Jeff Greene made hundreds of millions of dollars betting the real estate bubble would burst and investing in sophisticated credit default swaps.

But in his first public appearance as a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate tonight, the Palm Beach billionaire emphasized the money he made decades ago shoveling snow, mowing lawns, teaching Hebrew school, checking IDs at a college gym and busing tables at The Breakers.

Greene, who entered the race last week, spoke for about 7 minutes tonight and received polite applause from the crowd of about 150 at a Palm Beach County Democratic Party meeting west of Delray Beach. He cast himself as an outsider running against “career politicians” in Florida’s U.S. Senate race.

(more…)

Here’s a timeline of events today (so far) in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary:

11:58 a.m.: Kendrick Meek campaign blasts billionaire Jeff Greene for cashing on on the mortgage meltdown, or as Team Meek refers to it: “betting against the middle class.” From the memo:

Jeff Greene pioneered trading uncovered credit default swaps and started an arms race between big banks that ultimately led to a collapse that has been catastrophic for this country.

12:00 p.m.: Maurice Ferre’s campaign issued a statement questioning whether Greene was “fit for office.”

“It’s appalling enough that Jeff Greene made his money off of the misfortune of hard-working Floridians,” said Ferre. “It’s even more insulting that he thinks he can use his loot to buy their votes.”

2:29 p.m. Greene’s campaign responds, calling Meek a career politician who “lined his campaign pockets with special interest money while our economy plummeted.”

Not a single Florida homeowner has lost a penny because of Jeff’s investments. But in the years that Kendrick Meek has been in office almost 700,000 more Floridians have lost their jobs. And while Floridians were facing foreclosure because of bad loans, Kendrick Meek and his buddies were taking campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and failing to regulate them to protect homeowners

Basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson headlines a Miami Beach money event on Wednesday for Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek’s Senate campaign.

Meek could need big bucks now that he faces a primary challenge from Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, who’s vowing to spend “whatever it takes” to be competitive.

Meek’s campaign is also running a contest offering some lucky texter a chance to meet the NBA Hall of Famer.

Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene’s entry in Florida’s Democratic Senate primary a few hours before Friday’s filing deadline wasn’t the first time he made a late entrance as a political unknown into a primary race.

Back in 1982, a younger Greene with fewer commas in his net worth made a failed Republican bid for a congressional seat in the Los Angeles area.

“He came in late and pretty much used his own money. We had to spend a significant amount in the primary because he came in,” recalled David Armor, who defeated Greene in the GOP primary but lost to former Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson in the general election.

Read about it in this week’s Politics column

It didn’t take long for Florida’s sleepy Democratic Senate primary to get interesting.

Less than seven hours after Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene thrust himself into the race, frontrunner Kendrick Meek took a shot this afternoon at Greene’s foreclosure-fueled fortune and his accusation that Meek and other candidates are career politicians while Greene has “succeeded in the real world of hard work.”

U.S. Rep. Meek, D-Miami, says Greene “profited from the misery of millions of Americans who lost their home equity, if not their homes. That’s not the kind of candidate the Democratic party needs, and it’s not the kind of senator Florida needs.”

Greene made hundreds of millions of dollars by betting the housing bubble would burst and investing in credit-default swaps. He says the sophisticated investments were “insurance, basically” to protect against losses in his real estate portfolio.

(more…)

Rumors that he’s supporting indie Senate candidate Charlie Crist are “ridiculous — and completely false,” says former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who has sent a fund-raising e-mail today on behalf of Democrat Kendrick Meek’s Senate bid.

Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign manager, Internet campaign innovator Joe Trippi, has signed on with Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene’s Democratic Senate campaign.

Just in case Florida’s Senate race wasn’t interesting enough, Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene plans to file papers this morning to enter the contest as a Democrat.

Greene, 55, rose from middle-class origins to make millions investing in real estate. Then he made hundreds of millions by betting that the real estate bubble would burst and investing in credit-default swaps. He’s running as an outsider, and his bio is unconventional for a politician, with cameos by Mike Tyson as best man at Greene’s 2007 wedding and Heidi Fleiss as a yearlong houseguest. (“We weren’t dating,” Greene told Forbes in a 2008 profile.)

Read about it here.