With the political world focused on Gov. Charlie Crist's next move, Kendrick Meek got some face time today on CNN and insisted he hasn't been focusing on Crist or Marco Rubio.
"But I can tell you that I do know that Charlie Crist is going to do what's in the best interests of Charlie Crist," Meek said on John King, USA. "And if that's running as an Independent and staying alive until November, then that's what he'll do."
Meek heads to Haiti tomorrow where he expects to meet with Haitian President Rene Preval and tour a camp of displaced persons. It'll be his second post-quake visit: he was one of the first members of Congress to visit Haiti in the wake of the earthquake, arriving in Haiti via the Dominican Republic.
More of the interview below:
KING: And how does that affect you? I want to show a recent Quinnipiac Poll. It shows in a three way match-up that you, the Democrat, Kendrick Meek, runs third, with 24 percent. Rubio would get 30 percent. Governor Crist, actually, in the polls right now, leads in that race, if he runs as an Independent. Do you feel like the odd man out in the sense that if Charlie Crist, the moderate Republican, drops out, maybe he'll bring some of his Republican votes with him, but maybe even tap into your base?
MEEK: Well, I think a lot of Democratic voters are going to get to know me more, a lot of Independent voters, some — even some Republican voters. I think a lot of people are turned off about the discourse that has been going on in the primary. The governor makes a decision that he's going to run as an Independent, automatically, I become a factor in this race. There will no longer be debates with just the two of them. I would be invited as another major candidate in the race. So to say that it will just be a two way battle, that it will continue, it will turn into a three way battle.
KING: — what's happening in your state? Governor Crist was very popular not all that long ago, was on John McCain's list looking for vice presidential candidates, was viewed as a national figure, not just because he was a Republican, because he was a big state governor. What's happening in your state?
MEEK: Well, I — the governor has really been the kind of governor that hasn't stepped out on major issues. I mean he's had a super majority legislature. He hasn't gotten in the way of stopping them from doing anything and he hasn't pushed them to do anything outside of the casino gambling pact — compact that just passed recently. But that was because of hard economic times and not because of the strong arm of the governor. Vetoing Senate Bill 6, which was the merit pay bill in Florida, it was not a good bill. He should have vetoed it and he did. And because he vetoed it, folks feel that there is some new life there. But I believe, as it relates to those that were against the bill — I mean I chaired the Class Size Amendment in Florida to bring about smaller class sizes. So I feel that the lack of leadership is the reason why he's in the position and
where he is now.
KING: But let — let's look at your challenges. To that point, the bill he just vetoed, some think he might tap into some of your teachers' union support. But we'll leave that for another day if he runs as an independent. How do you feel running as a Democrat right now? The health care bill gets mixed reviews in your state. The president's political standing, even though he carried Florida, is not as high in your state right now. When you look at the Democratic agenda that you will have to go home, as a member of Congress — an unpopular Congress — and campaign on, what's missing? What would you tell Speaker Pelosi and President Obama, hey, look, if I'm going to be on the ballot in November in a big Senate race, we must do this before November?
MEEK: First of all, I'm running as Kendrick Meek for the United States Senate. And that's the reason why, over 13 months, I went throughout Florida, history making, qualifying by petition. Floridians appreciate that hard work. I've always been the guy that — that kind of went out and stood out on behalf of the people. And I believe, when you look at the…
KING: But there's an anti-Democratic tide out there…
MEEK: But when you…
KING: — that no matter who Kendrick Meek is, is going to get caught up in that…
MEEK: Well, the…
KING: — unless you distinguish yourself.
MEEK: But when you look at health care, I mean health care is getting better reviews in Florida than it is in a lot of states. The president is still — his appropriate is still over 50 in Florida, which is good. He won Florida. A lot of the — of stimulus dollars have been placed in Florida. And there are a lot of people there
that feel that we have major issues — health care, foreclosures, all of those issues. The president and…
KING: The foreclosure…doing enough or does it need to be fixed?
MEEK: Well, it — it can always do better. But it's — it's better than nothing at all. And when you have not only Mr. Crist, but when you have Mr. Rubio, who has said that they won't fight for individual projects for cities to help them rebound as it relates to member requests, that's problematic in a statewide race where you have cities and counties on an I.V. and we have to have a return on our federal tax dollar.
KING: Could you run statewide without the Democrats bringing up immigration reform this year? Would you prefer they do that, yes or no?
MEEK: I prefer they do it. I believe Floridians understand the importance of having people come forth and pay taxes and knowing who's in the state of Florida. Diversity is not a new word to Florida. And I believe that dealing with the right immigration reform is going to be important, requiring people to come forth and pay
taxes, requiring people to step forward. So that (INAUDIBLE) — that — that number of undocumented individuals can get smaller so that law enforcement can eject those individuals from the country.
KING: Kendrick Meek, the Democrat — often the unheard of Democrat– in what is a wild Republican primary right now in the state of Florida. We'll have you back as this race sorts itself out.
MEEK: Thank you so very much.
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