By Kendrick Meek
Reading Pat Rice’s column “Could Crist Declare His Independence?” (March 7) I couldn’t help but laugh at Pat’s characterization that I have positioned myself “somewhere to the left of Obama.”
While Pat’s opinions are his own, the facts speak otherwise.
In this U.S. Senate race and throughout the 16-years I have served Floridians in public life, never have I positioned myself to the left or right of anyone.
I stand exactly where I should — with everyday, hard-working Floridians.
But don’t take my word for it.
The National Journal is a well-respected, national, non-partisan publication that ranks lawmakers on a liberal to conservative scale every year. Florida’s most conservative lawmaker is Rep. Jeff Miller and most liberal lawmaker is Rep. Kathy Castor, according to the publication.
Within the U.S. Congress, I ranked 176th most liberal or 254th most conservative member. The magazine referred to me as a centrist and throughout my life in public service, I have prided myself on being able to bridge the partisan divide that has plagued our politics in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.
While I am a proud Democrat, never do I allow partisanship overwhelm progress.
As a former skycap who worked at the airport for tips, and as a retired captain in the Florida Highway Patrol who patrolled our highways and byways to keep our citizens safe, I understand the meaning of hard work and how to blend idealism with pragmatism in public life.
It is a lesson learned long ago from my mother Carrie Meek, a pioneering woman who was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1992, and from my uncle, George Pittman, a World War II and Korean War veteran and Purple Heart recipient who is buried at Arlington National Cemetery alongside our citizen heroes.
That is the work ethic I have displayed throughout this campaign as I celebrated July 4 in Lynn Haven last year, and enjoyed meaningful visits to Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Pensacola and communities throughout northwest Florida. I am running for the U.S. Senate is to represent all of Florida, not just sections of it.
And that requires standing with Floridians all of the time, not positioning myself to the left or right of elected leaders.
Posted By: Kendrick Meek
Friday, March 26th 2010 at 12:56PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
