Democrat Senate hopeful talks oil, fish as he stumps in Destin

DESTIN — While two high-profile Republican candidates battle for headlines in the race for a Florida U.S. Senate seat, Democrat Kendrick Meek has the luxury of building a voter base from the ground up.

Meek, who has represented Miami’s District 17 in the U.S. House for four terms, wants to become the first candidate for statewide office to qualify via petition.

He needs to verify a daunting 112,476 signatures by the end of March to do so. The mission has taken him across the state and to some interesting venues.

“I’ve been to church picnics, festivals and a lot of parades,” Meek said. “In this campaign I think I’ve eaten everything that crawls, slithers or swims.

“I can tell you that most things crunch.”

Meek, the prohibitive favorite to face either Gov. Charlie Crist of former state House Speaker Marco Rubio for the Sen-ate seat in November 2010, said he’s out to show voters “who really wants to serve” the state’s electorate.

Sunday he chose to drum up support in Northwest Florida by spending time with disgruntled charter boat fishermen.

The fishermen expressed their disgust at the federal government’s outdated system for counting fish in the Gulf of Mexico, Meek said. They impressed upon him their need for help on the national level to protect an industry crippled by recent fishing bans.

“It’s impacting their business in a big way,” Meek said. “A new count needs to be taken.”

Monday morning found Meek snapping photos of the region’s surf and beaches to send to his daughter. He said there are people guiding the state now who seem overly eager to mortgage the long-term well-being of Florida in the interest of kick-starting a faltering economy.

“Getting people back to work is very important, but so is not jeopardizing our beautiful state,” he said. “We have found ourselves in these hard times doing things we would not normally do.”

Asked for specifics, Meek mentioned gambling and offshore drilling.

“I’m referring to special interests taking advantage of our quality of life here in Florida because we’re in hard times right now,” he said. “We all want recovery, but at what price? People are paying attention to who’s going to be a leader and who’s going to be a politician.”

Meek said he’s “definitely opposed” to drilling legislation brought forward last year by state House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon.

“I think special interests had a lot to do with it,” he said.

Meek said he’s spoken to military officials and chamber of commerce types who stand opposed to offshore drilling. It’s not, he said, just “people with bark on their cheeks.”

“There are a lot of questions that have to be answered before we allow oil companies to bring in leases,” he said. “The military said it would hamper their ability to train, and business leaders say they are opposed.”

Meek wouldn’t say whether he would rather face Crist or Rubio in 2010. He said he’s watching with interest “a big fight for the heart and soul of the GOP.”

“It gives us an opportunity to go out and get perspective as a Democrat, to go out and represent independents and Republicans and Democrats,” he said.

Voters, he said, are “walking to the ballot box looking at it with one eyebrow up.”

“They know they can’t do the same thing and get different results,” he said. “They want someone to listen to them sometimes, and not listen to what the polls say.”