Now that's classy!

In Florida there's an acrimonious campaign under way for one of that State's seats in the US Senate. Candidates are Marco Rubio (Republican), Kendrick Meek (Democrat), and Governor Charlie Crist, who dropped out of the contest for the Republican nomination (thereby handing it to Mr. Rubio) and is running as an Independent.

Messrs. Rubio and Meek were scheduled to face off in a public debate early this week. However, Mr. Rubio's father became seriously ill, so he called off the debate. His father died yesterday. A news release from his campaign stated:

Surrounded by family and loved ones, Marco Rubio’s father, Mario Rubio, passed away tonight at Baptist Hospital in Miami. He was 83 years old. Mario Rubio suffered from a long bout with emphysema and lung cancer.

In his final moments, Mario was accompanied by his loving wife of 61 years, Oria, his children Mario, Barbara, Marco and Veronica, and his extended family.

. . .

For the entire Rubio family, as well as our campaign, politics will now be placed on temporary hold. We will resume our full schedule some time in the coming days. During this time, we respectfully ask for privacy for Marco and his family so they may mourn their loss in peace.

In lieu of flowers, the Rubio family requests honoring Mario Rubio’s memory by supporting the League Against Cancer/Liga Contra El Cancer http://ligacontraelcancer.org/.

Mr. Meek issued the following statement at a campaign event yesterday. It's only a minute long, and I recommend you take the time to watch it.

As I've stated here many times in the past, I'm neither Democrat nor Republican, regarding both parties with equal distaste and distrust. However, I have to take my hat off to Mr. Meek. That was a very classy statement, and I only wish more politicians had his sense of decency. Contrast his behavior with that of Governor Crist:

Former Republican Governor Charlie Crist, now an Independent, was also in attendance and I asked him what he thought of the elder Rubio’s illness, to which he responded, ” Yeah, I heard about that.”

Way (NOT!) to go, Governor . . .

I'm not registered to vote in Florida, so I have no axe to grind in the Senate race there, but this sort of conduct would certainly boost Mr. Meek, and lower Governor Crist, in my assessment of the candidates' relative merits.

Well done, Mr. Meek, Sir. I may not agree with your politics, and I know there have been questions about your ethics in the past, but your reaction in this matter speaks volumes for your character.

Peter