Guest Post By Rick Wilson

Rick Wilson is a political consultant and runs the company Intrepid Media. Wilson produces ads for Republicans campaigns. I don't normally do this. I asked for Wilson's thoughts on the Florida Democratic Party and the Kendrick Meek campaign. Wilson is familiar with Florida elections and I thought it would be interesting getting his perspective.

I have quibbles about Kendrick "moderate progressive" Meek being too liberal. I am not a Rubio fan, but Wilson is. Wilson does get a lot of other things right.

Ya'll had a pretty tough night.

Even if the FDP was a finely-tuned campaign machine, Meek would have lost. The simple reality is, Kendrick was never going to beat Marco in a year like 2010, Crist or not. He's to the left of Obama, and that's not anywhere near the flavor in this political season. (Beyond the savage electoral beat-down your side just took, see the recent FL polling on the stimulus, the health care bill, Obama approval etc.) I'm sure your readers would dispute this, but that's the difference between us: I see the political climate as it is, not how I wish it would be.

Marco is a bold, smart, conservative with a crystal-clear message...and he ran a great campaign. It wasn't just a national wave: Marco's message resonated with Florida voters who are (with a few exceptions in a handful of counties) largely conservative. Florida is not a progressive state. It can be volatile in Presidential elections...but take a look at statewide elections in FL over the last 20 years. See many flaming #pfla-type liberal firebrands there?

Once a cadre of Democrats (Wexler, call your office) decided Crist was a better play to defeat Marco, they injured the Florida Democratic Party's bond of trust with African American voters and progressives. It was low-rent realpolitik: too clever by half, and thus doomed and stupid. Democrats from FL and the White House playing footsie with Charlie Crist left Meek vulnerable to rumors for months, undermining his fundraising and his stature. Think about this: a big chunk of your party decided to betray an affable, decent African American Democrat with a good resume for Charlie Crist. (Combined with what's going to happen to African American representation under your beloved redistricting plan, well, all I can say is "thanks!")

Of course, the FDP also failed to execute basic campaign operations, including candidate recruitment, turnout operations, farm team building, etc. How's that OFA/Union Permanent Campaign working out for ya? Because the GOP has never had the logistical backstop of unions, when we win, it's by hard work, better candidates, a message that works and building good infrastructure. This isn't a secret. The Florida Democratic Party has been very well-funded in the last year, but it's unbelievably poor decision-making with its donors' money pales in comparison to Jim Greer's Amex excesses. They might as well stack up the cash and have a bonfire.