Meek says he won’t quit Florida’s Senate race

Democrat Kendrick Meek is strongly denying a Wall Street Journal report that he'll quit Florida's closely watched Senate race and throw his support to independent Charlie Crist.

"All I can say is please," Meek told Miami CBS affiliate WFOR-TV on Saturday. "One columnist writes an article and folks start giving credence to what he says. The next job that I know I'm going to have is being the next United States senator from the state of Florida."

On Friday, WSJ columnist Stephen Moore wrote that GOP leaders in Florida were "fretting that a deal might be in the works" to get Meek out of the race in order to boost Crist's chances against Republican Marco Rubio. A Mason-Dixon poll released Friday found Rubio with a 15 point lead in the race, with 42 percent support among likely voters compared to Crist's 27 percent. Meek came in at a distant third, with just 21 percent support.

Yet polls show that Crist would lead Rubio in a two-man race, in part by consolidating the Democratic support that's now split between him and Meek. Over the summer, Democratic leaders in Washington, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, made public appearances with Crist, who has been purposely cagey about which party he would caucus with should he win next month. But Crist has lost momentum in the polls after months of attacks from Rubio and Meek, who have both labeled the former GOP politician a political opportunist willing to do and say anything to win.

Citing unnamed sources, Moore that Republican leaders believe Democrats will try to knock Meek out of the race. But Moore's reporting defies the overall dynamic of the race: In recent weeks, Democrats have publicly embraced Meek. At the same time, though, Democrats haven't spent much cash in the race on Meek's behalf. And while President Obama has campaigned in the state, and will do so again next week, he has not visited Florida solely on Meek's behalf.

In spite of his lackluster showing in the polls, Meek insists he won't quit the race. "I'm not going anywhere except the United States Senate," Meek said yesterday.

(Photo of Meek by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)