue to fight for the middle class.”

The African-American community–both in Florida and nationwide–is very invested in Meek’s campaign. He doesn’t want to let them down. Also, Meek dropping out would hurt Alex Sink’s bid for governor because she must have a strong vote from the black community.

Meanwhile African-American leaders are upset with Barack Obama. “If Obama forces Kendrick to drop out, he can kiss the White House goodbye in 2012,” one leader told me.

The ruthless Democrats are imploding.