Rumors are flying that Florida Democrats might line up behind an independent Senate candidate this fall, but appearances may be deceiving.In the race -- in which Republican Speaker of the state House Marco Rubio is firmly established as his party's conservative standard-bearer and former Republican, now Independent Gov. Charlie Crist is mounting a third-party bid -- there are questions about Democratic front-runner Kendrick Meek and his ability to compete in a three-way general-election race. Meek is running in the Democratic primary against real-estate speculator Jeff Greene, a former Republican who moved to the state this year.
While Meek is currently lagging in general-election polls, his partisans note that he has yet to start spending money on television and that the the primary will help raise his profile; indeed, his election strategy -- capture the Democratic base that makes up a plurality of the state's electorate -- ought to benefit from the move.
However, there has been increasing concern that Crist, who was a popular moderate governor before tacking right in his losing Republican primary bid, is now tacking back to the center to earn support from moderate Democrats. He's hired Josh Isay, a prominent Democratic consultant who worked closely with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Republican/Independent campaign, and wooed Democratic money-raisers who worry about Meek's chances.
But how much Democratic support is really going Crist's way? I called up one of Florida's most significant Democratic donors, lawyer and lobbyist Chris Korge, who makes a cameo in this story about Mark Warner's erstwhile presidential campaign and has raised millions for Democratic campaigns. Korge is a Meek supporter and well connected among Florida Democrats, and he doesn't put much stock in concerns that his candidate will lose Democratic support to Crist.
"The Democratic money [Crist] has been getting is the same Democratic money he got in the gubernatorial race," Korge says. "That hardcore Democratic money has gone to Kendrick, including some of the people who have given to Charlie Crist [in the past]."
