Rep. Kendrick Meek's (D) victory in Florida's Democratic U.S. Senate primary ensures many Democrats are unlikely to bolt to Gov. Charlie Crist's (D) independent candidacy as they might have if the baggage-laden Jeff Greene (D) were the party's nominee.
"All of which leaves Crist in the position of having to perform Houdini-like marvels of contortion to find a large enough space in the political middle to keep his independent bid on track," Politico notes.
For the final two months of the campaign, Crist "will have to chart a narrow, largely untested course between both parties. He'll have finite financial resources and few outside allies who can ride to his rescue. In short, he'll have to be a political one-man band, relying ever more on his skills as a sunny, relentless and elastic campaigner who bends to where he thinks the people, and victory, are found."