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Touring Florida in support of Democratic candidates last week, Bill Clinton quietly pressured senatorial candidate Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race and endorse independent candidate Charlie Crist, according to Politico.com. By throwing the race to Crist, Clinton hoped to prevent “the rise of [Marco] Rubio, who is viewed both as a hard-line conservative and a potential national figure,” according to Politico’s Ben Smith, who broke the story.
On two separate occasions, Meek agreed to the deal — going so far as to plan an
endorsement rally with the Crist campaign October 26. According to
Politico, Meek changed his mind after his wife, who apparently reads no
newspapers/magazines/blogs, convinced him he could still win the
election.
According to an unnamed Democrat who was working on the
endorsement deal, Meek has decided that “not being seen as a quitter
was more important than stopping someone who was so opposed to what you
and your party had stood for.”
Update:
Meek made the rounds of morning talk shows Friday to deny the Politico
report. Meek appeared on no less than CNN American Morning, the
Today Show, the Early Show, Good Morning America, and the Tom Joyner
Morning Show.
Meek said Clinton asked him about reports that
Meek was considering quitting but didn’t come out and ask him to
concede. And if he had, Meek said he wouldn’t quit anyway. “I’m not
playing politics,” Meek said on CNN. “I’m not doing backroom deals.”
