This just shows you what a "sleaze-ball" Charlie Christ is and it doesn't say much for Bill Clinton either.....getting involved to get a Democrat to drop out of the race (a Black qualified Democrat candidate at that) in favor of an Independent candidate who was a Republican just smells of cronyism. It just shows that the Democrats have NO integrity, no values and all they care about is winning!
Meek Denies Clinton Urged Him to Quit Florida Senate Race
Published October 29, 2010 | FoxNews.com
Oct. 19: Florida Democratic Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, right, listens to Former President Bill Clinton address supporters during a campaign rally in St. Petersburg.
Former President Bill Clinton never asked Florida's Democratic Senate candidate to drop out of the race so that Gov. Charlie Crist could win, Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek said Friday, noting that the two men did discuss the scenario, but a request was never made.
Meek, who's in a virtual tie for second place with Crist behind Republican nominee Marco Rubio, told Fox News on Friday that Crist is driving the story that first appeared in Politico because Meek's departure is the only way he would have a chance.
"I don't operate like this, and the bottom line is is that Charlie Crist does," Meek said. "It's mind boggling."
Meek said that Clinton was appearing at a rally for Meek when he said he heard reports that Meek was dropping out. Meek said Clinton asked if the reports were true, and he replied not at all.
The conversation ended there, according to Meek.
But Politico reported that during Clinton's trip to Florida, Meek agreed twice to drop out of the race, but then changed his mind.
Clinton's spokesman Mark McKenna also told Politico that the former president's top aide, Doug Band, had served as the intermediary between Meek and Crist, after which Clinton dropped into the conversation when it seemed a deal had been struck.
Crist said Thursday night in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren that he had discussed the matter with Meek.
"I can attest to you that those conversations did take place," Crist said, asserting that Meek initially had agreed to quit, to "do what was right ... for the people of Florida and people of America and stop a right-wing radical, if you will, from getting elected to the U.S. Senate."
Politico reported that Meek changed his mind when he determined he could still win the race and did not want to be seen as a quitter.
Meek said Friday that he and Band and Clinton are all friends and it was just talk. He added that the controversy has blown up support for him, and his website has processed thousands of dollars in donations since Thursday night.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday shows Rubio's lead is shrinking in the final days of the race. Rubio has 42 percent of the vote to Crist's 35 percent and Meek's 15 percent in their three-way contest. Rubio led Crist by a margin of 44 percent to 30 percent two weeks ago.
As for Rubio, his campaign described it as "politics as usual."
"Charlie Crist truly will say and do anything to get elected and hold on to power," Rubio senior strategist Todd Harris said in a written statement. "Secret deals to trade away principles for power is already the problem in Washington, it's not the solution."
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele weighed in on the report Thursday evening, blasting the former president's involvement in the race.
"President Clinton's actions to have Kendrick Meek withdraw from the campaign sends a chilling signal to all voters, but especially African Americans," Steele said. "One can only imagine the response if Republican leadership tried to force out of the race -- in the 11th hour -- a qualified black candidate like Kendrick Meek."
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