Gelber "Steps Back" From Senate Race

That's video from Saturday's Netroots Coalition meeting in Miami Beach, where State Sen. Dan Gelber acknowledged his intention to leave the U.S. Senate race. Miami-Dade Democratic activist Larry Thorson posted it last night on the Daily Kos, along with his congratulations for the Democrats avoiding a nasty primary battle, so far at least. Here's Gelber's own blog post on the decision.

Gelber comes off as a class act. It's hard to be pragmatic when the competitive campaign juices are flowing. Gelber's bid was hampered by an intense legislative session that demanded his undivided attention. Plus, as Juice stated back in January, Gelber needed some campaign fund-raising bounce from the netroots who liked his progressive politics. But those contributors may have blown their wads during the Obama campaign a few months before, and they'd have been more responsive if Gelber had been running against one of those dreaded Dixiecrats. Instead, he was up against Congressman Kendrick Meek, who has a pretty progressive record in his own right and whose prolific fund-raising made it clear that he'd own an enormous advantage in this race.

With Congressman Ron Klein having announced that he won't launch his own senatorial campaign, Meek now has a clear path to the nomination.