FL-Sen: "Billionaire Challenging Meek In Dem Primary Has Republican Past"
Wow.... if this unknown with a REPUBLICAN past wins the dem nomination over the weaker kendrick meek... Crist could win by soaking up all the dem voters. He already has a bunch of them - he's trailing Rubio by 7 points in a state that is over 50% registered Dem. Now, if the Dem candidate becomes a repub... Crist is the only moderate AND dem in the race?
Billionaire Challenging Meek In Dem Primary Has Republican Past
By now you’ve heard that flamboyant real estate billionaire Jeff Greene is shaking up the already-wild Florida Senate contest by launching a Dem primary challenge to Kendrick Meek, who is the Dem establishment’s choice to make the race.
Greene has a couple of liabilities: He made his fortune by betting against subprime loans, and Mike Tyson was the best man at his wedding. But Greene’s camp is vowing to spend “whatever it takes” to win, making him a potentially serious threat.
Now add one more liability for a Dem primary: He has a Republican past. From a Miami Herald profile of Green in December of 2009 (via Nexis):
After getting his Harvard degree, he decided California would be a great place for real estate. There, he bought apartment buildings, small office buildings, shopping centers, then became a developer.
He also dabbled in politics. After growing up a rock-solid Democrat, the Harvard Business School had made him a middle-of-the-road Republican in the 1980s. He ran in a Congressional primary in the San Fernando Valley and lost. He soon returned to his Democratic roots and became a major donor to party candidates.
