Two Good Sources, Two Opposing Stories, I Have No Idea Who Is Right

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Bill Clinton had asked Florida Democratic Representative Kendrick Meek to drop out of his U.S. Senate race and support Governor Charlie Crist’s independent candidacy in hopes of thwarting a victory by Republican Marco Rubio.

The Hill reported yesterday that former President Clinton stated, “I didn’t ask Kendrick to leave the race, nor did Kendrick say that he would. I told him that how he proceeds was his decision to make and that I would support him regardless.”

I am really not sure who is telling the truth here, but I have a few observations on the kerfuffle.  First, some basic facts.

According to The Hill:

“A number of news organizations reported Thursday evening that Clinton asked and Meek agreed to drop out due to trailing poll numbers. According to the reports, Meek was supposed to endorse Gov. Charlie Crist (I) in order to stop conservative Republican Marco Rubio from winning the seat.”

The Wall Street Journal reports:

“Crist campaign spokesman Danny Kanner called the report “accurate.” He said Mr. Crist was focused on “uniting common-sense Democrats, independents, and Republicans behind his campaign because he is the one candidate who can defeat” Mr. Rubio.””

One of the strategies the Democrats have used in this election cycle is to run third-party candidates in order to split the votes of those opposing Democrat incumbents or candidates.  I don’t know if Charlie Crist’s decision to run as in independent was made with or without Democrat input, but as a former Republican, he was expected to take votes away from Marco Rubio.  However, even at the beginning of the campaign there were a few problems with that idea.  When he began running as an independent, Charlie Crist reversed a lot of his previous positions on issues.  His reversals put him more in line with Kenrick Meek than with Marco Rubio.  He was not taking votes away from Rubio, he was taking them away from Meek.  Eventually it occurred to the Democrat leadership that this was a problem–thus the Clinton vist and conversation (whatever the conversation actually was).

The problem with Marco Rubio (for the Democrats) is that he is a likeable, dynamic, Hispanic candidate with a bright future in the Republican party.  If the Democrats can stop that future now, they can save themselves a lot of heartaches later on.  That is the reason why one Senate race in Florida is getting so much attention.