Kendrick Meek Wanted To Be a Senator, Let's Look At His Vacated District. By Geniusofdespair

After an unsuccessful run for the U.S. Senate, Kendrick Meek has been tapped for a U.N. post. President Obama just nominated Meek to the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

What legacy did Kendrick Meek leave behind in U.S. Congressional District 17?

District 17 was ranked third to last in the nation for overall social, mental and physical quality of life by the Gallup well-being index. How bad is that? In Florida alone we had 25 districts (will be 27 districts). The Congress has 435 districts so district 17 is at 433. The rank fell 183 spots from 2009 to 2010.

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach well-being was near the U.S. average on everything except health insurance. The average for our area's uninsured is at 25.8. The national average is 16.4.

Continuing yesterday's debate on the private sector vs. government sector (who has it worse), that was prompted by the County take home vehicle information, here is a Gallup Poll I found on the well-being of local government workers compared to non government workers. According to Gallup:

Government employees outperform non-government workers the most in the areas of overall life evaluation and access to basic needs such having enough money to pay for healthcare and/or medicines, provide adequate shelter or housing, and buy food; and having health insurance and a personal doctor.

Kendrick Meek: DC lobbyist, but for whom? by gimleteye

Long before last November's election, a rumor circulated that Kendrick Meek's decision to remain in a doomed US Senate race was not based on a promise by Democrats to support a Clinton supporter so much as consideration of future employment as a lobbyist in DC. Lately, a rumor along that line emerged, although a search of database registrations for Meek does not turn up on the excellent website, Opensecrets or Congress databases. The Carrie Meek Group does turn up interestingly as formerly a lobbyist for another lobbyist, Alcade and Faye (one of the three Miami-Dade lobbyists in DC). Similarly Meek is rumored to be lobbying for another lobbyist; leaving us to question who employs Meek and who are his clients, and whether either tie back to an election that delivered Marco Rubio with ease to the national stage. The former congressman voted for lobbying reform and disclosure of bundled donations in 2007.

Florida Senate Race For Democrats, Headed for a Crash and Burn. By Geniusofdespair

Urban Dictionary: Crash and burn - Phrase meaning to have a spectacular failure.

Florida Democratic party leaders are idiots. Kendrick Meek should never have been the candidate of choice. Meek for the Senate race, if the polls are right, has brought us down to not just a projected loss but a crash and burn. Stop-O-Marco is going to win because of this colossal mistake. We all wouldn't have forsaken the party for Crist if there were a decent candidate. At least you can say one thing in favor of Democrats: We would never vote for a man like Scott. We wouldn't even vote for Meek and he is a thousand times better than Rick Scott.

It is not too late, if only Dems would go out and vote in massive numbers for Crist and Sink. Dems: Meek is going down in flames don't waste your vote on principle. Vote smart.

Rolle: Stackhouse's "Good Deal". By Geniusofdespair

Don't see video...use this link
This video of a 2007 County Commission Meeting is pretty funny, and sad when you consider they are spending our tax dollars. Crossstreetbroadcast made it. Yes the broadcaster has some repetition in the video which grates -- but once past that annoying part -- be patient -- the video is worth viewing. Martinez, Sorenson and Gimenez come off sounding good, with spot on questions/comments. Burgess, Moss, Jordan and of course, Dorrin Rolle sound like idiots to us Monday morning quarterbacks. This is how we got ripped off folks. Watch the bad deal's approved by our fearless leaders. VOTING NO ON STACKHOUSE'S GOOD DEAL: Katy Sorenson and Joe Martinez. Natacha Seijas was absent. And, note to Crosstreebroadcast, stop with the repetition, we got the point the first time!!

Poll: The Rubio Lead is Narrowing. By Geniusofdespair

Even right wing pollsters Rasmussen had to acknowledge the polling changes in Crist's favor:

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Rubio, picking up 43% of the vote, while Republican Governor Charlie Crist captures 32%. Democrat Kendrick Meek remains in third place with 20% of the vote. Two percent (2%) prefer some other candidate, and three percent (3%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Last week, Rubio held a 50% to 25% edge over Crist. Now it is 11 point spread and if Crist had Meek's voters he would be at 52%. Maybe our luck is changing. Oct. 7 the numbers in the Rasmussen Poll were Rubio 50%, Crist 25% and Meek 17% - Crist picked up the 7 points Rubio lost this week.


Type the rest of the post here

A Hatted Woman Will Again Be In Congress. By Geniusofdespair

New York's Feminist Congresswoman Bella Abzug (in office 1971-1977) was famous for wearing zany hats. More than 30 years later, Florida will return that tradition to the Capitol in Washington, D.C. We have a Congresswoman who loves her hats too: Frederica Wilson. She is a shoe-in for the seat that Kendrick Meek stupidly vacated. Let's hope, like Bella, Frederica is more than a hat. Abzug's political stands earned her a place on the master list of Nixon political opponents.

Charlie Crist: the candidate for US Senate who did something exceptional ... by gimleteye

Put it down, etched in granite: Florida Governor Charlie Crist took land out of sugar production to help save the Everglades. There is one exceptional fact to this achievement, memorialized on Oct. 12. Crist engineered this critical initiative for the environment despite the opposition of Florida Crystals or New Hope Sugar, owned by the Fanjul family. Nothing like that has ever happened before in Florida. Why this political event deserves its own monument is a story illuminating the dark politics engulfing the nation.

Sugar is grown on about 700,000 acres around the southern rim of Lake Okeechobee. Originally, it was all Everglades. Any hope of realizing the nation's keystone environmental initiative, restoring the remnant Everglades, depends on hugely expensive application of technology and science to vast new cleansing marshes built from lands owned by sugar billionaires. Although there are small sugar farmers who are politically active, it is really the Big Two who provide the energy and funding for the industry in the halls of power: US Sugar and the Fanjuils. The Fanjuls, who own strategically located lands, are US Sugar's only similarly scaled competitor. That said, the nation's biggest sugar producers are 99 percent of the time on the same side of the political equation, advocating rabidly anti-environmental regulation policies whether of the state or federal government.

The water supply requirements of sugar production-- flood control in the wet season and supply during the dry-- is out of sync with the natural Everglades. Keeping it that way enhances sugar profits. At the same time, fertilizer runoff and chemicals released by the exposure of wetlands to extensive drying have massively polluted the Everglades. These factors converted the Everglades from a multi-billion dollar economic engine including fisheries, estuaries,and natural habitats valued by the nation into a sputtering, flickering shadow. At the same time, Big Sugar has used its profits to become the main obstacle to restoring America's River of Grass.

Yesterdays' accomplishment was historic, albeit on a much reduced scale from Gov. Crist's original plan; 187,000 acres at a cost of $1.75 billion. Crist appointees at the water management district-- mostly Republicans -- saw the moment through, despite the chaos organized by the Fanjuls. For doing the right thing-- Crist's own words, why he conceived the deal-- GOP insiders hounded him from the party. Fanjul interests were early and big contributors to Marco Rubio; the Republican candidate for US Senate. In July, Pepe Fanjul hosted a fundraiser for Rubio, at $42,500 per ticket.

For many decades, the public purpose of converting sugar lands from production in order to remove pollution has been like trench warfare. Fanjul lobbyists, lawyers and experts have been armed to the gills; all pointing in one direction; delay, delay and more delay. Even after selling property to government, they pushed to the final dotted 'i', working behind the scenes to hobble environmental agencies from within, whether threatening funding cut, cajoling, intimidating and applying pressure at any point of weakness.

Lately, in the case of the US Sugar purchase, regular meetings of the water district governing board have been disrupted by anti-tax zealots, funded by the Fanjuls, dressed as the Tea Party with only the vaguest idea who their talking points benefit. As well documented in radical publications like the Wall Street Journal, the wealth of the sugar billionaires exists as a function of corporate welfare; import quotas, price supports, and other subsidies that occur through a malleable Congress and the Florida legislature. The Fanjuls protect their prerogatives with campaign contributions. For example, in the US Senate race one Fanjul patriarch supports Kendrick Meek and the other, Marco Rubio. As noted on this blog yesterday, Pepe Fanjul was recently in national news for employing as executive assistant for thirty five years a woman married to a prominent leader of KKK and of the American Nazi Party.

The Fanjuls say the Crist deal is a collossal waste of taxpayer money. In the mainstream press, they get away with it. But in the scientific community, there is unanimous agreement that the highest priority for the Everglades is to add vast acres of new treatment marshes. These cleansing areas, funded by the public, will clean sugar's pollution because the Florida legislature will not make the polluters pay. As to waste of taxpayer money, that has the Tea Partier's charging to District meetings with their hair on fire, no one has the guts to explain to them how federal tax policy embedded in the Farm Bill is what keeps the billions flowing into the pockets of special interests to commandeer our representative democracy.

Unfortunately for the Everglades and for the greater economic interests of Florida, the Fanjuls own centrally located property that need to be incorporated for water cleansing and storage to make use of the opportunities opened by Gov. Crist for the Everglades. This is not idle chatter, but it is the reason insiders have been silent on the influence of the Fanjuls. In other words, unless the Fanjuls fundamentally change their strategy-- squeezing the last dime from their private property and selling only when the peat soil is too exhausted to produce--, Everglades restoration will remain hostage.

Still, in helping to remove sugar production from the Everglades Agricultural Area-- whether or not it was the best deal-- Charlie Crist did something that no national politician, either Democrat or Republican has ever done. He did the right thing for Florida and for the Everglades. Risking the anger of the Fanjuls has been like touching the third rail of Florida politics: Bill Clinton who is Alfie Fanjul's golfing partner, wouldn't do it. Nor would Bob Graham whose willingness to do the Fanjuls' bidding opened a gaping hole in plans to restore the Everglades. Nor Bill Nelson who sticks to bland Everglades talking points neat as Mitch McConnell's hairstyle. It is still the Fanjuls who are tinkering with dark science. In the press you will read their spin: how the US Sugar purchase takes away from restoration. The true story is how the Fanjuls funded, in the early 1990's, Wise Use activists to suppress environmental regulations, tying straight to today's Tea Party, how the Fanjuls funded African American churches and leaders to oppose the polluter pay referendums and scared off President Clinton in the mid 1990's, how Governor Jeb Bush connived, at urging of Fanjul funded lobbyists, to change water quality standards for the Everglades in 2003 now judged to be violations of federal law, happily using the occasion to 'divide and conquer' Florida's environmental community. These are all chapters along the way to Gov. Charlie Crist's acquisition of US Sugar lands.

Does the Tea Party really want to put badges of honor on polluters? Charlie Crist for US Senate.

BINGO: NY Times OPED columnist Gail Collins captures US Senate primary: perfect bulls eye... by gimleteye

"Meek’s House seat was basically deeded to him by his mother, former Representative Carrie Meek."
"... the former president assured the crowd that they would never be disappointed in Kendrick “because he’ll grow every day.” (Clinton specializes in this kind of mini-compliment...")
"... Greene might see himself as an upstanding family man, but his yacht is... the Levi Johnston of boats."

The Dems pushed Dan Gelber out of the US Senate race, for this? (For the full NY Times editorial, click 'read more')



August 18, 2010
Rich Man, Bad Yacht
By GAIL COLLINS
MIAMI

“I started with absolutely nothing and I have lived the American dream,” Jeff Greene, a Senate candidate and billionaire, told a small crowd in one of Miami’s poorest and most crime-ridden neighborhoods this week.

It was not entirely clear how the cheering audience found this information.

But Greene kept repeating it. Like almost all the really, really rich people running for office this year, he regards his story as the core of his campaign. His policy message (jobs, jobs, jobs) and his prescriptions for the American economy (education, infrastructure repair, home weatherization) are pretty much what the Democrats have been pushing in Washington for the last two years.

But Barack Obama doesn’t have a $24 million house and a 145-foot yacht.

“I’m a regular middle-class kid who achieved the American dream,” Greene reminded his listeners.

Greene popped up out of nowhere earlier this year, prepared to “spend what it takes” to grab the Democratic nomination in the U.S. Senate race in Florida to go to Washington and do for America what he has done for his bank account.

Once again, voters are being asked to decide whether the cure for their problems lies in a person who is long on money and short on listening skills. After Greene talked about jobs, jobs, jobs, an unemployed landscaper came up and asked what he would do about the horrific crime rate in the neighborhood.

“Crime is directly related to jobs,” said Greene.

A woman with respiratory problems wanted to know about housing.

“Jobs, housing — these are basic needs.”

Being the rich candidate is not without its burdens. For one, there’s the matter of that yacht, the Summerwind. Greene might see himself as an upstanding family man, but his yacht is bad, bad, bad. It’s an embarrassing, headline-making connection — the Levi Johnston of boats.

The government of Belize says Summerwind tore up a part of a national coral reef with its anchor, but Greene denies knowing anything about it. The yacht went to Cuba, apparently breaking the American embargo. Greene says that was just for emergency repairs, and, anyway, he spent the downtime visiting Cuban synagogues.

Former employees keep telling reporters about wild parties. There are claims that one involved “naked drunken people everywhere.” Greene says these are fantasies cooked up by disgruntled former workers, or reporters trying to blame him for the lifestyle of some of the yacht’s “colorful guests.”

Clearly, the Summerwind has a life of its own, cruising around the globe, burning 50 gallons of fuel an hour, throwing orgies for B-list celebrities while Greene is home reading. It played host to Lindsay Lohan, who Greene claims he’s barely met. It took Mike Tyson on a Black Sea cruise that culminated in a drug-and-sex romp in Amsterdam, but Greene was only around for the part where they visited an 11th-century monastery in Ukraine.

Florida’s primary is Tuesday, and Greene is engaged in mortal combat with Kendrick Meek, a four-term congressman. Greene (white, wealthy) insists Meek (black, yachtless) is the insider in the race, and he does have a point. Meek’s House seat was basically deeded to him by his mother, former Representative Carrie Meek. At a rally in Miami this week, Carrie reminded the audience that her son had been a highway patrolman — “out there on the dangerous streets” — without mentioning that he had spent the bulk of his time in uniform working for the governor’s security detail.

Meek seems to be getting by with a lot of help from his friends. Bill Clinton was the star attraction at his rally, and the former president assured the crowd that they would never be disappointed in Kendrick “because he’ll grow every day.” (Clinton specializes in this kind of mini-compliment. On the subject of Barack Obama, Clinton said: “This is my professional opinion. I believe he has done a much better job than he gets credit for.”)

So Meek’s candidacy is all about connections, while Greene’s is all about money. Their policies are pretty similar, so the whole fight has devolved into character assassination. This week when Greene held a “block party” in Meek’s Liberty City district, he referred to the congressman dismissively as “a perfectly nice fellow.” This was quite a step up from his most recent TV ads. (“Kendrick Meek: Corrupt.”)

Greene has promised that if he wins, he’ll give his Senate salary to Florida charities, and many of the most ardent supporters at the event seemed to be hoping to get on that list. Others were lured in with a barbecue, a face painter for the kids and some bands. The theme was to collect canned goods for the hungry, but Greene bought all the cans.

He learns his fate on Tuesday. For Summerwind, I’m thinking the future involves a trip to rehab. Then maybe a reality show for Yachts Gone Wild.

Nicholas D. Kristof is off today.

African American politics in Miami-Dade: Vote for Bastein ... by gimleteye

Miller Dawkin's obituary in the Herald was very troubling; disgraced and honored, convicted and upheld. Former Congresswoman Carrie Meek called Dawkins' federal corruption conviction, "one little blip on the screen". On this Meek is plain wrong. I disagree, and I also disagree with power brokers who see nothing wrong with African American public officials and lobbyists kicking and scrambling inside and outside the law for their piece of the pie. See, Miami International Airport contracts. Maybe Miami-Dade is no different than any other large metropolitan area, but the ethnic edges of political corruption are depressing, and no summation of Miller Dawkins would be complete without expressing it. Without endorsing law-breaking, there is a double-entendre in T. Willard Fair's comment praising Dawkins: "He believed that black folks needed to have every chance to be equal, and he spent all of his time articulating that." Along the line of public integrity, I disagree with the Herald's endorsement of Miami Garden's Mayor Shirley Gibson, to fill the congressional seat occupied by Kendrick Meek. I would vote for Haitian American activist Marlene Bastein. On behalf of the Haitian community in District 17, Bastein is solid gold and not the kind that is exchanged for political influence. Too bad the Herald didn't take note.


Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2010
Obituary: Miller Dawkins, 85, former Miami city commissioner

BY ELINOR J. BRECHER
ebrecher@MiamiHerald.com


MIAMI HERALD FILE
This 1983 file photo shows former Miami city commissioner Miller J. Dawkins. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.

Miller J. Dawkins, the four-term Miami city commissioner whose federal corruption conviction tarnished his legacy as a champion of the black community, died Monday at the University of Miami Hospital.

Dawkins, born March 10, 1925, in Tampa, was 85.

Dawkins was first elected to the commission in 1981, before the city was divided into districts. He resigned in 1996, ensnared in the FBI's Operation Greenpalm sting, which also ended the careers of Miami's finance director, its city manager and a high-powered lobbyist.

He pleaded guilty to accepting bribes for influencing a city contract, and in June 1997 began serving a 27-month sentence at the Miami-Dade County Federal Correctional Institution in West Kendall.

Even so, ``he is still recognized as somewhat of an icon,'' said Charles Wellons, a retired Miami police detective. ``He offered a lot and did a lot.''

Wellons was among the loved ones and close friends at Dawkins' bedside in his final hours, as was T. Willard Fair, president of the Greater Miami Urban League.

Fair said Dawkins suffered from leukemia and diabetes, the same disease that took the life of his and his wife Nancy's only child, Myron Dawkins, in 2003.

Friends hoped that Dawkins' legal troubles would not overshadow his contributions to the inner-city neighborhoods he represented, where facilities like parks and swimming pools bear his name.

``Miller Dawkins was my friend of 50-plus years,'' said a tearful former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, who was also at his bedside hours before his death.

``He was outspoken, fearless [and] was very rooted in his pride as a strong black man -- a focused man who celebrated his people. This community has suffered a great loss.''

Dawkins pushed for an Olympic-size swimming pool in Liberty City's Charles Hadley Park, for the Carrie Meek Senior and Cultural Center at the park, and for the Tacolcy Economic Development Center, created after the 1980 riots to kick-start business development.

He ``fed a lot of hungry people,'' Meek said. ``He would be sort of blustery at times, but he had a heart of gold.''

She called his legal problems ``one little blip on the screen.''

Dawkins, a U.S. Merchant Marine veteran, earned degrees from Florida Memorial College and the University of North Colorado.

Before entering politics, he worked as a community organizer with the Model Cities program in Miami, and was director of special programs for Miami-Dade Community College.

``This community owes a debt of gratitude to the service of Miller Dawkins and his family,'' said the Rev. Richard P. Dunn II, a friend and Omega Psi Phi fraternity brother appointed to fill Dawkins' seat after his resignation -- and reappointed in January to the same seat after Gov. Charlie Crist suspended Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones.

``Miller was the first among the first,'' Dunn said. ``He was instrumental in the city getting its first African-American police chief, in Clarence Dickson. The first African-American city attorney in George Knox. The first African-American city manager in [the late] Howard Gary. Personnel director, Angela Bellamy. City clerk, Walter Foeman.''

``I wanted him in my foxhole,'' said Fair, the Urban League leader who, like Dawkins, ``didn't worry about being politically correct . . . He believed that black folks needed to have every chance to be equal, and he spent all of his time articulating that.

``Miller had a low tolerance for folks who did not want to push the envelope for black people,'' and, said Fair, who managed some of his campaigns, ``didn't give a damn about being reelected. He was a voice that people understood, recognized and respected.''

But Dawkins fell hard, due to what Fair called ``bad judgment'' -- and an informant wearing a wire: former city Finance Director Manohar Surana.

Caught soliciting a kickback from a city vendor, Surana cut a deal with investigators to stay out of prison.

He taped Dawkins asking for $100,000 from the computer firm Unisys, and accepting $30,000 at a Denny's restaurant. Busted, Dawkins immediately pleaded guilty and refused to cooperate with the FBI and Miami corruption detectives.

The tapes also sent then-City Manager Cesar Odio and lobbyist Jorge de Cardenas to prison.

Meek said that his decision to take the plea "would be the less egregious [choice] for the black community. He sacrificed himself for this community.''

Added Richard Dunn: ``He was a real man because he owned up to it. He didn't make it a black-white issue, and he didn't pull the community into it.''

Still influential behind the scenes after serving 24 months -- ``You could see him walking around, listening to people's problems,'' said Wellons -- Dawkins turned much of his attention to the AARP's Northwest Miami chapter, based at the Meek cultural center.

In addition to his wife, a retired teacher, Dawkins is survived by a sister and two grandchildren.

For information on public memorial services Aug. 8 and 9, call the Poitier Funeral Home at 305-638-5030.

A Going Home service will follow at noon Aug. 10 at New Birth Baptist Church, 2300 NW 135th St.

Politico does Meek

Good report by Politico on lukewarm support for Kendrick Meek, Democratic candidate for US Senate.
Obama support: Meek so far
By: Jonathan Allen and Maggie Haberman
July 23, 2010 10:48 PM EDT

Black lawmakers are prodding the White House to get more involved in Florida Senate hopeful Kendrick Meek's campaign amid growing concern that less-than-robust backing from President Barack Obama will signal to Democrats that it’s all right to help independent Charlie Crist.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat, told POLITICO Thursday that he might not work for Obama's reelection if the president doesn't get into gear for Meek — a four-term House member seeking to become the first black politician elected to the Senate since President Obama won in Illinois in 2004.

"If they do not step up their support for Kendrick, then they cannot expect that I and my allies will support them in 2012," Hastings said, after describing the West Wing's treatment of Meek as "poor."

Hastings and Meek were among a cadre of Sunshine State congressional members who worked against Obama in the presidential races and who stayed with Hillary Clinton until long after it was clear she had no path to victory.

Rep. Barbara Lee, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said black lawmakers have made "very clear" to the White House and congressional leaders that black lawmakers expect total support for Meek.

White House officials counter by saying there’s nothing ambiguous about the president’s position: He’s endorsed Meek. And while he's done some work to shore up a handful of incumbent senators in pricey markets around the country, his campaigning for nonincumbents has been almost non-existent so far.

Meek's camp, which otherwise declined to comment for this story, confirmed late Friday that a long-promised fundraiser featuring White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel will be held Aug. 2 — one of fewer than five he is doing for Senate candidates.

Outside of the CBC, few nationally prominent Democrats have been aggressively supporting Meek, leading members of the caucus to press his case with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), according to a source familiar with the discussion. Meek was invited to talk to Democratic senators at their weekly luncheon this past week and praised Menendez specifically when he emerged from the room.

And there are some signs of support outside the CBC: Sen. Mary Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, hosted a fundraiser for him at her Capitol Hill townhouse at the end of May, according to sources who attended.

The offensive on Meek’s behalf comes at the end of a tumultuous week for the Florida Senate race, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) flatly denied a report that he and Crist had back-channel talks about the independent caucusing with Democrats if he wins the Senate seat.

Polls now show Crist with a lead in a three-way race against Republican Marco Rubio and either Meek or his Democratic primary challenger, billionaire political neophyte Jeff Greene. And Meek's fundraising has also lagged that of Rubio, who was the biggest fundraiser of the three last quarter, and Crist, who still nearly doubled the congressman's haul.

Separately, the White House last week tried to keep the president at arm’s length from a racially tinged imbroglio involving the firing of — and subsequent apology to — Shirley Sherrod, a black Agriculture Department official who was fired after an altered video was posted on the website of Big Government, showing her making what appeared to be racially insensitive remarks.

After the White House initially tried to stay clear of the story, Obama was forced to apologize to her after it came out that the edited video was a misrepresentation. Sherrod has been offered a new job at the department but hasn’t yet said whether she will accept it.

The Sherrod episode and the complaints of lukewarm backing for Meek fit "part of a pattern" of the first black president's team repeatedly botching race relations, according to an African-American lawmaker who said it is "outrageous" that Meek hasn't gotten more support from Obama.

"All of us came in for [Obama] when he was running for the Senate," the lawmaker said, referring to the Congressional Black Caucus.

But a White House official strongly denied that there has been any vacillating on Meek, saying, "We support Kendrick."

"As the president has said, Kendrick Meek is his candidate and he fully expects that he will be the next senator from the state of Florida," White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said. "As we get closer to the election, you can expect the president to campaign in Florida and around the country for Democrats up and down the ballot."

Yet, there's still fear building up among party loyalists that a swath of Democrats are quietly rooting for or quietly open to Crist, who led the potential three-way race with 35 percent to 29 percent for Rubio and 17 percent for Meek in a Public Policy Polling survey released this week.

The calculus becomes easier for Democrats if Greene, a self-funding but flamboyant candidate who's hosted madam Heidi Fleiss as a house guest and had Mike Tyson as the best man at his wedding, wins the primary. In that event, most are expected to turn openly to Crist.

Meek supporters’ frustrations aren’t limited to — or always aimed at — the West Wing, according to a source familiar with the race.

Part of why the frustrations are becoming public — and palpable — is that Meek hasn't appeared to be a huge priority on the list of many prominent national Democratic figures, with few coming in to aggressively help him.

The involvement of former Obama adviser Anita Dunn's firm SKDKnickerbocker with Crist involves not just the former White House communications director, but veteran strategist Josh Isay as the candidate's media strategist. Isay is Sen. Chuck Schumer's former campaign manager and has maintained ties to the New York senator. Jon Ausman, a member of the Democratic National Committee, endorsed Greene recently at roughly the same time he was being paid as a consultant to Greene’s campaign, according to the Associated Press. And Dunn has cut ties to the party machinery for this election because of her firm's work with Crist, although she personally isn't involved.

"It's not so much the White House per se, it's a general frustration that there are a number of Democrats in Washington, in Florida, that are playing footsie with Charlie Crist," the source said.

A black state legislator took to the pages of The Palm Beach Post to make an appeal for Meek this week.

"It is very disappointing, based on recent coverage in The Palm Beach Post, to see Democrats turning their back on their party, believing that the only way to win the Senate seat in November is by supporting a Republican or an independent, especially when the Democratic Party has a formidable rising star in the race who has championed Democratic ideals and values," state Rep. Perry E. Thurston Jr. wrote in a letter to the editor. "When he became an independent, Gov. Crist gifted the Senate seat to Kendrick Meek and the Democratic Party. ... It is very easy for people to say that someone can't win, but they never will win if we don't support our own. I'm reminded of a young man from Chicago whom plenty of people felt couldn't win."

And with no sign that the White House considers aid to Crist or Greene to be an act of treachery, some Democrats are taking that silence as a tacit approval.

Crist took a big political risk — and paid the price within Republican circles — by endorsing Obama's stimulus law in 2009. Rubio used a picture of Crist and Obama embracing to gain traction in the Republican primary, finally forcing the state’s sitting governor to leave the party and launch an independent run, as polls showed the nomination he’d been widely expected to win slipping from his reach.

And Crist would be a hero of many independent voters should he win, a portion of the electorate that will be critical to Obama as he seeks reelection in 2012.

Hastings, though, said that having Meeks in the senate would pay dividends for Obama in the crucial swing state — while Crist would hurt Democrats in redistricting and in the presidential race in two years.

"President Obama is going to be on the ballot in 2012. If Kendrick Meek could win this election, then Obama's election is a slam dunk," Hastings said.

He said Obama should make at least two appearances for Meek in separate cities in Florida before the November election and give him aid now in various forms.

One factor that's highlighted concerns for some Florida Democrats about the White House is the frequent assistance provided by former President Bill Clinton, who has a long relationship with Meek's family and feels deeply loyal to him for sticking with Hillary Clinton's primary so late in the game.

Several black lawmakers told POLITICO that there was tension between Obama and Meek during the 2008 campaign, and some of the president's supporters have noted the irony of Meek backers wanting more out of Obama now.

Meek’s supporters reacted strongly to a POLITICO report earlier this week that Senior Adviser David Axelrod hadn't yet committed the president to campaigning specifically for Meek.

"We're going to campaign for Democrats all over the country," Axelrod said when asked whether Obama will hit the hustings for Meek. Pressed a second time on Meek's race, Axelrod replied "We haven't worked out the whole schedule."

The Obama family plans to vacation on Florida's Gulf Coast in the middle of next month, and the president could raise money for Democratic candidates while he is there.

But Obama generally has limited time and energy to campaign for candidates, and the demand for his help is far greater than he can fill in the stretch run before the election. According to White House figures leaked last week, the president had done or scheduled 24 events for Senate incumbents and candidates. But most of them, including three for Reid, are aimed at holding seats Democrats already control.

Another Democratic source supportive of the president noted that there are CBC members who haven't donated to Meek's campaign.

For now, the Emanuel fundraiser should turn down the temperature.

But Meek has influential voices on his side on Capitol Hill should he need more support in the future.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, the House majority whip and the highest-ranking African American in Congress, said he has been pressing his case with the White House.

"I'm committed to Kendrick Meek's candidacy and I'm working to get support from every quarter I can," he said.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that Crist's fundraising in the most recent quarter had declined from the preceding quarter.


© 2010 Capitol News Company, LLC

The Senate Candidates on oil drilling. By Geniusofdespair

Senator Nelson has been steadfast against oil drilling off our coast. I would hope, even if for drilling before, that they would have changed their position in light of the massive amount of oil pouring into the Gulf. Here are the current positions of the Senate Candidates for the other seat, from the Florida Tribune:

Marco Rubio:

"I'm a believer that the technology today is advanced enough to be able to explore for our domestic sources of energy without being damaging to our environment." during an interview with reporters on Jan. 27, 2010.

"Clearly, no one wants to see this ever happen again. And I've not heard anyone say you cannot safely drill for oil because there are thousands of rigs drilling even as we speak, that are not leaking, that are not causing this ecological disaster. Clearly this was caused by something that went wrong and the question is what went wrong…" May 4, 2010. Miami Herald (Me: Bad Answer.)

U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek:

"The bar for drilling off Florida’s coast needs to be raised higher than for other states. Ending our reliance on foreign oil, researching alternative green energy sources, and exploring domestic supplies of oil and natural gas is critical, but the cost for error in Florida is greater than it is for our neighbors." March 31, 2010. Miami Herald.

"It's time to put an end to any and every misguided attempt to drill offshore and put Florida's coasts and economy at risk...Any effort to revive offshore drilling needs to be stopped dead in its tracks.'' May 6, 2010. Miami Herald. (Me: Good Answer).

Gov. Charlie Crist

Gov. Charlie Crist wants lawmakers to come back to Tallahassee and put on the fall ballot a constitutional amendment that would ban oil drilling in Florida waters. But so far Crist has been unable to get House Republicans to go along. Crist this past week said he talked about a special session with incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon.

“I wish it would have gone a little better, but I haven’t given up hope yet,’’ said Crist.

Crist, however, is among those who just a short while ago was open to the idea of drilling.

Crist was considered an opponent of oil drilling, but then when John McCain was the GOP nominee for President and gas prices shot up he took a different stance.

"We have to be sympathetic to the pocketbooks of the people of Florida and what they're paying at the pump for gas, and balance that with: Is there any way that our state might be able to contribute in terms of resources to have greater supply and therefore lower prices?" said Crist,.

"If that's possible, through good technology or whatever it might be, I think an open-minded person understands that we ought to at least study it,’’ said Crist. June 17, 2008. Palm Beach Post.

"I grew up in Tampa Bay. I'm a Gulf Coast guy, and I believe in protecting our beaches. I also believe in us being energy independent, so long as we can do it in a way that is safe and protects Florida's beaches. But if there is a way that we can participate in having more fuel domestically produced so that we are less dependent on foreign oil so we can manage to keep the cost down as opposed to the $4 a gallon we had last year, then I think it's worth looking at." Oct. 8, 2009, Capitol News Service

"I think the impact that it could potentially have on Florida has to give us all a pause … I think only being prudent, wanting to protect our people in this state, is appropriate." April 29, The Florida Current. (Me: What was the question?)

I think Meek wins this one but the only one still steadfast in favor of oil drilling is Marco Rubio. Tell him at the polls that he is wrong!

Meek as the Dumb-o-crat Choice? Blame It on the Clintons. By Geniusofdespair

Let's face it, the only reason that Kendrick Meek is the front running Democratic Senate Candidate is because Hillary and Bill raised him wads of money for the race as payback for Meek's support. No other candidate can hope to compete. Sorry Maurice Ferre. Oops, except Jeff Greene, the billionaire from New York in the Democratic race, he can raise money from himself. My bet is Charlie Crist will lead the pack but it will be interesting to see Greene sling much needed mud at Rubio. Greene has no history, he has it easy in the politics department not so easy in the personal background (galpal former madam Heidi Fleiss).

Both Carrie Meek and Kendrick Meek had to claw their way to the top of the heap but they had to make too many concessions and 'deals' along the way and those are coming back to bite Kendrick and will ultimately destroy his campaign. See Jeff Greene:

This guy has a good machine, our blog is getting all his press releases. Someone is on top of things over there.

Mediocre Meek. By Geniusofdespair

The Miami Herald has a very good article detailing the Kendrick Meek/Stackhouse connection. Kendrick tried to get the bum money from the Federal Government twice (Kendrick had to halt one payment from the Feds) while his mom was lobbying for Stackhouse (who is awaiting trial for stealing more than $1 million from a fake project). Sorry Kendrick, you can't distance yourself from your mother now. Won't work.

Anyone who doesn't believe I sometimes know what I am talking about and that I can size up an issue, should read my December 28,2007 post and then read today's article in the Herald. You can also check out this blast from the past. And, this is my best article EVER on Carrie Meek. The Herald missed this one big-time!

Dear Charlie: ... By Geniusofdespair

Dear Charlie Crist:
Republican here. As everyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I became a pub to vote for you in the primary against the wacky Marco Rubio. Extreme situations require extreme measures. If you become an Independent, I might actually vote for you in the election. I think you are a decent enough guy and the best choice after Meek's back-to-back sugar letter and sugar fundraiser. Is this an endorsement? Might be.

Having been a Republican for a few months now, I can honestly say I don't feel differently. Curiously I have been eating a lot of steak and pulling my boots on by the straps, not much else is new.

I don't mind having to change back if you change your mind and ditch the Republican/Tea Party. I hope Florida shows the rest of the country that moderates can prevail because watching you try to get to the right of Rubio is painful.

The Meek Seat...an analysis. By Geniusofdespair

Once in awhile I get permission to re-print an article. This one is far better than I could have written...it is about a Congressional race we should all be watching: The Meek Seat!

They’re Off and Running! by Mark Sell for Biscayne Times
The crowded race to win Congressional District 17 could end in a fluke

It is barely April, but already we have a free-for-all in the Democratic primary battle for the 17th Congressional District. The race is shaping up to be one of the most compelling in America -- and not for the usual reasons. (Election day is August 24.)

The district’s 18 years as an exclusive family franchise are about to expire. Kendrick Meek, who inherited the seat after his mother Carrie Meek retired, is stepping down to wage an uphill campaign for the U.S. Senate. He will face either archconservative Republican (and Tea Party darling) Marco Rubio or Gov. Charlie Crist. At the moment, Rubio is favored over Crist, and both are widely favored over Meek.

In a wide-open race defined by a depressed economy, foreclosures, and rising joblessness, a remarkable lineup of 11 striving Democrats are fighting to succeed the House of Meek. Some have been running for more than a year. Four are Haitian Americans (the winner would be the first Haitian-American member of Congress), and six are African American. If the race stays this crowded, the one Anglo who cannonballed into the contest last month, popular North Miami Councilman (and six-year Carrie Meek congressional aide) Scott Galvin, stands a sporting chance of squeaking by with a plurality of votes to become the white, gay representative of Florida’s “blackest” congressional district. (Hit Read More)

The primary winner (there is no runoff) will likely face Republican Corey Poitier, an African-American schoolteacher from North Miami whose prospects are dismal in a district that went 87-12 for Barack Obama in 2008. Even after redistricting in 2011-2012, Florida’s 17th will remain among the nation’s most Democratic, meaning the Democratic primary winner will almost certainly go to Washington.

This year economic pain trumps partisanship and ethnic identity in this often-gritty district, which runs along the west side of U.S. 1 from downtown Miami to Hollywood. Voters will be seeking solutions while candidates wish to be known more by what they do rather than by where they come from.

“The problems are first, jobs; second, the rate of foreclosures; third, economic development; and fourth, health care,” says candidate Phillip Brutus, a former Florida state representative, in a typical response.

“I’m a problem-solver,” says André Williams, a Miami Gardens City Councilman, son of a schoolteacher, and grandson of Georgia cotton-pickers. He’s a real estate lawyer with Harvard College and Vanderbilt Law pedigrees who has recently gained some fame by running foreclosure clinics. “I have tried to create jobs, attract economic development, and keep people in their homes with foreclosure clinics,” Williams says. “We need people to rise above political rancor.”

The candidates generally offer discipline, ambition, and manic, Type-A achievement. Among them are successful entrepreneurs, determined and effective activists, accomplished professionals, and seasoned politicians. Although all would likely vote a similar liberal line in Congress, each seeks a unique identity through experience, originality of insight, empathy for the suffering, or any combination of the above.

The leading fundraiser is Haiti-born Rudy Moise, a successful health-care entrepreneur and osteopath with 500 employees. Moise has never held elective office but boasts an MBA and law degree from the University of Miami. He also holds the rank of colonel as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force reserve. As of December 31, Moise had raised $213,000, much of it from health-care enterprises. His fundraising goal is $1.5 million, and he has retained Cornell Belcher, who was one of President Obama’s four pollsters. He appears set on a savvy, relentless campaign.

Says Moise’s campaign manager Anastasia Apa:

“With this electorate and at this time, if a green Martian could bring better jobs and health care, the Martian would be elected. There aren’t any huge issue disparities. The issue is how to differentiate ourselves. Rudy Moise is a businessman, physician, father and husband, and military man. He has a strong internal compass and wants to serve. Crossover appeal will be key. This will be a very expensive campaign and ground game. You have well-known candidates who are liked. But that does not translate into votes. People are hungry for ideas.”
[Some of the candidates (left to right from top row): Marleine Bastien, Phillip Brutus, James Bush, Scott Galvin, Shirley Gibson, Rudy Moise, Yolly Roberson, Frederica Wilson.]

Some of the candidates (left to right from top row): Marleine Bastien, Phillip Brutus, James Bush, Scott Galvin, Shirley Gibson, Rudy Moise, Yolly Roberson, Frederica Wilson.

State Sen. Frederica Wilson -- she of the trademark 300 cowboy hats, matching colorful outfits, and reliably liberal votes -- is the No. 2 fundraiser. She’s collected $160,692, with notable contributions from powerful plaintiffs’ law firms allied with the Florida Justice Association ($7000 from the Haggard law firm of Coral Gables; $4800 from the Hialeah firm of Alexis Izquierdo, P.A.), followed closely by Dosal Tobacco, a family-owned Opa-locka cigarette manufacturer, Flo-Sun (the Fanjul family sugar enterprise), and Blue Cross-Blue Shield.

The No. 3 fundraiser is Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson, a minister, former police officer, and community activist who led an eight-year fight to incorporate the city and became its charter mayor in 2003. Her $103,368 in contributors, centered around Miami Gardens, include car dealer Warren Henry ($3400), Southern Wine & Spirits ($2500), and for the gentlemen in the audience, Tootsie’s Cabaret ($2400). In a gesture of mirrored sisterhood, attorney Evelyn Greer, who led her own fight to create Pinecrest in 1995 and became its charter mayor, also donated $2400.

Gibson’s occasional Miami Gardens sparring partner, André Williams, follows at No. 4 with $88,315 in contributions, much of it from his fellow professionals, followed by state Rep. Yolly Roberson, activist Marleine Bastien, attorney Roderick Vereen, and Phillip Brutus, who also happens to be Roberson’s ex-husband.

This district at the historical center of black Miami defies conventional stereotypes. Its densely textured population is officially 56.9 percent black, 32.9 percent white, and 22.1 percent Hispanic, with a 2000 median income just above $30,000. Roughly 39 percent of its 639,000 residents are foreign-born.

The 17th District starts in the northwest at Pines Boulevard and Flamingo Road in Broward, jogs east to U.S. 1 in Hollywood, funnels all the way down to the hard-bitten blocks of Overtown on either side of NW 2nd Avenue, and reaches its narrow southern border in west Brickell.

In between it encompasses the West Indian neighborhoods of east Miramar; Jewish enclaves in Highland Oaks and Aventura; the middle-class reaches of Miami Gardens (population 108,000), the minarets of Opa-locka, unincorporated areas east of NW 27th Avenue, which are sprinkled with African Americans, West Indians, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, and the occasional stray Anglo; Liberty City, where 18 died in the 1980 McDuffie riots; and the ascending Haitian diaspora spreading from Little Haiti through North Miami and into Broward; not to mention the mixed professional enclaves of Miami Shores, Biscayne Park, and El Portal. (The district’s boundary strays east of Biscayne Boulevard in just three places: down NE 10th Avenue in Miami Shores and Shorecrest, part of Belle Meade, and a sliver of Morningside.)

While the 17th includes the densest Haitian-American concentration in the nation, it would be an oversimplification to call it a “Haitian” district. Numbers are difficult to pin down, but estimates of the Haitian population range between 100,000 and 125,000, perhaps 20 percent of the population, and likely a far lower percentage of the 390,000 eligible voters.

Marleine Bastien, child of a Haitian village and divorced mother of three teenage boys who leads the organization Haitian Women of Miami, knows the limitations of being known as a “Haitian” candidate amid such an ethnic jumble. In the past two months, she has visited Haiti for earthquake relief and recently returned from the Organization of American States meeting in Washington, where she was a delegate. “People associate me with Haiti,” she says, “but for 28 years I’ve been intimately involved in every major struggle in this community: small class sizes, universal education for four-year olds, affordable housing, and universal health care. That’s why we need someone like me for the people, because I believe we can make a difference. I have been there every step of the way.”

The immigrant experience has rubbed off on Scott Galvin, born 41 years ago in a very different North Miami. He stayed home as the community underwent a demographic transformation. “North Miami is a wonderful melting pot and representative of the district,” Galvin says. “I’ve been thrilled to be here my whole life, and I’d rather be here now than when I was a kid, because children exposed to different cultures and backgrounds are making new friends.

“I’ve been an elected official in North Miami for over a decade and have been elected and re-elected and re-elected in a community that is majority minority. I think the electorate doesn’t want this to be about race. Voters want and expect a person who is going to work hard, and they want to select the best person for the job.”

Yet even in a post-Obama age, race and ethnicity lurk as poorly buried subtexts in the discussion. Suppose, the chatter goes, that Galvin wins by default in a crowded field? Suppose the knives come out again in 2012 from the vanquished this year? Or suppose, for that matter, that a restless Kendrick Meek comes back to reclaim his seat if he loses his senate bid?

“I hope God blesses me with the re-election issue in 2012,” Galvin responds. “For now, I’ll focus on getting elected in 2010.”

Feedback: letters@biscaynetimes.com

Toxic Sugar lends a helping hand to Congressman Kendrick Meek ... by gimleteye

Two weeks ago I wrote about the letter from Congressman Kendrick Meek to Gov. Charlie Crist, his potential opponent in the general election campaign for US Senate, in which Meek cast aspersions on the deal Gov. Crist initiated to purchase more than 70,000 acres owned by US Sugar in order to move Everglades restoration forward. That deal is supported by environmentalists. I speculated that Meek, who has rarely expressed interest in Florida's environment, had been enlisted to the task by Fanjul family lobbyists. The billionaire Fanjuls are opposed to Everglades restoration based on acquisition of lands now in sugar, unless those lands are priced at the value of platted subdivisions at the market peak. Maybe I wasn't far off. Read my earlier post, two weeks ago, here.

Kendrick Meek's sweet tooth could doom his political campaign for US Senate ... by gimleteye

A recent campaign finance report shows that US Senate hopeful, Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek has already gathered contributions of at least $28,000 related to the Fanjul sugar interests. In a letter to Governor Charlie Crist, Meek -- who will face either Crist or Marco Rubio in November-- wades into the battle for Everglades restoration; an issue that scarcely piqued the congressman's interest until Monday's front page investigative report on the Crist-led purchase by the state of US Sugar lands in the New York Times.

The deal is opposed by the Fanjuls, and not because the state of Florida under Crist's leadership has pledged to pay too much for sugar lands owned by its competitor. It is about paying too little. The Fanjuls are flinty billionaires who play the high-stakes game of government subsidies (ie. deformation of the US Farm Bill to enforce political benefits from massive corporate welfare) like poker champions at Las Vegas.

Long before the New York Times article, the Fanjul interests understood that blowing up the US Sugar deal could both provide another sugar-friendly US Senate seat from Florida, beholden to them, and also wreck restoration based on acquisition of former Everglades lands, driving the value of their own lands higher-- if not beyond the reach of any future acquisition.

The Fanjuls corporation, Florida Crystals, has invented its antipathy to the US Sugar deal and is using the New York Times report in a way that reinforces its advantages. In fact, these corporate interests are aligned in the respect that really matters; to extract as much value for their lands as possible. Fanjul lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area are situated in such a way as to block passage of fresh water that might eventually flow from US Sugar lands converted to cleansing marshes into the remnant Everglades. So they hold the high cards and are betting the house on the low cards. The Fanjuls are richly rewarded by the "fixes" of the 2000 Everglades restoration plan that were based on technologically infeasible workarounds of their property rights, even if the Everglades are polluted from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay.

Florida Crystals has contributed mightily to defeat Gov. Crist, whose proposed US Sugar acquisition would upend a political order in Florida that is the fruit of decades of campaign contributions. Now Fanjul sugar money is flooding the political campaigns of Marco Rubio, a stand-in for Jeb Bush whose own Everglades restoration plans-- including violating the 1994 federal state agreement and law to clean up sugar's pollution-- closely tracks Fanjul interests.

But Fanjul money is also flooding into Kendrick Meek's US Senate campaign. In a Rubio/Meek confrontation in November, whoever wins will be in the Fanjul's pockets. This sweet reward could be bitter fruit for environmentalists. Those green foot soldiers of political campaigns who might support a Democratic candidate for US Senate have not forgotten that Fanjul and US Sugar money didn't just flood the state-wide ballot initiative in 1994 to oppose the penny a pound tax on sugar, it specifically lubricated the base of African American churches, leadership councils and influenced the allegiances of Democratic power brokers.

At every turn, Big Sugar has a plan to blow-up Everglades restoration based on land acquisition in large lots. Miami-Dade lobbyists and Tallahassee lobbyists have seized on the New York Times report and are in high gear, trying to blow up the Crist plan. Knowing how little involvement Congressman Meek and his staff have, with Everglades issues, it is inconceivable that his letter came from any source other than lobbyists representing Florida Crystals. It is also inconceivable how aligning his campaign with forces trying to wreck the US Sugar deal is good for the future of his political campaign for US Senate.

Also see my post Monday. And the Sugar fundraiser for Meek.

White Guy is Running for the Meek Seat in Congress. By Geniusofdespair

Here is a shocker for you: North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin told Eyeonmiami that he is running for Congress - in the 17th District. He said: "I know I can continue the tradition of public service and leadership we deserve in Washington and that partisan bickering has blocked real progress in Washington. The result is a government that is over-committed overseas and under-serves us here at home." You will remember that Scott was Eyeonmiami's first 'Elected Official Beauty Contest Winner' in 2007.

Scott is running as a Democrat in Florida's 17th District, the Kendrick Meek seat. You might argue that this seat can only be won by a black/African American/Haitian American. But I checked the demographics (Washington Post 2006):
White: 32.9%, Hispanic/Latino (of any race): 21.2%, Black of African American: 56.9%, There are about 5% of other races, mixed.

If Scott can pull together the Whites and Hispanics, he has a chance.

Also running in this race: One Republican, Corey Poitier (R) a Teacher. There are 11 Black Democratic candidates, which gives Scott Galvin a big edge as the Black numbers will be diluted. To see the district map and the other Democratic candidates running hit 'read more':

* Leroy Adam (D)
Realtor
* Marleine Bastien (D)
Non-Profit Group Executive & Haitian-American Community Activist
* Phillip Brutus (D)
State Rep. & Attorney
* James Bush III (D)
State Rep. & Teacher
* Shirley Gibson (D)
Miami Gardens Mayor, Minister, Retired Police Officer & Ex-Businesswoman
* Joe Kelley (D)
Opa Locka Mayor, Ex-City Parks Supervisor & Baptist Pastor
* Rudy Moise (D)
Physician, Radio Station Owner & Community Activist
* Yolly Roberson (D)
State Rep. & Attorney
* Roderick Vereen (D)
Attorney
* André Williams (D)
Miami Gardens City Commissioner, Attorney & Real Estate Investor
* Frederica Wilson (D)
State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Non-Profit Group Executive Director

Some of you had better drop out if you want to win this thing.

Charlie Crist: double-crossed ... by gimleteye

I'd like to know what Charlie really thinks. In The Miami Herald oped page this morning, Michael Putney takes aim at off-course Charlie, running for US Senate in a tight primary race against Miamian, Marco Rubio. The Herald reported a recent editorial board meeting where Charlie (that would be Florida Governor Charlie Crist) appeared distracted and lackluster. Putney's editorial concentrates on a recent event-- pulling together both sides of the contest to be the next US Senator from Florida-- for the benefit of Miami's politically powerful Cuban American community.

While Charlie has reason to be distracted-- his opponent has surged, his erstwhile campaign contributors are major embarrassments-- Putney missed the root of Charlie's problem. Like the rest of the Miami Herald editorial board and writers (with the exception of Carl Hiaasen, an increasingly distant force), Putney writes around the determinative factor in local politics: Cuban American developers and the supply chain feeding into the Growth Machine.

Putney discloses a major double-cross involving the withdrawal of the Crist endorsement by brothers and congressmen Diaz Balarts. He attributes the retraction to their commitment to the Meek family. Congressman Kendrick Meek, a Democrat, has closely followed the lead of his Republican congressmen on Cuba, Putney reports, and as a result the Diaz Balarts will "sit out" the 2010 US Senate contest. But there is more to the double-cross than this, Putney surely knows. In politics, it is always "follow the money": where it came from and where it will come from, in the future.

In a long career as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, since 1978, and a senior member of the Florida congressional delegation, Carrie Meek was closely affiliated with the Miami-based Growth Machine; represented by the directors of the Latin Builders Association. These Cuban American business leaders started as field workers in Homestead tomato farms in the 1960's and worked their way out, using county contracts to leverage their way into the prime business ventures that would secure their foothold in South Florida and, then, state politics: it was all about converting Miami farmland and wetlands into suburban sprawl. The landscape tells the story.

Meek, representing a poor African American district in Miami-Dade, proved willing and able at zoning decisions that favored Cuban American developers: it is all in the public record. As we've written about often on Eyeonmiami, the mother's milk of zoning and permitting decisions is what really defines the relationship of African American politics to the dominant majority. When the Diaz Balarts sat down with Carrie Meek and her son, Kendrick, that was the scenery backdrop.

As reported by Putney, Crist took the opportunity of addressing the Cuban American audience in Miami by throwing away his bullet points and sticking to the message that he, too, understood the value of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps: his own father had started life in America as a shoe-shine boy. What Crist was saying, I hazard to guess: listen, guys, we don't speak the same language but we all started at the bottom of the ladder.

What Crist didn't say: that in recent sessions of the legislature, Crist has gone even further than his predecessor, Jeb Bush and his acolyte, former House majority leader Marco Rubio -- who was pushed forward to the governor's mansion by Cuban American developers-- in delivering streamlined zoning and permitting through new state laws. These, of course, benefit those at the top of the ladder today: Cuban American production home builders and their supply chain who are burning through cash or not paying mortgages on land purchased at speculative values.

If Charlie Crist feels like he is wandering in the desert, it is because he knows the public is unlikely to pick up these complexities, or, how the Cuban American insiders might be steamed at recent decisions by the Crist administration to uphold the Urban Development Boundary. The mainstream media, that missed entirely the hyper-development and origins of the housing market crash in Florida, is still reticent to talk candidly about the underlying weave of quid pro quos. And it doesn't help that at the same time, the Crist campaign -- a machine at fundraising-- is grinding down sources of political money that have turned out to be corrupt.

In sum it has been a tough year for Charlie Crist. He started it by saying sunnily that it was a great time to invest in Florida real estate, he spent time and energy helping to knock down regulatory barriers to more growth and development-- "jobs, jobs, jobs"-- and now finds himself at the short end of a double-cross by Cuban American insiders who need to set roots in opportunities, in Cuba, more than ever.

While the Growth Machine might be angry at the Crist administration and the agency that has stood up for the Urban Development Boundary in Miami-Dade, the future profits are there, 90 miles away in Cuba, not in wasted wetlands or new suburbs west of Kendall. And for that equation-- where Kendrick and Marco both fit neatly--, Charlie Crist doesn't have a solution. But there is still hope for Charlie Crist. He could be the populist candidate for US Senate in 2010. For more on how to do that he would have to pick up the phone and call me, or, he could click into the website, Florida Hometown Democracy.

The Meeks. By Geniusofdespair

It was reported today that Dennis Stackhouse was jailed for $1 million dollar Liberty City fraud. You will remember he had that bogus Poinciana Park development highlighted in the Herald Series, Poverty Peddlers.

In the online version of the article they did not print this part of the article:

Stackhouse also used some loan money for political influence...He also paid at least $40,000 in consulting fees to former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek -- whose son, Democratic Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek, tried to secure federal funds for Stackhouse's Poinciana project.

I am a broken record: The mother is ruining it for the son. I will not be able to vote for Kendrick Meek as his mother refuses to retire and he is using very bad judgment when it relates to her, soiling his own career. Why would he try to secure Federal funds for Stackhouse if not for his mother?

Check out MIAMI NEW TIMES on this same subject:

And even if the ongoing criminal investigation doesn't touch him, Kendrick Meek's support of the failed project and his mother's connections to Stackhouse is going to hurt him in the primary and general elections.