www.theledger.com/article/20100816/EDIT01/8165004/1001/BUSINESS?Title=The-Ledger-Recommends-U-S-Senator-D-Kendrick-B-Meek Florida's Democratic voters have four choices in the U.S. Senate race. Many seem to approach the ballot with the attitude of finding three to vote against, leaving only one remaining choice for the blackened oval.
Click to enlarge
Kendrick B. Meek.
Two candidates are at single digits in the polls: Glenn A. Burkett, 60, a health and wellness educator from Naples, and Maurice A. Ferre, 75, a former six-term Miami mayor with prior legislative service.
Of the other two, voters might ask themselves, "Whom can you trust?" more than they ask, "How do they stand on the issues?"
Jeff Greene, 55, is a billionaire whose trips aboard his 145-foot luxury yacht have drawn more attention than his stance on campaign issues. Green ran for Congress in California in 1980 as a Republican. Years later, he made hundreds of millions of dollars betting that the subprime mortgage market would collapse.
Even though he moved to Florida in 2008, he's well ahead of Kendrick B. Meek - a four-term member of Congress - in the polls. Millions of dollars in advertising bought Greene name recognition.
But, recently, the kind of name recognition he doesn't want has been streaming forth. In 2008, Forbes magazine wrote, "Madam-to-the-stars Heidi Fleiss, another partygoer, ended up spending a year as his houseguest when Greene was single and after she had served time in prison." Mike Tyson, former heavyweight champion and convicted rapist, was best man at Greene's wedding.
SIMILARITIES, GOOD AND BAD
Greene and Meek have somewhat similar views on many issues. Both are reluctant to make any changes to Social Security or Medicare. Both say that the nation needs to secure its borders and that most of those here illegally should have a way to gain citizenship. Both oppose an expansion of offshore oil drilling.
Like Greene, Meek has some questions about ethics. Greene has raised the issue of Meek seeking millions of dollars in federal funds for a developer who paid his mother (who held the congressional seat prior to Meek) $90,000 in consulting fees. She was also given a Cadillac Escalade.
Meek said he was only trying to help develop the long-impoverished Liberty City in Miami and that he had no knowledge that the developer - now charged with fraud - had hired his mother as a consultant.
Because of that and some other ethical questions, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington listed Meek as one of 12 "Crooked Candidates 2010." Greene's campaign wasted no time in getting that bit of information out.
Shortly thereafter, CREW added Greene to that same list, noting, in part: "While self-financing his Senate campaign, Mr. Greene appears to be skirting Federal Election Commission regulations."
Meek stands above the other three candidates, including Greene. The Ledger recommends Kendrick B. Meek, United States Senator, Democrat.
Posted By: Kendrick Meek
Monday, August 16th 2010 at 1:46PM
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