Is Kendrick Meek running to be … Joe Lieberman?
Kendrick Meek is definitely running to the right, perhaps protecting himself from a general election attempt to paint him as a pinko lefty. And Florida has a large Jewish population, particularly in crucial South Florida, that needs catering to. Maybe that’s why the Meek camp issued this pretty striking statement today that echoes other Democrats who have been (in generally milder terms) taking on the White House for rebuking Israel over settlements, but seems to take it up a notch, AIPAC-style:
“What started off as an internal, domestic disagreement within the Israeli government has turned into an unnecessary international dispute complicated by some undiplomatic language from U.S. administration officials. Opponents of peace, nations and terrorist organizations that wish to do harm to Israel will always seize an opportunity to create a wedge between our nation and Israel. They seek comfort watching these recent events unfold. To give our enemies the false impression that the United States and Israel disagree on fundamental issues within the region sets the peace process back. I urge restraint and a resumption of talks that result in a lasting peace that ensures Israel’s security,” said Meek.
Meek’s statement is strange for a number of reasons. First off, seems to take a harder line than almost any other Democrat who has spoken out on the issue, and most of them are Jewish. Besides Meek, no Democrat has called the dispute “unnecessary,” all have at least acknowledged that Israel deserved criticism for announcing new settlements on the day of the vice president’s visit, (something even Israelis have blasted their government over) and most of the critics have sniped at the administration mostly for its tone, and not the substance. Meanwhile, the two most notable people who are talking up terrorists and enemies seeking “comfort” from the stated position of the President of the United Sates, his Vice President, his Secretary of State, and the senior Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate, not to mention the United Nations, are Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman. Read more
The Meek campaign’s ongoing, strange relationship with the news cycle’
When everybody else is talking about healthcare, they’re doing NASCAR … State media fixated on AMEXgate? They hold a conference call with reporters (today) to announce, again, that they’re getting really really close on their petition drive (the one bit of news they did make on the call was that after all of this, they might wind up paying the $10,000 filing fee anyway, in case some of the petitions are challenged by Republicans.) And less than a week after Israel punks the United States by announcing new settlements on the same day Joe Biden arrives to talk peace, prompting even Israel’s closest friends to wonder what they’re thinking, and even as the Obama administration continues to rebuke Bibi Netanyahu and company and even demand a cancellation of the East Jerusalem provocation, Team Meek forwards around an op-ed in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that is, to say the least, off key. Read more
Poll: Crist’s loss is Meek’s gain
A couple of new, if problematic polls, find good news in the decline of Charlie Crist … for Kendrick Meek. Read more
Rubio fires back on the back wax, takes in-coming on ‘turkeys’
The Rubio-Crist groom-off continues, with Team Rubio finally answering the burning question: what can a man get for $133.75 at chichy Churcill’s Barbershop in Miami? Rubio insists that in his case, it was not a back waxing:
“Marco paid $20 for a haircut with a razor on the neck, and he bought some items that went into a silent auction, including gift certificates,”Alex Burgos, a spokesman for Rubio said in a statement to Live Shots.” Charlie Crist’s obsession with making up things about other people’s grooming habits is bizarre for anyone, especially the sitting governor of Florida. It’s also a shame he cares more about what’s in Marco’s personal bills than what’s in the stimulus bill he supported.”
Take that, tan man! Read more
Meek, Crist weigh in on the Bunning hostage crisis. Where is Marco Rubio?
Kendrick Meek was first out the shoot this morning with a comment on the Jim Bunning “blanket hold” on extending unemployment benefits and transportation funding, which is set to impact 49,600 Floridians who will lose their unemployment benefits in the coming weeks — a figure that could soon reach 20,000 people a week, and 400,000 by June, according to a rep from the state’s Agency for Workforce Innovation. The Meek statement:
“Florida’s families are experiencing insult after injury because ideology is trumping public policy. This is what happens when politicians put party philosophy first, and people last,” said Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. “Hard working Floridians didn’t cause this recession, but they are paying for it. This pain is evident with every Florida family I meet and in every small business I enter. Floridians deserve relief and instead they are becoming casualties of an ideological battle that has nothing to do with our everyday lives.”
The Meek campaign challenged their Republican counterparts to respond to the action by a member of their party in Washington, and a potential colleague for all the Florida aspirants. I reached out to the Crist and Rubio campaigns for a response, as well as to the Ferre camp, and here’s what I’ve gotten so far. Read more
Sink, Wasserman-Schultz, Florida Dems pounce on AMEXgate. Meek? Not so much
Alex Sink’s campaign responded with uncharacteristic vigor to the AMEXgate story. Either that or they had an extraordinary stroke of good luck, announcing a new push for ethics reform just as the Marco Rubio credit card statements were released. (They just brought on a new press secretary, which may or may not account for their new aggressiveness…) The Florida Democratic Party’s press shop has been having a ball dishing out article after article slamming the Florida Republican Party for its clearly questionable ethics — which make so-called Chicago politics look like a day at the beach. And now, Debbie Wasserman Schultz will hold her own conference call, at 2:40, courtesy of the DNC, to demand Gov. Crist appoint a special prosecutor. The lesson: Democrats can do rapid response when they’re ready. That’s a relief to the base, who have learned to doubt the party’s political savvy over the past year.
So what’s the presumed Senate nominee, Kendrick Meek have to say on the issue? Hm? Anything? Read more
Latest Herald column: ‘yawn of a new era’
Florida candidates Alex Sink and Kendrick Meek
You’ve got to hand it to the Herald editors. They come up with some killer headlines…
So over the last few weeks I’ve been spending a lot of time talking to politically active Democrats, to get a sense of how people are feeling about the campaigns. The results weren’t great for either of the major candidates (I didn’t get into the A.G. and other races,) but they weren’t catastrophic either (except if Camp Kendrick ever wants any help from the Daily Kos.) Read more
The Meek campaign’s petition effort questioned
Peter Schorsch of St. Petersblog does a thorough analysis of Kendrick Meek’s petition drive, which before Haiti had been the animating force behind his campaign — and finds good reason to believe it’s coming up short. Schorch, who references a conference call about a week ago in which Meek’s campaign manager Abe Dyk struggled to answer repeated questions about the petitions, is a Meek supporter, it should be noted, and he offers some free advice to the campaign (along with a nice literary reference, which is always impressive to a geek like me…)
UPDATE 1/22 10:42 a.m.: A spokesman for the Meek campaign strongly disputes the Schorsch analysis, and insists they will make their petition numbers. This one’s officially labeled “developing…”
For Kendrick Meek, Haiti brings attention
With the Haiti tragedy continuing to unfold, it seems the media is finally taking notice of Miami Congressman Kendrick Meek, which is something that hasn’t happened up to now because his two main Republican counterparts have been sucking up all the Senate primary oxygen. But not anymore. Over the past week, Meek has suddenly been all over cable news, and has gotten much more ink than he ever got for his campaign, including this very favorable write-up in Politico three days after the Haiti earthquake struck. Of course, politics is far less important than the human tragedy unfolding in and around Port-au-Prince, and in fairness, Meek probably represents more Haitian-Americans than any other member of Congress (His Congressional District contains both Little Haiti and North Miami, two enclaves with large Haitian/Haitian-American populations.) But I think there is a real question to be asked, namely, when does a politician cross the line from lending a hand in a terrible tragedy, to inserting himself gratuitously, right where the spotlight happens to be? Meek flew to Haiti on Sunday, where he’s become sort of a black, elected Anderson Cooper, capturing dramatic rescues on his cell phone camera and phoning in status updates to a half dozen news outlets.
I think this is supposed to be an unambiguously good thing, but I have to admit I detect a bit of defensiveness among Meek’s communications staff, and a bit of edge in the coverage of his … increasing coverage. The Meek camp has been careful to point out that Kendrick flew to the Dominican Republic commercial, on his own dime, and then was driven into Haiti, and they even pointed out that Kendrick is a “trained first responder” because he used to be a highway patrolman. Read more
Maybe it’s just me …
… but I find myself wishing Debbie Wasserman Schultz was a candidate to be the Democratic Senate nominee from Florida. In a state with only a handful of political stars (Alan Grayson is another, but may be too unpredictable to grow beyond the House,) she certainly is one. Her appearance on “This Week” today was a fine example of how Democrats, when they have convictions, can sock it to the opposition without appearing shrill. Watch as the congresswoman, a breast cancer survivor herself, takes down Marsha Blackburn and her blizzard of page numbers (raise your hand if you think Blackburn has really read the House healthcare bill…) for politicizing the illness:
Nice work. Read more
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