Meek On Greene

AP reporter Brendan Farrington tweets this quote from Kendrick Meek.

"Mr. Greene wasn't a pushover. He was running more commercials than Geico, Burger King and McDonald's put together."

Jeff Greene's Killer Party

Only 15 people attended Jeff Greene's election night party. Greene might have gotten a bigger crowd if he actually paid for booze. The first drink was free and then supporters had to pay around $8.00 for the next drink. I'm surprised Greene didn't make the party a BYOB affair.

Kendrick Meek Wins

Naked Politics reports Kendrick Meek crushed Jeff Greene in the Democratic Senate primary.

It wasn't close. Multiple media outlets are calling the Democratic U.S. Senate race for Kendrick Meek over Jeff Greene. (As of 8:30 Meek has 54% compared to Greene's 32%, with 524k total votes.

Never underestimate the power of a Bubba the Love Sponge endorsement.

Actually, the reason Meek won is because Greene was too weird for the electorate.

Alex Sink's Jeff Greene Problem

Tampa Tribune reporter William March asked Alex Sink if she will support Jeff Greene if he wins the Senate primary. Sink gave her usual overly-cautious answer.

"I endorsed Kendrick Meek in this race, so I'll reserve judgement until we get to Wednesday."

Not exactly strong and decisive leadership on Sink's part.

Alex Sink Comes Out Against Cordoba House

Kyra Jennings, Press Sec. for Alex Sink, just posted this item to her Twitter account.

RT @learyspt Alex Sink, Dem for governor, tell Buzz she shares view of 9/11 families who oppose mosque.

I had no illusion that Sink was a progressive. Her refusal to say if she supported a health insurance public option showed she is often too careful of a politician.

The purpose of the Cordoba Initiative mosque at Ground Zero was to create a healing process between Americans and Muslims. The xenophobia showed toward the mosque shows just how far we have to go.

I personally don't care for the Scientologists or street preachers in Ybor City. They are rather annoying. However, I support their constitutional right to practice their faith in Ybor City. Support the Bill of Rights doesn't mean we get to pick and choose who is protected under the Constitution. Sink is running for the most power office in Florida. She should be mindful that our laws protect everyone.

Update: Here is Sink's statement from The Buzz.

"Like all Floridians, I'm grateful for our constitutional right to freedom of religion... When it comes to what to build close to the hallowed site of Ground Zero, I think it ought to be up to the people of New York City to decide. It is my personal opinion that the wishes of the 9/11 families and friends must be respected. They are opposed to this project and I share their view."

Kendrick Meek gives a response that doesn't really clear up his position.

Our nation was founded on the pillar of religious freedom and construction of the mosque should not be denied on religious grounds, but this is ultimately a decision for the local community in New York to make."

Kendrick Meek: a true profile in courage.

Jeff Greene's remarks come off as obnoxious.

"Freedom of religion might provide the right to build the mosque in the shadow of Ground Zero, but common sense and respect for those who lost their lives and loved ones gives sensible reason to build the mosque someplace else," Greene said. "President Obama had the chance to show leadership by calling on the mosque's supporters to find a more appropiate location."

Greene's statement shows racism by associating the 9/11 attacker with the Muslims of the Cordoba Initiative. All Muslims are not members of al-Qaeda. It is racist to saw an entire race and religion is responsible for the actions of a terrorist group. By that logic then the Catholic Church is responsible for all the deaths caused by the Irish Republican Army. You weren't hear any American politican say that because there is a large group of Irish Catholic Americans. Picking on Muslims is much easier.

Rubio shows the same thought process by assiociating all Muslims with terrorists.

"We are a nation founded on strong principles of religious freedom. However, we cannot be blind to the pain 9/11 caused our nation and the families of the victims. It is divisive and disrespectful to build a mosque next to the site where 3000 innocent people were murdered at the hands of Islamic extremism.

I bet Rubio doesn't know that some of those people murdered practiced the Islamic faith.

The most politically couragious stance was taken by Charlie Crist. The governor was asked about Obama's position to allow the mosque to be built at its current location

"I think it's the right thing to do," Crist said.

Mark this as the day Crist showed spine.

Jeff Greene Threatens to Sue St. Petersburg Times

Florida Senate candidate Jeff Greene threatens to sue the St. Petersburg Times for libel. Greene takes exception to a Kris Hundley and Caryn Baird article on the Greene-owned La Mirage condo complex that has garnered him the nickname "Slum lord Billionaire." Attorney L. Lynn Wood of the law firm Bryan Cave LLP sent a letter to Times chairman Paul Tash. The letter accuses the publication of several instances of reporting false information. Unless Hundley and Baird are the second coming of Stephen Glass and Ruth Shalit they should be fine.

Brian Blair's threat of a libel lawsuit against Peter Schorsch went nowhere. The Times v. Sullivan Supreme Court case made it so high standard was set to prove libel. If the Times can produce the quotes from the actual residents at La Mirage and research material on Greene's business dealing with the complex then it would be near impossible to prove the Times made "deflationary statements."

Jeff Greene and Dave Aronberg BFF

Here is a good reason for progressives to back Dan Gelber for Attorney General: Jeff Greene sent out a voting guide telling people to vote for Dave Aronberg. Anyone have any idea why Greene is supporting Aronberg? I'm sure there is an interesting back story. Feel free to email me.

The 'Caked In Vomit' Yacht

Boxer Mike Tyson told Sports Illustrated about his time on Jeff Greene's yacht The Summerwind.

Tyson gave details of his cavorting during the same summer he spent a month on Greene's boat: "This guy goes and gets me a big rock of cocaine. So pretty soon I got a party going on. I got everything: I got these rugby players. I got these naked girls ... But then [the dealer he met in Amsterdam] saw how much of a mess I was. He came in and kicked everybody out of my room! All the nude people, all the people having sex. He said, 'I feel so bad I ever gave him that stuff.'"

Don't laugh, but Greene said he has zero tolerance for drugs. That does not explain why Greene's yacht showed up in Cuba "caked in vomit."

Jeff Greene: Slum Lord Billionaire

Jeff Greene owns The Oasis apartment complex in the Ridgecrest, California. The apartment complex was built in the 1940s and has The Miami Herald reports 189 unitsare vacant. Some units have been boarded up to avoid swatting and valdalism.

According to to the Miami Herald, Greene owes $106,384.75 in taxes on the property. Greene denies owing any taxes on Oasis.

The tenants give Oasis Apartments less than stellar reviews.

Joseph Parry and his family were driven out of the neighboring La Mirage by the foreclosures last year. They now pay $600 a month for three bedrooms in a flat-roofed former barrack. They say that's the going rate for low-end housing in a town with limited rental options.

``The landlord don't care what this place looks like as long as he gets his money,'' Parry said.

Unfortunately, Google Maps doesn't provide a ground level view of the property. The description of the property doesn't bode well to photographic images.

Jeff Greene's Excellent Adventure

Jeff Greene has given various versions of his yacht trip to Cuba. Greene at one point said he was going to Cuba to visit Jewish synagogues. Another version of the story was Greene was never on the yacht. And then there was to story the yacht stopped at Cuba to make repairs before heading to Honduras Deck hand John Walenczyk said Greene went to Cuba with the intention to party.

"It was their total intention to go to Cuba, he said Tuesday. "We never went to Honduras, not even close. I figure it was the glamour of wanting to go to a banned country."

I am not a Cuba hardliner. I do think Greene's shifting stories call into question his honesty. Why oh why, can't we have better Senate candidates.

Florida Has A Corruption Problem

From 1998 to 2007 Florida has had 824 public official convicted of various crimes. New York came in second with 704. This is a good time to bring this up that Charlie Crist, Marco Rubio, Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene have all made the CREW list for corrupt candidates. One of these men will end up being a United States Senator.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin White was caught breaking campaign finance rules by spending $6,100 on his personal wardrobe. White tried to get away with the bogus billing by citing the owner of BC Men's Wear as his fashion consultant. White was found guilty in court of sexually harrassing former employee Alyssa Ogden. White is the favorite to win the District 3 race.

Former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom was charged with official misconduct, grand theft and conspiracy. He also used nonprofit money from the Republican Party of Florida to charge $173,000 on a credit card. Sansom still has not repaid the money. Sansom got a standing ovation from fellow Republicans when he steeped down as Speaker.

Former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer was indicted on several counts of felong grand theft. Greer set up the bogus company Victory Strategies to profit from billing the RPOF. Greer attempted to destroy the paper trail by bringing a paper shredding machine to the RPOF offices. Crist defended Greer until the near end.

Florida has an obvious corruption problem. It is time for citizens to back changes that will hold public officials to a higher standard. The Florida Commission on Ethics lacks teeth. The Attorney General office under Bill McCollum showed an unwillingness to investigate Sansom. This isn't a partisan issue. This is about having honest public officials. A democracy cannot run if the people do not trust their elected officials.

Jeff Greene Makes CREW List

Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek and Marco Rubio made the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Jeff Greene has recently been added to to list. Florida's four leading Senate candidates have been labeled corrupt by a major government watchdog group. In Florida news like this is considered business as usual.

Greene was forced to pay $600,000 for breach of contract on a house he rented to film director Ron Howard. Greene made $800 million of controvvisal credit default swaps he purchased to bet against the housing market. Greene profited greatly when the mortgage bubble bursted.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Jeff Greene Mailer

Jeff Greene's latest mailer attacks Kendrick Meek for his connection to indicted developer Dennis Stackhouse. The negative attacks are working. Greene leads Meek in the latest Quinnipiac poll by ten points. Ouch.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: The Hypothetical Express

Kendick Meek is touring Florida in the "Real Dems Express" bus The media is so overwhelmed by Meek's dazzling new campaign strategy that they are asking him if he will endorse Jeff Greene if he wins. Meek uses a lot of words, including "Hypothetically" several times. Apparently, the "Real Dems Express" has about as much straight talk as John McCain's campaign bus.

“I don’t like to live in the world of hypotheticals and I really, I’m not even prepared to answer that question. I do see Mr. Greene as a Republican versus a Democrat.

“Hypothetically — and I do mean hypothetically in a big way — if he was to advance from the Democratic primary then Floridians would be looking at three Republicans debating one another. Because that’s the reason why Mr. Greene is running a Republican-style attack against me in the primary because that’s who he is. I don’t see Floridians really having a dog in the fight if I don’t make it to — hypothetically speaking, very hypothetically speaking — if I don’t make it to the general election. But I believe that’s the reason why Democrats are going to come out and vote for me…”

Hypothetically, Meek sounds like another career politician by not giving an answer to a question.

Hypothetically, it is not a good sign when the media thinks Meek as a very good chance of losing.

Hypothetically speaking, Meek is a horrible public speaker who repeats the same word Ad nauseam.

Hypothetically, Meek will have a hard time having a career in Democratic politics if he does not endorse the party nominee.

Hypothetically, Meek's political career will be over after this campaign cycle. If Meek makes it through the primary poll numbers show him getting crushed by Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio.

Of course, this is all hypothetical. Meek's campaign is going to catch on fire any day now. Get your fire extinguisher ready.

Ausman & Greene

This is an old story that I should have mentioned before. Former West Palm Beach Mayor Jon Ausman endorsed Jeff Greene. The kicker about the endorsement is Ausman is a paid consultant for the Greene campaign.

Turns out that Ausman is also a paid consultant for Greene, having been paid $4,000 for providing about 35,000 e-mail addresses to the campaign.

Ausman, of Tallahassee, said the arrangement isn’t unusual. He said he often does consulting work for candidates he also endorses. But the money, he said, buys his political expertise, not his support as a party official.

“Everybody knows I work in political campaigns for a living,” said Ausman. “I’m a little surprised it’s actually a story.”

I'm surprised the story is being reported now. Several establishment Dems e-mailed me off-the-record about Ausman's ties to Greene. I thought I did a post update to mention Ausman's ties to Greene. Turns out I didn't. (My bad.) I'm surprised the Meek campaign didn't raise more of a fuzz about Ausman.

LiLo & Jeff Greene

Amusing news that the Kendrick Meek campaign will probably milk to their advantage. Florida Democratic Senate candidate Jeff Greene hung out with Lindsay Lohan in St. Barth. No word on Greene asked LiLo for advice on reforming credit default swaps.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Another Democratic Endorsement For Greene

The bloodletting continues. First Democrat Jon Ausman endorsed Jeff Greene. Now the Liberty City Democratic Network Club is endorsing Greene.

"Our top priority is to strengthen our community and we believe that Jeff Greene is the only U.S. Senate candidate who has the know-how to solve the problems that have plagued our families for years. Mr. Greene has the experience to create jobs that will spur economic activity in all parts of the state and in particular Liberty City-Miami/Dade County. Mr. Greene is also the only candidate who is not a career politician and the only U.S. Senate candidate who has not been a part of the decline of Liberty City," wrote President Eric Thompson and Vice President Roy Hardemon of the Liberty City Democratic Network Club in a joint letter endorsing Jeff Greene.

I have had my problems with Meek as a candidate. I can't see why Democrats would want to support Greene. This is obviously a problem. These kind of news stories make Meek look weak and positions Greene as a potential spoiler. The Meek campaign needs to change that perception ASAP.

Feminist Groups Back Meek Over Greene

The Kendrick Meek campaign staged a conference call with leaders of feminist groups. A point brought up is Greene's friendship with Heidi Fleiss.

Sue Banks, president of the Florida Federation of Business and Professional Women, said Greene used very poor judgement in his assessment of Fleiss.

"It's a profession that degrades women," Banks said.

Barbara Devane of the National Organization for Women said: "He's very disturbing." The people he hangs out with disturb me greatly."

It is good to finally see the Meek campaign go in attack mode. Meek needs to put distance between himself and Greene in the polls. I am not sure attacking Greene for being friends with Fleiss will do any damage. In a Republican primary a Fleiss connection could be damning. Democratic voters are a little more tolerant of sex scandals. Being friends and roommates with Fleiss isn't a scandal or a relationship that Greene ever tried to hide.

From a policy standpoint: Meek backed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and is pro-choice. He is the safest choice for feminists.

Quote of the Day

"“If you look at the record and the outcome,” Howard said, “he committed fraud and that’s why it was so expensive for him. With what I know about Jeff Greene as a tenant, I certainly wouldn’t vote for him, and I wouldn’t relish the idea of him being in the Senate."

Ron Howard

Greene was forced to pay Howard $600,000 for in a lawsuit settlement.

Kendrick Meek Death Watch: Death by TV Ads

Jeff Greene unleashed the second ad linking Kendrick Meek to indicted developer Dennis Stackhouse. Meek responded to the Stackhouse controversy in an op-ed.



Greene is killing Meek with the television ads. The ads are well-made and effective. Greene's media people are defining Meek for Florida voters. Meek has to find a way to counter these attacks.