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Word of former President Bill Clinton’s unsuccessful efforts to ease Florida’s Democratic candidate out of the Senate race was the latest evidence of a rock-solid political truth this year: this kind of pressure doesn’t work.
Over and over again in the 2010 midterm campaign, political bigwigs from Washington — in both parties — have sought to shape the election contests to their liking by coaxing candidates out of the way.
And over and over again, they have been rebuffed by candidates who refuse to play ball with the party leaders in Washington.
In an interview on CNN late Thursday night, Mr. Clinton acknowledged discussing a last-minute dropout with Representative Kendrick B. Meek, the Democratic Senate candidate who has fallen far behind his Republican and independent rivals in the polls.
Mr. Meek was “trying to decide what to do and I talked to him and I told him that — we went through everything,” Mr. Clinton said. “I knew it was being discussed, people had discussed it on and off.”
In a separate interview on MSNBC Thursday night, Gov. Charlie Crist, who is running as an independent, said he had “numerous phone calls with people very close to President Clinton.” Sources close to Mr. Clinton said Mr. Crist made it clear that he planned to vote with Democrats if he wins on Tuesday.
But Mr. Meek stood firm, refusing to give into pressure from Washington, from his rival or, in the case of Mr. Clinton, from a close friend. In an interview Friday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Mr. Meek said, “We did talk about it, but it’s not anything that I considered.”
Mr. Meek’s decision to “be a living breathing candidate as long as God is willing,” as he said on “Morning Joe,” is just the latest in a long string of refusals by candidates to depart quietly.
In the primary season, the White House tried it in Pennsylvania –with Mr. Clinton again acting as an intermediary – in the hope of persuading Joe Sestak to drop his challenge to Senator Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary.
Mr. Sestak bluntly refused Mr. Clinton’s offer of a government post in exchange for getting out of the way. He beat Mr. Specter in the primary, and is now locked in a tight battle with the Republican Pat Toomey for the Senate seat.
The White House also tried unsuccessfully to deter Andrew Romanoff from challenging Senator Michael Bennet for the Senate seat in Colorado. In that case, Mr. Bennet won the Democratic primary.
But the independent streak among candidates is hardly limited to the Democrats.
Faced with the Tea Party movement across the country, Republican Party leaders in Washington made it clear during the primaries that they wanted candidates they viewed as less electable off the ballot.
In Alaska, Washington Republicans opposed the primary candidacy of Joe Miller, who went on to beat Senator Lisa Murkowski. In the Nevada Senate race, the Republicans tried to rally around former State Senator Sue Lowden, but the Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle refused to get out of the way – and won the primary.
And in Delaware, the Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell stayed in the Senate race against the wishes of Republicans in Washington. She went on to defeat Representative Michael N. Castle and is trailing badly against her Democratic rival, Chris Coons.
Ms. O’Donnell has largely failed to earn the support of the Washington establishment that opposed her. A few national Republican figures donated to her campaign in the days after she won. But since then, she’s largely been on her own.
But not so for other candidates who prevailed after refusing to back out.
In Pennsylvania, Mr. Sestak has gotten the wholehearted support of the Democratic establishment and of President Obama. In Alaska, Mr. Miller has the backing, and the support, of the Republican establishment. And in Nevada, Ms. Angle is now the darling of the Republican Party, with a chance to knock off their biggest target: Harry Reid, the Senate Democratic majority leader.
What makes the Florida discussions between Mr. Clinton and Mr. Meek unique is that they happened so late in the game, with only a week or so left before the election.
Mr. Meek said Friday morning that he did not agree to drop out in part because of the more than 1.7 million people who had already cast ballots early, and the voters who planned to support him on Tuesday.
“I’m saying let them vote,” Mr. Meek said. “I’m the Democratic nominee.”
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