Posted on 01/21/2006 3:29:05 PM PST by JulieRNR21
Florida Republicans rally around Katherine Harris
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -
If there was any remaining doubt that Florida's top Republican leaders weren't behind Katherine Harris's run for U.S. Senate, those leaders did their best Saturday to cast it aside.
Gov. Jeb Bush said he would campaign for Harris and encouraged a crowded room of Republican activists to do the same. At a separate rally following his speech, Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings gave strong praise to Harris and told her, "Go, run and win."
And supporters scoffed at the nay-sayers who think she can't win and the polls showing Harris far behind incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.
"People say to me 'How can she win, she's 20 points behind in the polls?' and I say, 'Polls mean nothing at this point in the campaign,'" said Ed Rollins, who was President Reagan's political director. "The way she's going to win is the same way Jeb won (and) President Bush won. It's you Floridians who turn out and vote."
During her speech, which took place as the Republican Party of Florida wrapped up its quarterly meeting, Harris said she would dedicate the rest of her campaign to her father's memory. George Harris, 71, died unexpectedly eight days earlier.
"He was the kindest, most humble man I've ever known. He always looked at the best in people and he believed that life should always be about helping everyone else," Harris said. "Like my father, I'm making this campaign all about people."
Her remarks were missing the politically charged attacks on Nelson that she unfurled when announcing her candidacy last August. Instead, she gave a positive message of achieving dreams and an expression of thanks to supporters.
"We need your help, I'm going to ask so very much of you, but I promise you that I'll give you so very, very much in return when we get to the United States Senate," she said.
After the speech, she said, "I just don't have it in me to be political right now."
Many waited for autographs and photos with Harris when she finished speaking. Once the crowd left, she reflected more on her father, at times becoming choked up.
"He's my best friend and now he's with me all the time," said Harris, who then laughed fondly as she described him standing on a street corner in an Uncle Sam outfit while helping her campaign.
She also talked about how as a banker, he helped many poor people who otherwise wouldn't have qualified for loans meet their needs.
"When they came back to try to pay a little bit back, he would talk to them and explain to them that the way to pay him back was they had to make certain in the future that they did this for somebody else, and he wouldn't let them pay him back," she said. "I want to make sure that every day in my life that I help people in their individual lives."
The campaign to this point hasn't been easy for Harris. GOP leaders in Washington searched for another candidate, convinced that voters were polarized by her role as Florida's secretary of state in the 2000 presidential election recount and that she could not win.
Fundraising has also gone slower than she expected and she acknowledged Saturday that she gave her campaign $250,000 during the final quarter of last year. She said, however, that she raised more than $1 million in other cash contributions - double the amount she raised in her first quarter of fundraising.
That compares to more than $6 million Nelson had in the bank by the end of September.
Harris shrugged off the numbers.
"We know that when we turn out the Republicans, we'll be victorious," she said.
Alright - then help her raise some serious money - don't just 'rally' around her.
Thanks for supporting KH's campaign with a donation!
I truly believe that if we all get behind her she can win!
And we also need to pray for her campaign!
I think Harris could outraise Nelson by 2 to 1, 3 to 1, or even 5 to 1 and still not be able to get more than 45% of the vote. It remains the candidate who is the problem, and unless Nelson's negatives can be driven up to the level of Osama bin Laden's, she won't be able to win.
No, you do.
She wasn't an underdog in the Congressional contest, and ended up performing far below her GOP predecessor, Dan Miller, getting only the barest minimum base GOP vote despite drastically outspending her Clintonista 'Rat opponent. The problem for her is that she has not run a statewide contest in 8 years. What worked for her (pre-2000) was that she was unknown, and that is no longer the case. Given that she never had the opportunity to effectively gauge support because she couldn't run for a 2nd term as Sec of State in '02, there was no way to tell how well she would've done AFTER being a very known quantity (again, only using the Congressional race as a gauge, it was very poor). Her polling against Nelson, who remains very low-key (and has worked well for him (like a pre-2000 Harris)), has been absolutely abysmal. It's not the polling data that is flawed, because the same polls by the same company show Nelson losing to Jeb by at least 10%. Harris has failed to turn around perceptions and she just needs to cut her losses and run for her House seat again... there are far worse consolation prizes than that.
Thanks for joining the effort to help make KH Senator Harris of Florida!
Wouldn't it be great to see her debating the junior senator from Noo Yark!!
FINALLY!!!!!! I've been saying that she would beat the wooden Indian for months. Welcome aboard all of you experts who were worried that voters would hold 2000 against her.
With 1100 people coming to Florida every day, nobody is coming there to vote Democrat or to vote against Harris.
When the wooden Indian votes against Alito under master Harry's orders, the fun will begin.
I'm sure KH's Campaign Manager Ed Rollins (who orchestrated Ronald Reagan's campaign) will appreciate your advice.
Are you an expert on TN politics as well?
you probably heard that BEN Nelson, D-NE, will vote FOR Alito; BILLNelson (D-FL) will vote AGAINST
I'm sure you will be seeing & hearing more as she intends to visit all areas of FL in her campaign.
"When they came back to try to pay a little bit back, he would talk to them and explain to them that the way to pay him back was they had to make certain in the future that they did this for somebody else, and he wouldn't let them pay him back," she said. "I want to make sure that every day in my life that I help people in their individual lives."
ALARM BELLS! I would ask her what she means by this. I am giving her the benefit of the doubt right now, but I hope during the campaign we get to know whether she's fiscally conservative or liberal. At this point, she's way better for us than Nelson.
Don't shoot the messenger. We ignore the dynamics and facts of the matter at the risk of losing this seat.
BTW, I hope you're not seriously comparing RR to Harris.
And in WA State, even Osama bin Laden couldn't defeat the popular Patty Murray either.
A lot of Americans who defend marriage also vote for liberal candidates.
She still won, didn't she?
Nelson doesn't have to be conservative to win. He makes FL people think that he is conservative. Robert "Bob" Graham did the same thing for years.
I'm not 'shooting the messenger'....just pointing out where you reside.
And I wasn't comparing KH & RR merely stating that Rollins is her Campaign Manager.
BTW KH wants very much to be FL's Conservative Republican Senator.....JEB and his wife (God bless them) want a rest from politics.
Does Harris have any opponents in a primary or is she the gop nominee at this stage?
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