Democrats Make a Mess of Florida Senate Race

So let me get this straight: Rep. Kendrick Meek was the first candidate to declare that he would run for the Senate in Florida and he faced down a billionaire to win the Democratic nomination. According to various polls, since he is in third place in a three-way race, it's now his fault that Marco Rubio may win the six-year term.

Really? Are you serious?

This week, the Democratic Party's Florida debacle became front page news when it was reported that former President Bill Clinton approached Meek about dropping out of the race in order to throw his support to Gov. Charlie Crist, who launched an independent bid for the Senate seat. Crist was losing badly in the polls to Rubio. Crist opted not to face him in the Republican primary, choosing to do battle in the general election.

It has always been Crist's plan to win the Senate race by siphoning off Democratic voters, picking up some Republican votes and appealing to independents. But he has been unable to overtake Rubio in the polls, and clearly he saw his best shot at victory as hoping Meek would drop out.

A senior Democratic official told me Thursday night that Clinton believed he had secured Meek's word that he wouldn't run on two occasions. Clinton had already chartered a plane to Florida to appear at a unity rally with Meek and Crist.

Conventional Democratic wisdom says that Meek would look like the bigger man by putting aside his personal ambitions to take a bullet for the party and back Crist, all to keep the seat out of the hands of the Republican Rubio.

Except there is one problem: Crist is a Republican!

Yes, he has flipped positions more times than the chief cook at IHOP, but he reportedly promised to caucus with the Democrats, which was manna from heaven for a party that is facing the prospect of losing big in the House and the Senate. For Democratic Party officials, who cares if Meek's voting record has been solidly behind the agenda of President Barack Obama? He must be the sacrificial lamb in order for them to hold onto the Senate.

But the reality is that the party and the White House have not gotten behind Meek in a huge way.

Early on, senior Democrats were mumbling that he wasn't an exciting candidate and didn't have what it took to win. Some of them were privately hoping that billionaire Jeff Greene — who had a sordid past of a party animal and made his money betting against the housing market — would beat Meek, so they could openly support Crist.

Meek advisers have constantly been at odds with Democrats. They complained that the White House was reluctant to send surrogates to Florida to back his campaign and that even President Obama has been lukewarm in his support, offering no effusive praise of him in rallies and conference calls. Obama has preferred to lavish more praise and attention on Alex Sink, the Democratic nominee for governor.

The backroom deals were so pervasive that the state's teachers union offered a co-endorsement following Crist's veto of a major bill they backed. That stunned Meek and his supporters because he has been a major education backer, even sponsoring the bill in the Florida legislature that limited classroom sizes.

So in steps Clinton, a close friend of Meek who has campaigned for him numerous times in Florida. I was told that Clinton was angered by Meek going against his word. Clinton opted to confirm the story of his involvement, hoping that voters will see a Meek victory as unlikely and switch to Crist.

But with Meek fighting back — shutting down any attempt to characterize him as a quitter — the Democratic Party looks like the Keystone Kops, unable to get their stories straight and offering conflicting accounts of what happened.

All of this drama is messy and portrays the Democratic Party as a group unwilling to back one of their own — Meek ran for the seat, won the nomination and is trying to win the general election. If Democrats thought he wasn't strong, they should have recruited someone else.

The result is that backroom deals almost deprived voters of the right to choose their own representative, all because national Democrats were weak about Meek.

Roland S. Martin is an award-winning CNN analyst and the author of the forthcoming book "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House as originally reported by Roland S. Martin." Please visit his website at www.RolandSMartin.com. To find out more about Roland S. Martin and read his past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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