Posted on 02/02/2006 10:56:01 AM PST by presidio9
When it comes to politics, the public relations whiz who suggested there is no such thing as bad publicity is as wrong as the cynic who thinks voters have short memories.
Which, in a nutshell, is why in Republican-leaning Florida, an icon of the GOP faces a very uphill fight this November to claim a U.S. Senate seat that would be far more attainable were her name not Katherine Harris. Ms. Harris, you remember, was Florida's secretary of state -- the official in charge of voting returns who helped break the 2000 postelection stalemate and make W. president. She became a hero to Republicans, a villain to Democrats, and a figure independents found too partisan.
The news and entertainment media had a field day, skewering Ms. Harris on "Saturday Night Live" and forever making her into the symbol of a period of American history best left behind. Now, much to the unhappiness of the Bush brothers (Gov. Jeb and President George) she is running against Democrat Bill Nelson, who under ordinary circumstances might be vulnerable. His job approval rating is just under 50%, and only 37% of voters in a November Quinnipiac University poll said he should be re-elected, while 33% said he should not.
Yet her month of fame more than five years ago makes Ms. Harris a decided underdog -- so much so that even the Bush family, which so treasures her loyalty, wanted her out of the race.
This is the case despite the fact that she got elected to Congress from a heavily Republican district and voted the Bush line at every turn. In 2004, she even agreed to defer her U.S. Senate dream
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
(preparing for brickbats from Lady Freepers)
She's vilified, why? Because she obeyed the election laws of Florida in 2000. She fulfilled her obligation after the election in 2000, and now she's skewered for it.
I like Katherine Harris. She did her job in the chad wars, and did it properly.
But I thought she was dumb to run for the senate this soon, before she had run up some experience in the House, and against the advice of the leadership. She was in too much of a hurry to climb the ladder. Now we may lose a promising politician who was badly advised.
Somebody post the picture of her on a horse. It ought to be a new FR rule.
okay, she's got my vote (and I don't even live there.)
Thank you! We conservatives do have the best looking women.
I wholeheartedly agree. Too soon.
It is too bad she ran this soon, does she have any chance at all? Will she now be out of the House or is she going to also be on the ballot for that seat?
As a S. Fla. resident who was active in the support of Pres. Bush during the 2000 fiasco, I can only say that this perception of Katherine Harris and how the post-election drama played out cuts both ways. The MSM will always take the left-side view and assume that the prevailing wisdom is of Katherine as a negative figure. To Republicans she was a hero who stood up for what was right.
Remember that the left pulled out every stop in 2004 to try to destroy Bush. You could not get away from Kerry down here. On the Sunday before the election I wanted a rest from all the election noise and was out in my front yard playing with my 2-yr. old son. Just as I was relaxing I could hear the drones of a loud microphone more than a mile away of none other than Lurch himself shouting more of his nonsense at our local university. There was no getting away from him or his obnoxious campaign. Still through it all Bush won the state by about 380K votes. Remember also how McAuliffe assured everybody that they would defeat Jeb. He won in a landslide in spite of 1000% support from every liberal they could find.
I think she will have a good chance against our left-wing astronaut.
Kim Smith is the Babe-of-the-Week! Hubba, hubba.
She's totally hot - have u seen the picture of her on the horse?
I don't care about her experience in the House. I want someone who's a true conservative - you don't need experience for that.
And we don't need another phony (R) Senator who gets insulated in the Senate and forgets the meaning of "limited government."
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