Debate Starts With Meek Under Fire

The debate between U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek and Jeff Greene started with both candidates being aggressive.

Greene started on the attack -- blasting Meek for taking contributions from BP and calling him more of the same.

Meek offered more of a biographical introduction, reminding voters that he had served as a state trooper.

Unlike my opponent, I have been a Democrat all of my life, said Meek, who added that he was the only one of the four major candidates in the race who had never run for office as a Republican -- a shot at Greene, who had run for the U.S. House in California as a Republican, and now-independent Gov. Charlie Crist.

The first question involved an ethics scandal involving people close to Meek, including his mother, being involved with controversial developer Dennis Stackhouse. The people of Florida need to know who youre working for, Greene said to Meek.

The real issue is this, said Meek. I have done nothing wrong or improper. Meek used that phrase twice -- it comes off as robotic. This is not how Meek wanted to started the debate.