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Meek first to go on the air in 3-way Senate race

Posted Sep 6, 2010 by William March

Updated Sep 6, 2010 at 07:17 PM

Kendrick Meek, who’s in a precarious position in the U.S. Senate race, will start a television ad buy in the coming week—the first candidate in the three-way U.S. Senate race to do so.

Meek is down in polls to both no-party candidate Charlie Crist and Republican Marco Rubio, and Crist is trying to make it into a two-man race between himself and Rubio.

Meek for some time has been at roughly half the level of the other two in general election polls, and is well below both in available cash. As of Aug. 4, Crist had about $8 million in the bank; Rubio about $4.5 million, plus $2.5 million coming from the national Republican Party; and Meek $2.6 million.

In the primary against billionaire Jeff Greene, Meek kept his powder dry until near election day before spending heavily on television.

But he’s now facing a problem: His poll standings are making some Democrats think he can’t win, and they should back Crist to prevent Rubio from getting elected. Palm Beach County Burt Aaronson, big dog in the party in that big Democratic county, created shock waves by saying over the weekend that if Meek doesn’t start to move, Democrats will consider backing Crist.

So Meek is making a move—one that could look like a desperation move.

Meek confirmed Monday he’s putting up a “contrast ad” comparing himself with Rubio and Crist—the kind politicians usually call “negative ads” or “attack ads” when their opponents run them. They’re intended to move poll numbers.

Asked if it’s a move made to forestall Democratic defections, Meek said no. “As soon as they start seeing the contrast, our numbers are going to move,” he said. “There were some counting us out in the primary, but the people counted us in.”

Some of the Democratic faithful agree.

“Six months ago, if you had asked the teachers, for example, Crist would have won” because of Crist’s veto of Senate Bill 6, unpopular with public educators, said local party stalwart Doris Weatherford. “But that one vote doesn’t compare to Meek’s lifetime of commitment.”

“The Democrats,” she said, “will come home.”