However, most ignored whether it was a practical possibility or not.

According to Florida election law, after the primary, names cannot be removed from the ballot. However, if Meek were to remove himself from the race, the party could decide to place his votes for another candidate of the party’s choosing. But it does not appear that Crist could even be eligible to receive Meek’s votes. Law requires that “the person is not a registered member of any other political party and has not been a candidate for nomination for any other political party for a period of 6 months preceding the general election for which the person seeks to qualify” (emphasis added). Crist was a Republican until May 12 — five and half months ago — when he changed his voter registration to run as an independent.

Anyway, such a move is unlikely to happen so late in the election, since early voting in Florida begins in just six days. The Florida Democratic Party also ran a tough ad in the strategic I-4 corridor and other markets against Crist, highlighting his conservative positions. James Carville and the Florida Democratic Party chairwoman Karen Thurman spoke to reporters Tuesday on a conference call, reaffirming that Meek would stay in.

Crist tried to get more Democratic voters on his side Tuesday when he agreed with a reporter’s suggestion that a vote for Meek was a vote for Rubio. Meek, on MSNBC Monday, said, “I am nominated by hundreds of thousands of voters in this state. … Charlie Crist walked down to the supervisor of elections office, became an independent because he wanted to get out of the kitchen with Marco Rubio. He had his chance to win.”

Both candidates have declined on whether the other should drop out, saying it’s their decision.

The story does not cite any named sources, and contains no comment from either Meek’s or Crist’s campaign.

So our sister site, The Florida Independent, asked for a response. Here is a statement from the Meek camp:

When told The Wall Street Journal had published a rumor he would drop out of the Florida senate race, Kendrick Meek laughed out loud.

“I’m taking a stand against the radical right. Marco Rubio has always been the Tea Party candidate and yesterday Charlie Crist says he wants to crash the Tea Party, too. I’m the only candidate who’s fighting for the middle class and I’m not going anywhere except the United States Senate,” Meek said. “If you want to stop the privatization of Social Security and Medicare, stop more tax cuts for the wealthy, stop more special interest tax breaks, stop more environmental destruction and stop more jobs being shipped overseas, I’m asking you to take a stand with me.

“Because if they want to go back to the Bush years, they’re going to have to go through this six foot three inch former state trooper.”

Tristram Korten reports for The Florida Independent

Obama’s newfound favor for Meek, however, comes at a time when many Democrats are trying to inch away:

Democrats have semi-openly admitted that with Greene as the party’s nominee, they would feel little remorse in casting a vote for Crist — believing that the billionaire businessman is not fit to serve in the Senate. The same cannot be said of Meek.

One Democratic aide who has worked extensively in the state summed up the conventional wisdom thusly: “[We] clearly cannot publicly support Crist but if Meek is the nominee [we] know he… has no shot at winning statewide.”

All this negativity about Meek’s chances coming from Democrats is enough to make one wonder if maybe it’s part of the problem. After all, Democrats do enjoy a sizable lead in voter registration over Republicans in the state of Florida. But Crist is a well-known centrist figure with a lot of cash, and Rubio is raising a bunch of money as well. If Meek is going to have a chance at winning, his team notes, he’ll need some help from the Democratic establishment:

“Democrats who are supporting Crist are making a Rubio win much more likely,” said Steve Murphy who is handling media strategy for Meek. “That will quickly become apparent after Kendrick beats Greene decisively and begins consolidating Democrats. The rest is up to the White House and the [Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee].”

Murphy’s last point may be the most important one in assessing Meek whether Meek will be a serious candidate or a spoiler this fall.

Meek will be heavily outraised and outspent by both Crist ($8 million on hand as of Aug. 4) and Rubio ($4.5 million) even if he is the nominee. Without help — in the form of independent expenditure effort funded by the DSCC — it’s hard to imagine Meek growing his Miami-base enough to become a contender.

The American Action Network calls itself an “‘action tank’ that will create, encourage and promote center-right policies based on the principles of freedom, limited government, American exceptionalism, and strong national security.” The group has run ads in the PA-12 special election and now has an ad targeting Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.).

AAN is run by former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) and Rob Collins, former chief of staff to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor. Its chairman of the board is Fred Malek, the former campaign manager of George H.W. Bush’s 1992 campaign, something of a Washington adviser to Sarah Palin a former special assistant to President Nixon, who infamously drew up a list of Jews in the Bureau of Labor Statistics and then demoted at least four officials with Jewish-sounding surnames.

“He said it just wasn’t the right timing,” [Marco] Rubio said, recounting a phone call he received this afternoon from the former Florida governor and presidential brother.

Bush, who left office in 2007, cited his desire to explore other professional opportunities outside of politics, Rubio said.

Rubio, a close Bush ally who was waiting on the former governor’s decision, said he would now “seriously explore the opportunity.”

The timing’s never going be right for Bush, apparently: He passed up a challenge to first-term Senator Ben Nelson (D) in 2006, too. (This inaugurated one of my favorite no-hope political drafts of the cycle: Quin Hillyer’s lonely quest to bring Jack Nicklaus into politics.)

But 2010 looked like a much better year. Gov. Charlie Crist (R) will be on the ballot, probably against a token Democrat. With the exception of the 9/11-boosted George W. Bush in 2002, the Cuban Missile Crisis-aided JFK in 1962, and the New Deal-boosting FDR in 1934, first presidential midterms always mean a voter backlash against the incumbent party: 2010 promises to be the best Republican year in Florida since 2004.

It’s easy to draw the conclusion, as a lot of conservatives have, that Bush is a thoroughbred executive who would be bored by the Senate. Or, as W. James Antle III suggests: “Maybe his dad embarrassed him.”