The infamous Democratic circular firing squad is alive and well. MoJo asks, Can the race for the Democratic Senate nomination in Florida get any dirtier? According to Orlando Sentinel, neither candidate has comported himself well.

In the last three months, they’ve engaged in the equivalent of daily knife fights, trying to shred each other with a series of allegations that have ranged from silly to spot-on. Civility is the biggest casualty, as the candidates’ genuine disdain for one another has become apparent.

Meek, 43, portrays Greene as a wealthy dilettante who views public office as another acquisition. Greene, 55, describes the four-term congressman as a “failed career politician” in the pocket of special interests.

Each man has given his opponent plenty of ammo.

Meek, for example, has yet to squash concerns about his viability in the general election. More substantively, he’s hounded by questions about seeking $4 million in federal money several years ago for a developer who had hired Meek’s mother as a consultant, loaned money to a Meek staffer – and never built the project.

Meek says he did not know about either relationship.

Greene, meanwhile, carries enough political baggage to sink his 145-foot yacht:

He is a billionaire who made his fortune betting against home values. He ran for Congress in California in 1980 as a Republican. He’s hung out with Hollywood Madame Heidi Fleiss and Hollywood bad girl Lindsay Lohan. The best man at his wedding was former heavyweight champion and convicted rapist Mike Tyson.

Then there’s Greene’s relatively scant time in Florida. He moved here two years ago, and, in a March 2008 interview, said Malibu, California “is home.”

Still, Greene has turned the race inside out by spending more than $6 million of his own money, leaving Meek struggling to keep pace. A recent poll by Quinnipiac University shows Greene – whom no one knew four months ago – leading Meek by 10 percentage points.

Meek is counting on his ties to party regulars to carry him through the primary.

So, I want to hear from another candidate. But, that’s not even possible.

Filed under: 2010 Elections, Florida, Politics, USA Tagged: democrats, jeff greene, kendrick meek, maurice ferre