If Crist agrees to caucus with the Dems, Meek should step aside.

[Aramchek]

Because in the end, Crist is better than a Teabagger.

Hell, he'd probably be more reliable than Lieberman or Ben Nelson.

[ibegurpard]

1. Crist is a fucking slime who would caucus with whoever wins the majority

[pscot]

2. And what would that say

to loyal Democrats who voted early?

[zbdent]

3. didn't Lieberman say he'd caucus with the Dems?

liar liar liar liar liar ...

gives way to the lie about "60 Dems in the Senate" - 58 dems, at modern history maximum, plus two "independents who caucus with the Dems" ... one of which was LIEberman.

Sometimes, the way that RWers talked, you would think there were 103 Senators ...

[Drunken Irishman]

6. Lieberman does caucus with the Dems...

And he voted for the healthcare reform bill, as well as Wall Street reform and Obama's stimulus.

[MadHound]

14. Except when he doesn't

You forget that he threatened to filibuster the bill over the public option, opposed an amendment that would have toughened rating agency provisions and helped load the stimulus down with even more tax cuts.

Lieberman caucuses only with himself, for the good of his own political career and to the benefit of his corporate backers.

[Drunken Irishman]

26. Your point?

He sounds like a great deal of REAL Democrats. I don't like Lieberman at all - but he does caucus with the Democrats. He votes with them on almost every major legislation. If Crist caucused with the Dems and voted with them as much as Lieberman, I'd be ecstatic.

Ideally, though, Lieberman would lose in 2012 to a REAL Democrat and Meek would pull it out. Lieberman will probably fall - but Meek ain't gonna win.

[MadHound]

28. My point is that Lieberman is not a Dem, and Crist isn't anymore likely to act like a Dem either

Neither man is our friend, and electing Crist will not suddenly persuade him to become a Dem. He will remain a slimey 'Pug, laughing at how he suckered everybody in Florida to vote for him.

If you vote for Crist, you are being had, badly.

[TwentyFive]

32. I voted for Meek. Crist attacks Meek, when both of them should be attacking teabagger Rubio

If Crist had done a much better job of attacking teabagger Rubio, then maayybee I would have voted for him. Maybe.

[krawhitham]

43. look up caucus

for the love of god most people on here have no idea of what they speak

caucus =/ always vote with a party

caucusing helps keep chairmanships

[butterfly77]

17. Meeks and Debbie Wasserman Shultz are two of the..

good ones they stood on the floor many nights spelling out bush lies and told the people what they were doing when they were doing it..Go Meeks!!!

[Fire1]

41. Ditto! n/t

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

34. The 60 number was always an illusion

Lieberman couldn't be counted on for a vote. Bernie Sanders could. So that's 59. But then Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd missed a lot of votes due to illness. So that drops you down to 57 right there.

Then you bring in Nelson, Landrieu, Lincoln, etc....

A number is meaningless, if everyone included in that number is not a reliable vote. 50 Democrats, plus Joe Biden and including leadership who know the meaning of the word would have been sufficient, provided they were all actually Democrats.

As President Obama himself (a former Senator) admitted on The Daily Show the other night, the "60 vote majority" fiction is not found anywhere in the Constitution. It should be eliminated, and if Mitch McChinless gets control of the Senate, it probably will be. If Democrats retain control of the Senate, it should be the first thing the new Majority Leader does after he or she is sworn in.

[Skip Intro]

4. Assuming the polls are anywhere near accurate, I have to agree. nt

[KaryninMiami]

5. Yes but he won't and even if he did, no one would trust him.

With that said however, I'm leaning today towards voting for Crist- but I'm not happy about it. If it's true that Clinton advised Meek to pull out a while ago (and it appears that it is), and Meek chose to stay in knowing there was no way for him to win, he should have pulled out- for the sake of the state. Because regardless of how many things Crist is NOT and how much of a snake Crist is- Rubio will be far, far more disastrous. It just sucks, frankly. And for the record, I'm not thrilled with Alex Sink either but I'm voting for her of course, no matter what.

[gateley]

11. Yeah, that's a tough one. I really like Meek, so I don't know what I'd do in your

shoes, though I think the sheer terror thinking of Rubio winning would cause me to go for Crist. That's real life - sucks at times. Good luck! :hi:

[KaryninMiami]

33. I'm leaning towards Crist today. Every day I seem to feel different.

But today it seems to be Crist even though the thought of it makes me sick. Probably because of Meek's weak and wimpy appearance on Morning Joe where he refused to answer (but was visably uncomfortable) about whether the question had been raised about his pulling out. I'm assuming it has been and that he is simply not wanting to admit it. And frankly, he should have pulled out. I know it sucks to say that but the truth is- he never had a chance in this state. The Meek family has too many people who are not fans-- and Kendrick is a good guy- smart, compassionate and does a great job in Congress. But once he saw that there was no chance- especially these last 2 weeks when in spite of the support and campaign visits by Clinton and other key Dems, for the sake of the state, he missed the opportunity to pull out.

[gateley]

37. I feel different with every DU response I read! Ideally, I think I've come to

the point that no matter what we would have like to see happen (Dems coming out big for Meek) it didn't, so we have to deal with NOW. And to me that means keeping Rubio out of DC. It's not just FL who would suffer, the entire country would with a scumbag like him hanging with like-kind scumbags on the Hill. People have posted about those who voted early for Meek, but again, we have to deal with the reality now. Someone else said that people will get mad at Meek for essentially letting Rubio get elected so his chances at public office would be over; on the other hand, he'll have people who strongly agreed with him and support him for that (plus he's a good guy). Arrrrrgh! It's so convoluted!

I think at this point, (at this minute :7) I'm just hoping Crist wins. And that makes me think, Meek blew it by not getting Crist to promise he'd caucus w/the Dems in return for his endorsement.

God. What a mess. Well, we'll know in 4 days, and then we can spend a chunk of our time pointing fingers, praising Meek, arguing about what SHOULD have been. :7 How can I love politics so much when it raises my blood pressure and makes me want to pull my hair out?? :hi:

[eleny]

7. If Meek steps aside, you know there was a deal with Crist to caucus with the Dems

It would have to be quid quo pro.

[rhombus]

8. You are assuming Crist gets to keep his conservative supporters, right?

Crist is in a tough spot. If he pledges to caucus with Dems, he'd likely lose the support of moderates/few conservative voters who are supporting him.

[Cosmocat]

10. He isn't going to go on the record with it ...

He will find a way to dodge it ...

A weekend and the Monday before the election ...

[recadna]

9. The minute Crist says he caucus with the Dems

He loses all the repub supports. If Rick Scott can get close to 50% votes, what make you think Rubio could not? BTW, Meek is going to get at least 10+ % no matter what (1. early voting 2. lots of straight party voters).

Of course, then Alex Sink will get less AA votes and Rick Scott might actually becomes Governor??!!

[tulsakatz]

12. I'm not sure that Clinton did ask him to quit.......

...at the end of Countdown tonight Olbermann said that Bill Clinton did not ask him to step aside but even if he did, that doesn't mean he should.

I recently read Game Change which discusses the events of the '08 election and if you recall, many people wondered the same thing about Hillary but she still kept fighting. For months it was clear that Obama had a clear path to the nomination and yet she still didn't quit.

It sounds like he won't win the primary certainly but if he wants to stay in, that's his decision.....

[Divine Discontent]

25. I don't buy the argument that Crist doing this causes Sink problems down the ticket, but no, RUBIO

is soooooooooooooooo offensive to Dems, that they'll vote for Crist or Meek REGARDLESS.

I also think him saying, "If there was a conversation between Bill Clinton and I, we’re the only two people that can say how that conversation went.", says all I need to know. A rally for Meek was set for past Tuesday, and I believe that, as Meek had NO chance as of a few weeks ago. It's very strange.


A right-wing radical going to the senate terrifies all Dems and many moderates.

[marmar]

13. No, he'll BE a Lieberman or a Ben Nelson

I can't believe how easily duped people are. As my British friends say, a leopard can't change its spots and a slapper doesn't change his/her knickers.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. This is disgusting to read on a so called Democratic site

Crist said Palin was more qualified to be President than Obama. Apparently that is an acceptable statement to you. Not to me.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

19. What About Democrats Who Support Lincoln Chaffee?

Lincoln Chaffee said George Walker Bush* was more qualified to be president than Al Gore and John Kerry.

[akbacchus_BC]

20. Really! If Crist made that statement that Palin is more qualified than

the current POTUS, then am shocked Crist is getting support on here. Not that am doubting you.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

21. It Was During The Campaign

No diffferent than Linc Chaffee saying George W Bush* was more qualified than Al Gore and John Kerry during the 00 and 04 presidential campaigns.

If you want to be blunt both Chaffee and Bush* have blood on their hands. Last I checked Sarah Palin didn't order the invasion of any sovereign nations.

[akbacchus_BC]

22. Thanks for the response. Ms. Palin was no way on the horizon when Bush

& Co decided to invade Iraq! But she is not being excused, she is responsible for the teabaggers - I say that because at one of their Rally's she clearly said that the current President is 'not one of us' and when someone shouted 'kill him' she did not reprimand that person.

Most Republicans are horrid people. Why President Obama wants to work with them is beyond me. He should just get on with his mandate and continue to lead. Rethugs are not interested in working with him, they want to bring him down.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. I'm Tired Of This Meek-Crist-Rubio Brouhaha

But it's hypocritical to suggest it's appropriate to support a third part candidate in some instances (Chaffee) and not in some other instances (Crist).

[AtomicKitten]

16. Well he didn't make a convincing case on Keith's tonight.

I'd breathe easier if he would commit to caucusing with the Democrats, but he didn't. I understand strategy. I just don't understand why he didn't take his best shot of changing the paradigm when he had the opportunity. This whole thing is a raging crapshoot.

Okay, I'm ready.

[madinmaryland]

18. I like that smilie!

:thumbsup:

[wmbrew0206]

24. That would have been a good idea BEFORE the early voting ballots were sent out.

At this point, Meek dropping out just does more harm than good.

[littlewolf]

29. true that ... if he drops out now after early voting starts

he just disenfranchised everyone that voted for him ....

[Ter]

27. Way, waaaaaaaaaayyyyy too late

n/t

[Dinger]

30. Hell No (nt)

[inna]

31. Crist is a straight Republican.

x(

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

35. Well.....

He's a Republican anyway. ;)

[Clear Blue Sky]

36. Crist is the one who should step aside. He is the repuke.

[polichick]

38. Meek won't back out now, after his media appearances yesterday and today. nt

[Aramchek]

39. yep, he's made it quite clear he would rather have Rubio than Crist

[polichick]

40. He's not seeing it that way - in his mind he's made a commitment to to the people...

...and he's keeping it. I sort of understand, especially considering early voting has already begun.

In any case, Dem voters I know from my home state are voting Crist anyway - they don't want to be Floriduh again!

[Aramchek]

42. it's like the "principled" 3rd Party voters who gave George Bush Florida

They can't see past a foot in front of their faces.

We know you worked hard, Kendrick, but think about the future and how your actions are going to affect what is possible.

[auburngrad82]

44. Crist is a Republican and I don't trust him any more than any other Repug. nt