NYT poll FL Senate: Crist: 41 Rubio 30 Meek 12 (37-29-16 if Greene)

[WI_DEM]

New York Times Newspapers (FL) / University of South Florida Polytechnic
7/24-28/10; 590 registered voters, 4% margin of error
243 registered Republicans, 6% margin of error
Mode: Live telephone interviews
(Ledger: Governor, Senate)

Florida

2010 Governor: Republican Primary
41% Scott, 25% McCollum

2010 Governor: General Election
27% Sink (D), 26% McCollum (R), 12% Chiles (i) (chart)
30% Scott (R), 28% Sink (D), 11% Chiles (i)

2010 Senate: General Election
41% Crist (I), 30% Rubio (R), 12% Meek (D) (chart)
37% Crist (I), 29% Rubio (R), 16% Greene (D) (chart)

By Emily Swanson | August 2, 2010 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

http://www.pollster.com/blogs/fl_41_crist_30_rubio_12_meek_n.php

[Jennicut]

1. Sink seems to have a shot either way with McCollum or Scott.

Too bad about Meek, his campaign just never has taken off. At least Rubio is behind.

[dmallind]

2. Other than been a lousy campaigner (from what I have heard)

Why is Meek doing so badly. FL is hardly a hardcore Republican state in statewide elections. Is that much of Crist's support from Dems? Trust me I'm fine with them voting for him in November if the polls stay this way, but it seems a bit early for most people to be jumping ship strategically 3 mos out.

[WI_DEM]

4. Yes, I think that Crist is doing well with dems and indies.

[dmallind]

5. seems a bit early to jump ship though. NT

[Lochloosa]

16. It's not jumping ship, it's reality. Meek has no chance.

[dmallind]

17. Again, fine with that in November. Just a bit early is all. NT

[DCBob]

21. Yes, its way too early especially since its very possible Meek wont even win the nomination..

Jeff Greene the billionaire is leading in latest polling.

[DCBob]

8. some have speculated its a racial thing.. but I think the biggest problem..

is that both Meek and his campaign are extremely lack luster. As far as Crist is concerned Meek was not doing well even before Crist went independent.

[zipplewrath]

11. South Florida

He has little name recognition outside of South Florida, and folks from the rest of the state are rarely very happy with anything that comes out of South Florida. Add to that the problems he's having with his ties to various developers (or his mothers) and he was always going to be a weak candidate. Plus, he's got Greene dogging him with alot of cash to spend.

[Lochloosa]

15. I live in NE FL and had never heard of Meek. The Dems picked the weakest candidate

they could find IMHO.

Meek has no chance in NE or the Panhandle of FL.

And you can't win Statewide office without the Panhandle.

[onehandle]

3. As a Yellow Dog Democrat all I can say is that I hope the Republican loses.

It would be nice to see the Democrat win, but...

[itsrobert]

6. Yellow Dog? So you miss the Confederacy?

?

[Politics_Guy25]

7. Charlie Crist

will be the frontrunner for the democratic nomination someday, 2016, 2020.

Book it. His transition to a full-fledged dem will be complete within 5 years if he is elected. Note: I'm saying here that he will become liberal or at least more liberal.

His caucusing with us will be an epic catch for the party. What could be better for our party in 8 or 12 years than having a wildly popular Floridian governor and senator as our nominee.

[seattleblue]

9. The DLC Blue Dogs would certainly be celebrating that.

[DCBob]

10. yep, I agree.. but prepare to get bashed..

for making such an "outrageous" "pro-Crist" statement here on DU.

[Politics_Guy25]

14. I think Crist could end up being a lot like David Souter was on the supreme court

Not quite an apples-to-apples comparison but I think we could see something close. He supported the stimulus after all and I don't know, after spending 2-3 years being worked on by the senate gang like Feinstein, Schumer, etc., I think he could become something to behold.

Rubio must be stopped at all costs. Plus, the tea party lunatics will be devastated. LOL. Absolutely devastated.

[DCBob]

18. Crist's positions actually compare fairly closely with the President.

both moderates, pragmatic, liberal on many social issues but not extreme. I think they would agree on almost everything.

[zipplewrath]

12. It would be a disaster

The guy is an empty suit. He can't see beyond the end of the month most of the time. He's leaving behind one heck of a mess here in Florida. The guys got fewer brains than Bush.

[onehandle]

13. The term has been reclaimed by modern Democrats as a badge of loyalty. nt

[itsrobert]

20. The Nazi were loyal too

Should some Germans reclaim that?

[dmallind]

22. But it wasn't however a phrase only meaning loyalty as Yellow Dog was.

Godwin lives.

[flpoljunkie]

19. Meek stood up to Jeb Bush when he was in the Florida Legislature. That counts for a lot.

(Excerpt from St. Pete Times article on Kendrick Meek and his mother, former Congress member Carrie Meek. It may be too late for Kendrick Meek in November, but he surely deserves our support in the upcoming August 24th primary over billionaire Jeff Greene. Absentee ballots are being mailed back already. Mine included.)

In 1994, unable to resist the pull of public service after five years as a trooper, Meek resigned to run for the Florida House. His mother's political network helped him outraise his rivals several times over.

"The one thing that stands out for me is that from the very beginning, when I first sat down to work with him, was that he wanted to pay respect to his mother, but also establish that he was his own man," said public relations consultant Ric Katz, who ran Meek's first campaign.

The young lawmaker spearheaded legislation to compensate two black men, Freddie Pitts and Wilbert Lee, wrongfully sent to death row for the murders of two white gas station workers in a small Panhandle town. But Meek didn't make a name for himself until 2000, when as a state senator, he protested former Gov. Jeb Bush's order eliminating affirmative action in state contracts and university admissions.

Meek and former Sen. Tony Hill of Jacksonville led a 25-hour sit-in that later culminated in a march to the Capitol and a statewide campaign to register black voters. In a telling sign that Meek was coming into his own, his mother first heard of the overnight protest in the governor's office not from her son — who typically calls her at least once a day — but from a fellow member of Congress.

"When he sat down in the governor's office, that was the moment he distinguished himself," said Monica Russo, president of the SEIU health care workers' union and a longtime Meek ally. "He put it all on the line when he could have coasted."

Meek scored another political victory and cemented his status as a thorn in Bush's side when he successfully led a grass roots campaign to limit classroom sizes. The powerful Republican governor fiercely opposed the amendment to the state Constitution, which voters will have the option of watering down in the Nov. 2 election.

"Bush was like a Category 5 hurricane at that time," Meek recalled. "I've definitely earned the trust of the voters for being a leader."

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/kendrick-meek-has-no-problem-giving-his-mother-her-due-even-if-it-becomes/1112387