The trends haven't been pretty for those wanting to keep Marco Rubio out of the Senate:
It's clear that in a three-way race, this is a done deal. Democrat Kendrick Meek and Independent Gov. Charlie Crist have almost exclusively targeted each other, nuking each other while Rubio heads virtually unscathed into the Senate. So given those dynamics, this is about the only thing that might shake up the race:
Republican leaders in the Sunshine State are fretting that a deal may be in the works to get Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek out of the Florida Senate race in order to boost Charlie Crist's flagging chances of beating Republican Marco Rubio.
Across the state, groups such as Palm Beach Democrats for Crist and Tampa Democrats for Crist are emerging. Republican fears are further stoked by the almost universal acknowledgment that Mr. Meek has almost no chance to win. Statewide polling has his support in the teens and falling. His money coffers are all but dry. Democrats had hoped that when Mr. Crist abandoned the GOP for an independent run, it would split the Republican vote and propel Mr. Meek into the winner's circle. With four weeks to go, no one believes that now. Mr. Meek, who is African-American, polls strongly only with black voters.
Meanwhile, Mr. Crist is striving to assemble a center-left coalition by winning over Democratic voters. His latest mailing throughout the state was titled "Ten Reasons Democrats Should Vote for Charlie Crist." On issues from health care to taxes, Mr. Crist has moved dramatically to the left.
Note, there's no claim that any such deal is actually in the works. This is conservative Stephen Moore, in the conservative Wall Street Journal, talking about GOP fears that a deal between Crist and Meek may be in the works. Indeed, a party interesting in trying to win the seat would be hard at work in trying to forge a deal. Splitting the left isn't doing anyone but Rubio any favors. The GOP knows this. The Democratic establishment pretty much knows this.
The only question left is whether Meek knows this. His options at this point are pretty much to lose on November 2, or to not lose by passing the baton to Crist. There's no way he'll be in the Senate next January.
That's not to say that Crist can win. I'm pretty pessimistic about Florida's Senate race no matter what happens at this point. But if you're going to have a loser in the race that's not Rubio, I'd rather it be Crist than Meek. And at least with Crist we have a fighting chance.