And The Meek Shall Inherit...Nothing? Part 2

Turns out those rumors about Kendrick Meek dropping out of the Florida Senate race and backing Charlie Crist in order to stop Marco Rubio were 100% true...and none other than the Big Dog himself went down to seal the deal.

But at the last second, Kendrick Meek said "Screw you guys."

Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded.

Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist’s independent bid in a last-ditch effort to stop Marco Rubio, the Republican nominee who stands on the cusp of national stardom.

Meek, a staunch Clinton ally from Miami, has failed to broaden his appeal around the state and is mired in third place in most public polls, with a survey today showing him with just 15 percent of the vote. His withdrawal, polls suggest, would throw core Democratic voters to the moderate governor, rocking a complicated three-way contest and likely throwing the election to Crist.

The former president’s top aide, Doug Band, initially served as the intermediary between Meek and Crist, and Clinton became involved only when Meek signaled that he would seriously consider the option, Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna confirmed to POLITICO.

“The argument was: ‘You can be a hero here. You can stop him, you can change this race in one swoop,’” said another Democrat familiar with the conversations, who said Clinton had bluntly told Meek that he couldn’t win the race.

Clinton did not dangle a job in front of Meek, who gave up a safe House seat to run for the Senate, but instead made the case that the move would advance the congressman’s future prospects, said a third Democrat familiar with the conversations.

Clinton campaigned with Meek in Florida on Oct. 19 and 20, and thought he had won Meek over. But as the week wore on, Meek lost his enthusiasm for the arrangement, spurred in part, a third Democratic source said, by his wife’s belief that he could still win the race. Clinton spoke with Meek again at week’s end, three Democrats said, and again Meek said he would drop out.

“It was a completely done deal,” one source said.

And now, thanks to Politico here, Florida Dems are going to either going to vote Meek out of anger...or stay home. Either way, Marco Rubio just benefited greatly. He should at least have the decency to send Ben Smith a gift basket and a quality fedora.

As for Big Dog, it's pretty clear you've got people working for you who want to make you look like an asshole. That's because you do look like an asshole, but you have a serious operational security problem. Your peeps went to Ben Smith and ganked you. Hardcore.

You guys look like a bunch of fools. All of you. Got played by the Village like a bunch of freshman Congressional hicks from the sticks and Smith just ate your lunch.

It just blows my mind, this amateur crap.

[UPDATE]  Meek's staying in the race according to the presser on CNN just now (10 PM).  Awesome.