Posted on 01/08/2004 8:42:04 AM PST by Bush Cheney
Edited on 01/08/2004 11:40:39 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Watch your makeup compact, Hillary, Florida's Katherine Harris may have her eyes on the United States Senate, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
MORE
Against the apparent wishes of senior Bush strategists, Harris has decided in her heart and mind that she will seek the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat, sources close to Harris tell DRUDGE.
"She wants it, wants it badly!" a top source said Thursday. "She'll make her decision public within the next week."
The source, who has daily contact with Harris, cautions the congresswoman still could hold back and not make the run, in deference to the president and his brother's wishes.
Sarasota County's GOP chairman, Tramm Hudson, said he spoke to Harris Tuesday night and that she seemed ready to run, according to reports. Harris continues to be one of the party's top fund-raisers.
Elsewhere, Texas Senator Kay Hutchison has reportedly advised her republican counterpart to "Go for it!"
If elected Harris would join a select group of women ever to serve in the United States Senate.
MORE Harris advisers dispel any notion that bad blood still runs in Florida over Harris's role in the 2000 election drama.
"Look, Governor Bush handily won re-election last year, after 2000, and the state's voters did not punish him," notes one top Harris strategist who asked not to be named.
"And they will not punish Katherine. The senate campaign will be on the issues, and electing the best person to represent Florida in the senate!"
Developing...
I must also renew my complaint that the Republicans are doing a LOUSY job about developing a pipeline of quality candidates. We make so much fun of the RATs and the nine dwarfs fighting amongst themselves. Well, what is going to happen for 2008? It is going to start day one of Bush's next term. I'm afraid the republican senate race for Graham's seat will be the model.
I don't mean to imply we should have an heir-apparent for each office. The idea that it is person x's turn is what gave us Bob Dole. Still, we need to have a leadership plan where we are cycling people through the right experiences to be ready for the next step. Another term or two for KH and she is ready to take on Nelson when he's up for re-election.
That's not in dispute.
Conservatives for a moment should stop being "compaaaaaasionate", and grow a damned backbone.
What she did was legally the right thing to do, and what the Democrats tried to do in Florida was clearly an attempt at America's first coup d'etat. They failed. We won. She won. America won.
No apologies. No wavering. She's good enough for the Senate for me.
And if she is running against something Karl Rove is up promoting, that is even more tasty tabasco in the soup for me. Go for it.
That argument was made in 2002 and look what happened.
No, but bringing the news of the election debacle back to the forefront (not only in Florida, but nationwide) would not be a plus...at all. She's perceived by many to have abused her office (a lie, but it's still what's out there) to get Bush in office. That's not a positive, no matter how much people like or dislike Bush.
What statistics? References, please, because if they were valid numbers, we would be using them.
There is no though that Katherine is not a fine woman. I have spent enough time with her and her husband to know that. That is not the issue. The issue is wether or not she is the candidate most likely to win the Senate race in Florida, and to what extent she would help or hurt the President's reelection efforts.
She truly is a fine woman. Mel, Bill, Dr. Dave and Dan are all fine men. This is simply not her time. It will come.
However, it is never a good idea to ramp up the opposition and you can count on Harris doing just that, jeopardizing other republicans on the ticket.
The statistics show that she actually did better with voters in her congressional district than Bush did when he ran in 2000. That's hardly someone who voters run from.
In the world of Realpolitic, completely incorrect. Association with, linkage with, and campaigning with a sitting president, in a battleground state, is critical.
FL GOP poll
Harris 24%
McCollum 23%
Crist 19%
Mel 6%
Byrd 3%
Webster 2%
Todd 1%
Larry <1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harris 27% v McCollum 24% McCollum 29% v mel 11% -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vs Rat *Castor 42 v Harris 37% *Castor 35 v Martinez, 32% *Castor 36 v McCollum 35% *Crist 41% V Castor 35 % http://www.wesh.com/politics/2664621/detail.html
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