Weird Florida Senate Race---Gets Weirder

Coming down the home stretch the Florida Senate race has gone from strange to totally wacko. A few days ago Politico reported that  former President Bill Clinton actually convinced democratic candidate Kedrick Meek to drop out twice, each time Meek changed his mind before any announcement was made. Meek totally denied the accusation, independent candidate Charlie Christ said it was true and Republican Marco Rubio just stared at the nonsense with total incredulous.

In the days since the Politico story it has become more evident that both the source of the story and the one pushing Rep Meek to withdraw was not Clinton but Governor Crist.  Meek said that Clinton had discussed a withdrawal with him, but there was no pressure to withdraw.  The pressure said Meek, was coming Crist.

The Buzz from the St. Petersburg Times  obtained the voice mail Charlie Crist left at 4:45 a.m. this past Monday for Kendrick Meek, hoping to meet later that day to set up a deal were Meek would leave the race. Meek, of course, said no. (Note to Charlie Christ if you ever call my house that early, somebody better be dead, or you will be).

Crist starts out by referencing a phone call from Meek. Here's what happened, sources say: Crist started calling Meek a lot in days leading up to the CNN/St. Pete Times debate Sunday in Tampa. "He was basically phone banking him," a source told us. After the debate, Crist approached Kendrick. The spoke very briefly. The calls kept coming and that evening, Meek called Crist, who did not answer.

Meek has refused to drop out. He and Crist trail Republican Marco Rubio in the polls. And former President Clinton will be campaigning with Meek on the final day of the campaign.

Its interesting that a year ago Charlie Crist was a rising star in the Republican Party. Today he is banished from the party he grew up in, and has gone from a rising star to someone who fighting for his political life.This senatorial campaign has taught Florida the truth about Charlie Crist, and that truth is not pretty.