HuffPo Explores Meek and the Black Vote

Granted, there is a lot of guesswork contained here, but there is certainly interesting information about the amount of black voters within Florida's Democratic primary, and some supposition on whether the polls are underestimating Meek's support.

An excerpt from Mark Blumenthal's piece:

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Here's a wager: Next Tuesday Meek will get at least 80% and probably closer to 90% of Florida's African-American vote. If I'm right, it means that all three polls are likely understating Meek's overall vote percentage by at least 8 to 10 percentage points.

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The polls he lists are a Mason-Dixon I noted yesterday, a Quinni I dissected at length in late July and an internal Meek poll. I do suspect support among black voters is higher for Meek than any of these polls contend, though I worry whether turnout among black voters will be especially high. Meek is no Barack Obama, so I think looking at 2008 registration numbers provides a false sense of hope. Never mind that Meek has run a thrifty, quiet campaign whereas the presidential elections usually provide Florida with an overwhelming assault of campaign advertising.

But I do agree with Blumenthal's basic premise that Meek's potential has been underestimated by the political punditocracy. Particularly in the primary, educated voters will make the decision on the Democratic nominee, and educating oneself about this race provides more reasons to vote for Meek and against 'bad man' Jeff Greene.