Labor Day is about chewing on barbecue. During political seasons, the holiday is about candidates chewing the fat with voters at local barbecues.
So it was on Monday as politicians Kendrick Meek, Alex Sink and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist visited union picnics in east Hillsborough County.
Crist, an Independent U.S. Senate candidate, shook hands and posed for photos in Dover at the United Association of Plumbers, Pipefitters, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration Local Union 123 headquarters. The union backed Crist against Democratic challenger Meek and Republican Marco Rubio.
A few feet away from the stage where Crist told the group he was "tired of gridlock in D.C.," union member James Porter cleaned a 15-foot smoker he used to cook 136 slabs of ribs. Porter wasn't sure who he'd vote for, but said he was plotting to get pork to the governor.
A few miles away in Plant City, Meek and his family visited the West Central Florida Central Labor Council picnic at Lupton's Boggy Bottom Ranch. The council represents 45,000 members in six Florida counties.
Meek said the message he heard at the picnic was about jobs. An hour later, Sink, the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, arrived and promised jobs as well.
"It's a Hillsborough County tradition to have barbecue here on Labor Day," she said.
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