In the race for Florida Senate it’s crunch time, and the latest polls show our candidate Kendrick Meek surging as Dems come home and No Party Charlie Crist slips to an inevitable third place finish.
Crist’s support has now dropped 10-points since May, while Rubio and Meek have each made gains. In essence, Crist is bleeding Democrats to Meek and independents to both Meek and Rubio. It is also noteworthy that Crist’s statewide support has fallen below the 30% threshold, leaving him far short of the minimum required to win a three-way race under the most perfect circumstances (34%).
Meek is behind but trending in the right direction. But here’s the thing – Charlie Crist is looking less and less electable every day – his downward trajectory in the polls is not going to turn around. The only way to keep Marco Rubio out of the Senate at this point is to help Kendrick Meek pull off an upset victory.
I’ve written several pro Meek diaries on this race in the past few months and a common theme in the comments goes something like this:
Yeah, Meek is a good Dem, a strong progressive, a champion of the working class, a Democrat who votes with leadership when the stakes are down, a real Dem and a team player – just the kind of candidate we all want more of in DC. BUT I’m voting for Crist because Meek is unelectable. Meek is running a horrid campaign. Meek will lose the primary. Whatever. And Crist is good enough – at least he’s not Rubio!
So here’s my challenge to all you naysayers: now that your compromise candidate Crist is turning out to be less electable than a real Democrat, are you ready to fight for and support Kendrick Meek? Because at this point, if we don’t rally behind our candidate, we’re gonna have Senator Marco Rubio representing Florida.
It’s going to be an uphill slog, but the Meek campaign is fighting hard, and they see a path to victory. One thing is certain: there is no longer a path to victory for Charlie Crist.
Meek “has an outside chance to pull off a major comeback, but it is largely predicated on his ability to convince Crist’s newfound Democratic friends that the former Republican’s campaign is hopeless and it is time for them to come back to their party,” said Mason-Dixon pollster Brad Coker. “That will be a tough challenge, but it is now the only apparent way for Rubio to lose.”
Charlie Crist cannot win this race. Crist’s campaign is hopeless. Meek has a chance and is trending in the right direction, but we need to start fighting for him.
