Skipping ahead to the conclusion, here are the liars: Bill Clinton a little, Politico.com some, and Kendrick Meek a lot.
First off, Politico.com, which broke the story yesterday that Clinton supposedly urged Meek to quit the Senate race. Meek, the article claimed, decided to quit -- twice -- only to later back down from his decision. The story was picked up nationally (including here), and after patent denials from Clinton and Meek, Politico offered no apologies today for its reporting.
In fact, one of the site's columnists defended writer Ben Smith, who originally reported
the story. Maggie Haberman claimed Clinton's denial "doesn't actually contradict anything" that Smith wrote.
And
that's where Politico isn't telling the truth. Smith's original story
claims Meek said twice that he'd quit. Clinton's denial contradicts
that, saying: "I didn't ask Kendrick to leave the race, nor did Kendrick
say that he would."
(Asked for a response, Smith sent a one-line response: "Thanks for the email, not sure I have much to add to what I've written and blogged today.")
Now on to Clinton, who also appears to be
redefining is once again. Politico's story quotes former Clinton aide
Doug Band and another Democratic source as confirming that Clinton urged
Meek to quit. The New York Times and the Miami Herald cited another Clinton source, current spokesman Matt McKenna.
McKenna could be the unnamed source Politico cited, but that's two,
maybe three, independent sources who confirmed the story. Three sources
independently recalling a story incorrectly in the same way just isn't
plausible.
What's more likely is that Clinton's statement is
nuanced. Maybe he didn't "ask" Meek to quit, but perhaps he urged him
very strongly, in the way a former president can do. And maybe Meek
didn't tell Clinton that he'd quit, but perhaps he told Clinton's aides,
secretary, or Clinton's chocolate lab, Seamus. Either way, the
likelihood that Clinton didn't know about Meek's plans to quit seem to
point to Clinton at least failing to tell the whole truth in his
statement.
And finally Meek, who seems to be lying his
election-losing ass off. Meek made the rounds on the morning talk shows
Friday to deny that he ever said he'd get out of the race. If we are to
believe that, two, maybe three reliable sources are lying. Again, that
doesn't seem likely.
Meek tried to spin the story on CNN by
saying this was an attack by Crist. "It seems part of the Crist
strategy" to try to get him out of the race, Meek said. Considering it
was Clinton who approached him about this and likely urged him to drop
out, claiming it came from Crist is just bad politics, if not a lie on
its own.
In the end, Meek's decision to stay in the race will be moot. His poor reaction to the Politico story surely solidifies his eventual third-place finish.
