Posted on 08/18/2006 5:48:27 AM PDT by SFCGeraldRTostensen
Fans continue to support Katherine Harris, despite the candidate's lack of party support and her low poll ratings.
''Agua? Could we have some agua?'' the woman asked, in the banquet room of a restaurant in Hialeah, before Katherine Harris arrived to stump.
Two years of high school Spanish will take you further than you think and soon the waitress brought some, along with milk in mugs and a pitcher of coffee.
''This is café con leche,'' the woman explained to her companions. ``It's Cuban coffee. Isn't it so good?''
They sipped. It was.
They were three Anglos in a roomful of Hispanics. They were college students: Jessica Benton and Holly Curro from Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's Baptist institution in Virginia, and Angela Cheatham from Johnson and Wales, the non-denominational culinary arts and business school in North Miami.
They wore jeans and Harris-for-Senate T-shirts. They'd driven down from Fort Lauderdale and this seemed to be their first experience with the Hialeah street grid. ''The numbers go up and down, and the avenues turn into roads -- it's like, where are we?'' Holly said.
This was their second rally. Their first was last week in West Palm Beach, where they handed out bumper stickers and campaign literature and possibly won over hearts and minds. No fewer than three people approached them afterwards to say they'd decided to vote for Harris. ''We were like, yes!'' Jessica said.
Their candidate has, it must be said, some baggage. People say mean things about her mascara and her purging of voter rolls in the 2000 presidential election. They say she lags 30 percentage points behind the incumbent, Democrat Bill Nelson, in polls. They say she should save everyone the embarrassment and just quit. They say a lot of things.
''So many people, when they finally get to hear a person, they change their minds,'' Jessica said. ``And the press, you know, changes things.''
This made for some awkwardness but fortunately the stumping soon began: first a Hummer-load of aides pulled up, then the candidate herself, in the back seat of a gray Chevrolet.
''She always looks so beautiful,'' said one Sy Bonem, who said he was an ex-professional baseball player and a big Harris fan. ``She's a real beautiful woman.''
She was not an unattractive woman. She wore a blue jacket and creme skirt and matching heels and a huge smile.
She took the stage with Congressmen Lincoln and Mario Díaz-Balart and Guillermo Maldonado, a Kendall evangelist who says he was told by several prophets and God himself that his congregation will one day comprise 10 percent of Miami's population.
Harris mentioned marriage taxes and death taxes, which Bill Nelson apparently loves, and traditional values, which he apparently despises. She mentioned her intention to abolish federal income taxes and the Internal Revenue Service, which drew polite applause.
Before a crowd that was almost entirely composed of immigrants -- college students and Sy excepted -- she did not mention, as she did in Orange Park in June, that ''our bleeding wound is our borders,'' which was probably wise.
She finished and started shaking hands, working her way to the back of the room where the college students were.
She smiled hugely.
They smiled hugely back.
''I appreciate ya'll coming,'' she said.
''Thank you,'' they said.
The candidate shook more hands and an aide checked her teeth for lipstick. And when it was time for her to give interviews for the television cameras, the college students were there, nodding solemnly to everything she said.
I can think of four FL senators who lost reelection: Claude Pepper in the Democratic primary of 1950 (to George Smathers), Gurney in the general election of 1974 (to Richard Stone), Stone in the 1980 general election (to Paula Hawkins), Hawkins in the 1986 general election (to Robert Graham).
Her house record should speak for itself.
I realize there are many in the state of Florida who are incapable of reading or even simple comprehension; however there is still a stalwart, albeit slim, majority who think and act conservatively.
When voters could see Nelson's ACU voting record during his senate career, I believe that could be the lever that upsets him.
You say no one will say why FLGOPers aren't supporting her. I'll say it. It is because she is crazy. And she is demonstrating that more and more with each passing day.
I'm not sure if it was that or some other dirt. They could've threatened her family. I put nothing past what McKinney will do to get that seat back. This guy that just beat her could end up dead in two years.
"Why would the liberal Miami Herald run a decent piece on Harris?"
"Also, if Harris were elected and voted like Martinez, what would have been gained?"
You've got to be kidding me, the media never writes such thinly-veiled snarky accounts of Democrats. Reread it and note the writing style. 100% guaranteed the writer is a liberal, odds are greater than 50% that he's also gay. If nothing else, the comment about an aide checking her teeth for lipstick should have been a tipoff.
There are many here who think Harris should have stayed in Congress and honed her skills more. Many of these same people support the no-experienced McBride. Go figure.
When voters could see Nelson's ACU voting record during his senate career, I believe that could be the lever that upsets him.
Yep. Nelson is the only statewide elected democrat remaining in Florida. The media are working tirelessly in this race to ensure that the real Nelson (ultra-liberal) never sees the light of day. They're also working overtime to focus the race on Harris' personality instead of the issues. Unfortunately, many FReepers seem to agree with the MSM that style is more important than substance.
Her record in the House was excellent!
You're absolutely correct. It is, indeed, a thinly-veiled "snarky" account that passes for "fair and balanced."
OK, now we're getting somewhere! You say she's "crazy". What specific behaviors is she exhibiting that make you say that? I realize that she has gone through staffers right and left, but how do we know that the turnover is because of her and not lack of support from the party?
I'm not trying to be argumentative, but I admit I'm worried about how this party is being run. Although I don't live in Florida, I do live next door. And Florida has way too many electoral votes to risk because of the egos of the powers that be.
Those surveys are rigged. Lawmakers are told in advance how to vote on a particular issue to keep up their tallies. I look for Martinez to move to the left in the coming years.
My normal contribution to the RNC went directly to the Harris campaign this year...
I stopped contributing to the RNC and have donated more money to the Harris campaign this year than to anyone I have ever supported.
Quit believing these biased, stupid FL MSM hit-pieces.
We don't give a s--t what you think of Harris. We support her, period.
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