Bill Clinton Convinced Florida Democrat Meek To Quit Senate Race TWICE

Three weeks ago we reported on a rumor that Florida  Democratic candidate for Senate, Kendrick Meek may soon drop out of the race and throw his weight behind former Republican, Independent Charlie Crist, which would have been a major blow to the real GOP candidate Marco Rubio. At the time I doubted the rumor was true.

Honestly this is still just a rumor, one that really doesn't make sense even if Meek has no chance to win.  A major party candidate for US Senator does not drop out of a campaign less than a month before an election just because he is losing.

I was very close to being wrong. According to Politico, former President Bill Clinton actually convinced Meek to drop out twice, each time Meek changed his mind before any announcement was made.

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded.

The former president’s top aide, Doug Band, initially served as the intermediary between Meek and Crist, and Clinton became involved only when Meek signaled that he would seriously consider the option, Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna confirmed to POLITICO.

“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 did not dangle a job in front of Meek, who gave up a safe House seat to run for the Senate, but instead made the case that the move would advance the congressman’s future prospects, said a third Democrat familiar with the conversations.

Clinton campaigned with Meek in Florida on Oct. 19 and 20, and thought he had won Meek over. 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, Oct. 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.

What is particularly interesting is that as afraid as the Democrats are to lose the Senate seat, they are at least as frighted about the rise of Marco Rubio.  They are correct in that fear, Rubio is a star.  

Last weekend, however, Meek changed his mind.

“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,” said one Democrat who had been hoping to close the deal.

Meek campaign manager Abe Dyk vehemently denied the sequence of events described by Clinton's aide and other Democrats.

 It is amazing how far the Democrats will go to stop their progressive agenda from being rejected, even to the point of "eating one of their own." Crist is a liberal Republican who abandoned his own party because he lost what he thought was an entitlement. The Democrats were willing to abandon their own party to support that same candidate.

There is an old Yiddish saying "If you sleep with dogs, you will get fleas." President Clinton and his progressive buddies must be scratching themselves all over."

VIDEO UPDATE: Kendrick Meek vehemently denied the report. But Charlie Crist just appeared on Greta Van Susteren's show claiming that the report is true and that he spoke to Clinton aides and the White House about the deal. (if you cannot see video below CLICK HERE)