Apparently Meek himself was going along with the plan until his wife — wisely — convinced him to stay in the race.

And speaking of race, something tells me black Democrats wouldn’t be thrilled by the prospect of an old white Democrat trying to push a young black Democrat out of the race in order to help an old white former Republican. The imagery is, well, not good.

Why was Mrs. Meek’s decision wise? Because Meek has nothing to gain by dropping out. He may find himself on Charlie Crist’s Christmas card list, and maybe he’d get a pat on the back by Clinton and Obama. But other than that? Nothing but an obscure Wikipedia entry.

Besides, Crist wouldn’t win against Rubio even if Meek were to drop out. Figure on many minority Democrats staying home, other parts of the base voting for him anyway, still others backing another third-party candidate, and even a few writing in another name. Oh, and a few who don’t bother to go searching for Crist’s name far down the list.

In a close race, you only need a few voters to stay home or otherwise not vote for the one candidate. Remember, Al Franken supposedly won by just a few hundred votes in 2008.

Update: Drudge is linking the article as the top story of the moment. Here’s his headline: “CLINTON PUSHED BLACK TO GET OUT!” Dude, a bit on the nose.

Update X2: Meek is denying that he ever intended to drop out. At the same time, however, Charlie Crist is confirming the report. So which is it? Obviously one of the two men is lying.

Update X3: Crist is on Keith Olbermann’s show right now. Why does Keith Olbermann want to keep a young black man out of the United States Senate? Racist.