FL Senate: Jeff Greene spent nearly 6 million, raises nearly nothing from donors..

self-financed candidate Jeff Greene revealed he spent $5.8 million of his own money in the first quarter since he entered the party’s primary against U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek. Greene, a wealthy real estate investor who has used a slew of television ads to pull nearly even with Meek in most polls, only raised $3,036 in the three-month span from donors.

http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/07/18/crist-raises-1-8-million-greene-spends-5-8-million/

This guy is buying his way into the nomination. Pathetic.

to do with the best candidates... it's how much you spend for propaganda and the greedy MSM has their hands out. But hey, SCOTUS has said it's also fine for a corporation(s) to buy the American political system. To hell with the people and the best gov. Democracy is long gone in the US. It now runs on who/what to buy. The entire political system is for sale to the highest bidder.

and has been for quite sometime. But it does seem to be getting worse when you read things like this and what Meg Whitman is doing in CA. Its sickening.

She's up to $70 million last I looked.

unbelievable.

Meek raised couch change in three months... that is not someone you want running.

I dont think so.

he isnt conservative enough for crist supporters

Has he bought you off too?

but you are a crist shill here always calling for the conservative over the democrat
so i assumed that was what you were doing
knocking a democrat to build up your conservative choice

He is also a billionaire who made his money off the real estate market crash in Florida. Of the two, Meek is the clearly the better choice for the Democratic nomination.

and you are advocating against BOTH democrats in the race in favor of the conservative

They have had way too much influence over our legislature and have paved over most of the state while obtaining waivers right and left to build on sensitive lands and bypassing growth plans. If he was a good candidate he would have some support. Obviously he does not.

And let's not pretend that people don't buy their way into office all the time. Does the name Corzine ring a bell?

Are you a Greene donor?

the fact that you're doing all you can to justify supporting the Republican drop out. And I will call out your hypocrisy from now until the election. I don't give a shit how uncomfortable it makes you.

Feel free to keep it up if you gives you some perverse pleasure.

If you consider being called a hypocrite a put-down you can always stop being one.

While I agree that the amount of money needed to get elected is obscene, I really don't understand why a candidate that uses his own money to buy ads (and hence is beholden to himself) is more pathetic than a candidate who allows a pharmaceutical company or a oil company to buy the ads for him/her.

I like what Green has to say. Meek is...well, meek. He's ineffectual, has run a shitty campaign and hasn't raised any money. And we NEED someone to go up against Crist and Rubio who actually has presence, which Meek does not. And, if Greene uses his own money along with the small amount he receives from donors (he will not accept donations for anyone for more than $100) while maintaining that presence... that is GOOD for us. In addition, if he does win the nomination AND beats both Crist and Rubio, when we have a Senator that goes to the Senate without all these favors he needs to pay back.

I fail to see why everyone hates this guy. Are you actually in Florida? Have you looked at all of these candidates and what they stand for, what they are proposing they will do to help Florida? Do you understand the issues that are facing this state? Or do you just see this little fact and jump on that "Greene is buying the nomination" bandwagon?

BTW, I am not from Florida, but I used to live there and I have relatives there and I know the politial value of Florida and I have been following the Senate race for quite sometime. I think the outcome could be very significant.

that I could think of. You can insert Exxon or BP or Abbott Labs or Kraft Foods, for that matter. The fact that it takes so much money to get elected is disgusting, and, like you, I'm concerned about the ramifications of someone "buying a seat". But... allowing a corporation to buy your seat isn't any better for me.

I really don't know what to do with this whole situation. Meek just isn't doing anything, so Greene stepped in and starting getting his name out there. Meek still thinks that he will just get elected because of his name (and his mother).

Edited to add: I'm not sure I trust Greene, so I'm not trying to necessarily defend him. I was mainly trying to address that letting a corporation buy your seat is just as bad. (and pointing out that, due to the way we elect people, you will need your own money or a corporate donation to afford it)

Its a strange race. However, I think Crist is going to win it no matter who is the Dem candidate.

Although, I keep thinking... well, he didn't completely suck as a governor (which still doesn't mean that I like him, but he did manage to rally all the moderates in the state. Basically, the only people who seems to dislike him are far right and far left voters)

I just dont see Meek or Greene being capable of beating Rubio but Crist can. I just think keeping Rubio out of the Senate is the most important factor.

I'm still trying to decipher what the hell is going to happen in the primary. If Greene does win, I would have a hard time voting for anyone in the general election. If Meek wins, well, I'm hoping that Rubio and Crist will tear each other's bases apart.

Crist is a Republican, even if he is running as an Independent to avoid a messy battle with Rubio. I will NEVER willingly choose a Republican over a Democrat... except that Greene isn't really a Democrat, either.

The Florida Democratic party should have chosen someone else to get behind than Meek, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to vote for Crist over him if he wins the primary.

keep pushing that conservative candidate

I guess you got confused.

because you are attempting to confuse the issue
the democrats in the race are greene and meek
crist your favorite is a republican
or so it still says on the governors office
you love conservatives so just keep pushing them

if he voted for reagan. i like my candidates with a bit better memory than that. i agree that meek is too meek but i will reserve final judgment.

ellen fl

I will probably vote for Meek in the primary. I was kind of ranting and unclear (and a little uninformed).

First Issue: I don't think it's any more pathetic to buy your own seat than to let a corporation buy you one. Unfortunately, that is the place our politics is in right now. You need massive amounts of money. I would prefer to see all campaigns publicly funded so that we don't have politicians beholden to corporations, nor will we have politicians beholden to corporations.

Second Issue: I think that the Florida Democratic Party was insane to choose Meek as "the guy to get behind". I think that Meek is a weak candidate and that choosing that weak candidate allowed people like Greene to get in. That being said, I will not vote for Greene over Meek. I just think our leaders are somewhat stupid.

Since I posted the message you replied to, I went to some of the links others have posted and read more about Greene. I thought about editing the original post I made, but that didn't seem appropriate after others had posted to it. I do (or did) like what Greene has to say, but I didn't realize he was a Republican running as a Democrat. That is a deal killer for me (just as voting for Crist is, since he's a Republican running as a Independent). Mea Culpa. My life has been up in the air since last December and I should be paying more attention.(I would have researched the crap out of them before the primary, but was basing my statement strictly on the information we've been sent by his campaign)

I could live with Crist winning (though I won't vote for him), but not Rubio. Rubio shouldn't even be allowed to run. What scum!

literature from greene and he looks great . . . on paper. considering how ruthless repubs get when an election is at stake, i would not put it past them to run a pretend dem. i will stick with the dem who i know is a dem. the general election is going to be a b*tch!

ellen fl

Greene, a former republican (http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/07/kendrick_meek_jeff_greene_tone.html) and Rick Scott (r) are both running huge self-financed campaigns in FL.

Why do these 'private enterprise' types want to be in the Senate so bad?

In descending order:

EGO
GREED
POWER
INFLUENCE
MONEY
BUSINESS CONTACTS
FREE TRAVEL
.
.
.

HELPING CONSTITUENTS

It's the only way to stop this absurdity of billionaires buying their way into the election process.

With his last name, sky is the limit.