Kendrick Meek on why he's sponsoring a NASCAR race driver at the Daytona 500

Meek's appeal to the red-neck crowd is daring, but also probably essential if he is to become the first black elected to a statewide office in the sunshine state.  NASCAR has had to deal with charges that it's an essentially white-only sport, charges that went into high gear when former NASCAR official Mauricia Grant filed a sexual and racial harassment suit against NASCAR (Grant is black.  The case was dismissed last week after the two parties reached a settlement in December).

In an interview that will be published by CL later this week, one of Meek's Democratic Party opponents in the Senate race, former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre said that one reason that Meek was doing outreach to NASCAR nation is that he needs to expand his liberal base, saying, " it shows you that he understands his weakness. " Ferre says that Floridians generally support centrists, and believes Meek is too far to the left (though according to the National Journal in 2008, Meek's voting record puts him far from the top of the list when it comes to a liberal paper trail).

When asked about that, Meek seemed eager to brush back any such allegation, citing his service on the Homeland Security and Armed Services Committees,  as well as caring for military members and their families when they've returned from the theater of war.  He then said, "So we’re going to let the voters be the judge on who’s liberal and who’s moderate..I’m just going to lead, and I have a track record and overwhelming  evidence of fact vs. fiction and I believe voters are going to look for that..they’re going to look for clarity out of leadership, and I’m going to give them that. "