[Katherine] Harris close to a decision on running for U.S. Senate

The Miami Herald ^ | Jan 7, 2004 | LESLEY CLARK

[upchuck]

Larry Klayman [of Judicial Watch] is also running as an R for the seat.

Yeah, LOL! Maybe ol' Larry can finally win something. LOL

[rbessenger]

I think the immigration calculation assumes that what Bush loses in conservatives, he makes up for in the hispanic vote. This may help in California where the conservative vote is smaller but will hurt elsewhere.

[chiller]

[bmwcyle]

YES

[not-alone]

I think Harris will just serve to bring out the lunatic fringe "Gore was Robbed in 2000" vote and possibly endanger what can be a pick up seat. I like Martinez as well and think he is the better candidate.

I agree, I love Harris but better in 06 against Nelson. In South Fla we can get some new voters this year esp if it is against Dean, and a lot may stay home . Katherine would bring them out.

[Moose4]

Grrr, baby. Very grrr.

Interesting quandary in Florida for the GOP. Do they play it "conservative" (pun intended) and go for Martinez, who is a lower-key, lower-negative candidate...or do you run Harris, a well-known name who's photogenic (and how!), articulate, and can bring in a lot of money, but has high negatives from the 2000 campaign?

}:-)4

[Marak]

I think the immigration calculation assumes that what Bush loses in conservatives, he makes up for in the hispanic vote. This may help in California where the conservative vote is smaller but will hurt elsewhere.

That is a rather poor assumption to make IMO. Most immigrants I know are unhappy with an amnesty program. Does Bush plan to make illegal immigrants eligible to vote? If not, he is throwing away real votes for imaginary ones. I would hope that he is more intelligent than that.

[deport]

Larry Klayman [of Judicial Watch] is also running as an R for the seat.

---

And?

[nickcarraway]

I have failed to see why Martinez is more electable than Harris. At one time I might have thought so, but it hasn't panned out that way. Martinez has failed to generate the excitment of Harris. Plus, I think the negatives Harris has are overrated. The people who are stirred up by Harris, will be just as stirred up by a prominent official from the Bush administration. Martinez, Harris they are all like waving a red cape at a bull to those people. The Dems are going to pull out the 2000 nonsense whether Harris is running or not.

[nickcarraway]

ping

[chiller]

I'd find it hard to keep Katherine out of the starting lineup. And I agree with many here that her negatives are not much of an issue to the middle/mods.

Let the R's conduct a polite primary, with the loser taking on Nelson in '06. My money is on Harris to win that primary.

[JohnnyZ]

Katherine Harris has 29% favorable name recognition, but 27% unfavorable. She's even viewed unfavorably by 12% of Republicans. And she's very well known but starts out 5% behind Betty Castor, with less support in her own party than Castor has in hers. That's a problem.

	       STATE    MEN    WOMEN    DEMS    REPS    INDS

CASTOR          42%     33%     48%      72%     11%     36%
HARRIS          37%     48%     29%      11%     65%     36%
UNDECIDED       21%     19%     23%      17%     24%     28%

[HostileTerritory]

Nelson ran in 2000 when there were only 45 Democrats in the Senate.

[ken5050]

Yeah..and in 2000, the Dems controlled the WH....and the strong expectation was that Gore would win, and the dems would take the Senate....now, it's different...no way the Dems retake the Senate...it could, could possibly be a huge gain for the GOP, and W is very popular in Florida..and that means you'd have to have a lot of ticket splitting for Nelson to win, and as we all know from the butterfly ballot mess, the Dems are too stupid to do that...

[Joe Boucher]

Regardless if you like her or not, it would be priceless to see a senator clinton running into a senator harris.

[JohnnyZ]

Regardless if you like her or not, it would be priceless to see a senator clinton running into a senator harris.

It would be better to see Senator Martinez on Judiciary leading the fight for a re-nominated Miguel Estrada, and for Emilio Garza for the Supreme Court.

[Gunder]

I like Katherine well enough, but it seems too soon for her to go for this seat. Seems like it would make more sense for her hang out in the House for a while until she can take on Nelson. Or maybe she wants to capitalize on her name recognition? Just my two cents. :-)

[Americalover]

By the time the election rolls around there will be three or four Republicans that remember this immigration issue. Turnout will be high if it looks like each vote matters. I gaurentee it.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Larry Klayman [of Judicial Watch] is also running as an R for the seat.

Running for the seat? I heard that he was suing for the seat.

[Marak]

By the time the election rolls around there will be three or four Republicans that remember this immigration issue. Turnout will be high if it looks like each vote matters. I gaurentee it.

I would suspect that you do not live in an area with a high concentration of illegal immigrants. Trust me when I say that people around South Florida consider this problem one of the major problems facing our country today. A close vote will not make people vote for someone who they feel has betrayed them.

I am not saying that this is the case at this point, as it depends upon what eventually gets passed into law, but do not make the same mistake that Bush is apparently making with your guarantee. People may not have the stomach to vote for a liberal, but neither will they bother to vote for someone who is taking their vote for granted. It happened to Dole, and it can happen to Bush.

While there is a chance that Congress will modify the President's proposal, pinning your hopes on some future enforcement of laws that are now broadly ignored is rather foolish. What I suspect will happen is that many will not take the blue cards, or overstay them, and enforcement will be no greater than it is now.

Imagine an America where the low paying jobs are taken by guest workers, and the higher paying jobs are outsourced. What exactly will be left for the workers in America?

A better plan in my mind is to greatly increase the quotas for legal immigration and strongly enforce the immigration laws on the books. There is no shortage of people in the world who would love to permanently become American citizens and are willing to work for that privelege. Any type of reward for illegal immigration will doom our future.