Posted on 04/01/2006 9:13:36 PM PST by I got the rope
She Deserves Better
Katherine Harris, the congresswoman from Florida and its one-time Secretary of State accidentally burst onto the national scene in 2000 as the person charged with making sense of hanging chads, raw feelings and the fate of the free world (read: whether Bush or Gore would be President). Ms. Harris handled that unenviable task articulately and with aplomb, speaking publicly about respect for the rule of law and gently reminding people that if they did not like that process, they could take it to the courts (they did) or lobby their legislature for new rules (few ever will).
The late-night chatterers, many of whom either (predictably) voted for Gore, or (thankfully) did not vote at all, ridiculed the attractive Harris’s choice of clothes and make-up. Print reporters, generally not a very stylish crowd themselves, followed suit.
Ms. Harris got the last laugh. She won a congressional seat in 2002 and was re-elected the next time by 10 points. Now she is running to be the Republican nominee who will challenge first-term U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat who, by most accounts, is vulnerable.
On paper, the contest has the makings of an upset: a vulnerable Democratic incumbent; no opposition in the GOP primary; high name identification and deep pockets, the twin pillars that most politicos claim are key to building a successful candidacy; a reputation for working hard; and a pork-restricted diet of conservative votes that should make some of her less courageous colleagues in the House blush. And, yes, she is a woman, which some in the political cognoscenti view as an automatic asset for a party that is asked to apologize too often for the so-called “gender gap.”
But Congresswoman Harris has hardly been given the red-carpet treatment this year in her bid to unseat Senator Nelson. Some of the most important Republicans in the country have actively discouraged her from running. This includes no less than Karl Rove and Elizabeth Dole, the National Senatorial Republican Committee Chairman, who reportedly scoured the East Coast for other candidates before grudgingly “agreeing” to let Ms. Harris run. Earlier this month while in Florida, Vice President Cheney did not so much as mention Ms. Harris’ name, even when he said he wanted Florida to elect a Republican to the U.S. Senate this fall, and despite that Harris is a sitting Member of Congress and was in the audience. And Jeb Bush, the popular Governor of Florida in whose cabinet Ms. Harris served, waited until last month to give his blessing.
Her widespread name recognition has been turned against her by her GOP detractors, who claim that she is a stinging reminder of Bush v. Gore (more than Bush or Bush, I wonder?) and the same fundraising ability that has enabled Congresswoman Harris to help Republicans across the country has been damaged by the very public lack of support for her candidacy by members of her own party. When last week Harris, heir to an orange fortune, said she might plunk $10 million of her own money into the campaign, they remained steadfastly unimpressed.
What gives?
It’s those three poisonous words, “She can’t win,” the same notion of “unelectability” that torpedoes too many candidacies in an age of instantaneous communication where results are presumed, pronounced and repeated months in advance of the actual election. As I’ve written previously, electability is a vague concept that excuses laziness, substitutes for effort and reinforces lemming-like agreement and shopworn convention.
Witness the FOUR people who correctly predicted this year's NCAA Final Four, out of THREE MILLION entries ESPN received. If everyone picks Duke, what fun is it? In the Florida race, many of the early polls showed a beatable Nelson and Harris within striking distance. But now her greatest obstacle may be in overcoming the barrage of print stories that double as her political obituary, complete with quotes (or lack thereof) from the powers-that-be in her own party.
The treatment of Congresswoman Harris is especially frustrating given that the Senatorial Committee bends over backwards to help Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), even though he has stuck both fingers in the eyes of conservatives, including with his vote against President George W. Bush in 2004. (See my husband’s earlier posts on this subject here, here, here, here, and here.)
Recall that when Hillary Clinton decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2000, the inside line among Democrats was not that “she is controversial and the other side doesn’t like her.” To the extent they even cared, it was likely regarded as an asset. The Left pulled out every stop, spared no expense, went whole-hog to get her elected to the United States Senate even though she did not live in the state she sought to represent, had never held elective office, and had endured two years’ worth of public humiliation because of her husband’s extracurricular activities.
It would be ironic if the GOP missed a prime U.S. Senate pick-up in Florida by snubbing the woman whose decisions in 2000 set the stage for the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended 36 days of recounts and declared Bush the victor. And it would be an unfortunate misunderstanding of the appeal that she has among the grassroots. I have been in an audience at least half a dozen times when Congresswoman Harris has been formally introduced or her presence in the room acknowledged. Each time, people have spontaneously risen to their feet in thunderous, extended applause – the cat-calling kind — as words like “hero,” “brave,” “tough,” and “unafraid” have been spoken from the dais.
The weekend before last in West Palm Beach, I witnessed her on the stump at her tenth and final appearance of a Saturday’s worth of campaign stops. The event was a “seafood festival” replete with corn dogs, pulled pork, chicken wings and but anyway, she took to the stage, addressed the crowd, promptly signed autographs and graciously listened as semi-political people chomping on funnel cake thanked her for “standing on principle.” But these days, they don’t mention the 2000 election; rather, they commend her for her congressional votes against what she and they perceive is unnecessary spending on prescription drugs, highway bills and other piggy projects.
As I watched and listened, I thought about Bill Nelson for a moment and concluded that Florida deserves better. And in her run for U.S. Senate, Katherine Harris certainly does.
Ping to you.
Late night FReeping ping.
I really don't understand why so many people are negative on Katherine Harris. She is a class act if supported would have a decent chance. With all the negativity against Harris, even within the GOP, it is little wonder why she hasn't made traction yet
I've often thought that defeatist freepers are hopeless products of inbreeding. These Harris threads serve to re-enforce that notion.
Of course, the same bunch will swear they wanted Katherine to win all along once she's elected.
"It's only a matter of time before the Harris bashers show up."
Yeah i'm fully convinced that most of them are infiltrators. Beware of anyone who makes negative comments about true Conservatives in the name of electability .
Katherine Harris deserves support from Republicans, not criticism. Bush won by hundreds of thousands of votes and Martinez even won by less in 2004. I think she can win, too.
President Bush should step up and raise some money for her, the Vice-President and Karl Rove, too.
Such is the state of the modern day Republican Party that so many fervently defend and wish to keep intact.
Hopefully the help will come after the May 31st deadline.
If they don't support her...I will be very surprised.
It is a slap in the face to real conservatives that they seem to be waiting for their moderate candidate (RINO) to throw his/her name in the race.
There should be some minimum requirement set by the party platform that ALL Republicans should follow.
I really gettin sick of pro-abortion RINOs like Chafee and others that hijack our party any chance they get.
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