Meek: I Turned Down Crist Cross

Florida independent Senate candidate Charlie Crist personally lobbied Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek to exit the race this week, offering him  a cross that had been a gift from his sister, Mr. Meek said Friday.

The gesture occurred Monday as Mr. Crist and Mr. Meek were surrounded by local Jewish leaders at a Hollywood, Fla., meeting of the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

“I was shocked when he did it,” Mr. Meek said in an interview late Friday. “I told him to keep the cross and that I carry my Christianity in my heart.”

Crist spokesman Danny Kanner said he would not comment on a private conversation.

Mr. Meek’s account is the latest turn in an increasingly twisted tale of political intrigue.

Mr. Crist, the Florida governor, had called Mr. Meek, a Miami congressman, earlier that morning, about 4:50 a.m., leaving a voice mail asking if they could meet up at the AIPAC gathering. “I’ll call you later this morning and see if we can work out a time to get together just you and me,” Mr. Crist said in the voice mail, which was played for Washington Wire by Mr. Meek. “Take care, buddy.”

Mr. Meek was scheduled to speak at AIPAC about 8:30 and Mr. Crist at 10, but the governor showed up an hour early in hopes of catching the congressman.

Mr. Meek said he tried to avoid Mr. Crist, but as he left the stage, “there he was, right in front of me.”

“He said, ‘If you were to drop out and work with me and help me we together can beat Marco Rubio,’” Mr. Meek recalled. “I said, ‘Governor, that’s a non-starter.’

“Then he dug down into his pocket and pulled a small cross out,” Mr. Meek continued. “He said his sister gave it to him and he wanted to give it to me so I would think about it.”

Mr. Meek said Mr. Crist had been calling him repeatedly all weekend, and that he blames Mr. Crist for spreading rumors in recent weeks that he was going to drop out of the three–way race against Mr. Rubio, the GOP nominee.

Mr. Crist’s camp had been in contact with aides to former President Bill Clinton, who last week tried to convince Mr. Meek he could not win the race and that exiting might help Mr. Crist defeat Mr. Rubio.

Mr. Crist, on the early-morning voice mail, described himself as a “night owl.” Mr. Meek said he was asleep when the call came in.

“For him to call me at four something in the morning, you know something’s not right,” Mr. Meek said.

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This is just getting wackier and wackier. Charlie Crist is not coming across as a very stable person...