Political Whore Podcast #12: US Senate candidate Kendrick Meek on the stimulus, health care and why Crist is jumping ship
June 30, 2009 at 12:39 pm by Wayne Garcia
His candidacy has been called “quixotic” as he flies into the face of a Republican challenger who likely will be Charlie Crist, but Kendrick Meek is strongly confident in his ability to force Floridians to examine the real record of their favorite, white-haired governor.
Meek is a rising star in the Democratic Party, finding himself with a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after just four terms in office. Helps to have a progressive voting record and agenda. It probably also doesn’t hurt when your mom served on the House Appropriations Committee with (now Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, as Congresswoman Carrie Meek did.
He’s largely untested (he won his seat in Congress unopposed after his mother retired so close to the qualifying deadline that nobody could mount a real challenge to her son) but he’s shown great energy and won a good deal of the hearts and minds in the Florida Democratic Party, so much so that a few major challengers have stepped aside rather than force an expensive primary race with him.
Meek was in Tampa today and stopped by the Creative Loafing offices. We talked about how to pay for health care reform, whether the stimulus is working, his role in forcing smaller class sizes in public schools and his famous 2000 showdown with then-Gov. Jeb Bush over the dismantling of affirmative action in the state, which resulted in a 26-hour sit-in at the lobby of the Governor’s Office after Bush refused to meet with him and another lawmaker.
He also had this to say when I asked him why he is so confident he can beat Crist:
Meek: Well, first of all, I am running for the people of the state of Florida, and the governor happens to be a candidate in the race. That’s the way I look at it. It’s hard for me to have you see what I see, throughout the state of Florida, I see a very strong will and the desire of the people of the state of Florida to better their community and their state. I offer myself as a member of the House of Representatives from a safe district where I can be a member of Congress for a very, very long time. My grandchildren could see me be a member of Congress, because I work hard on behalf of not only my district but also the state of Florida.
When the election day rolls around, titles will not be on the ballot, only the name and the track record. This is a very historic campaign, because there hasn’t been a statewide elected official that has qualified by petition, that’s 112, 476 signatures. It’s important that we qualify that way so we can hear the stories of Florida. Just because I’ve been … in public service 15 years, that doesn’t necessarily mean I understand all of the issues and know what’s going on in the homes of every Floridian. But I can tell you in the 57 counties of the 67 counties that have turned in petitions to help place my name on the ballot, it is already made me a better candidate and eventually will make me a better senator. That experience will allow us to rise up from the primary experience into a general election, and as we start to look at the issues that are facing Florida, as we start to look at who will be in the majority and who will be in the minority in Washington, D.C., I think one of the bigger questions for this entire Senate race will be: Governor, you’re the most powerful elected official in the state of Florida, politically. You could sign a piece of paper and change the outlook for Floridians. You’re relinquishing that and that position in the majority in Tallahassee, [where] you have the House and the Senate supermajorities that are there, you could help us. But you have opted to run for the US Senate, going to a legislative mode from an executive mode to then serve in the minority in the US Senate, and you’re saying that you’re doing all of this for us. And in many minds of Floridians, I believe, that goes against good common sense and logic, if you’re doing it for the people. So there has to be something a little different there, and he’s going to have to explain that, more than I have to explain why I am running for the US Senate as a member of the House of Representatives. My intentions are pure.
My track record has been one of helping people, helping small business, and and being a fighter on behalf of the poeple that I represent. And I want to represent all of Florida, and that’s the reason that I got into this race first. That’s the reason I am qualifying by petition. And that’s the reason we will continue to build this grass-roots campaign throughout the state. And when I’m elected, God willing, I want to be one of the best senators Florida has ever seen as it relates to constituent service, as it relates to giving a strong voice for Florida and in the US Senate, and I’m very excited about the response that we’ve seen thus far.
We’re a year and a half before the election, and there’s a lot of ground to cover.
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