Katherine Harris Update

[Pangloss]

Partly intended as amusement, but certainly of political note, I thought I'd pass along a Katherine Harris update. Most of you will remember her as the Florida election official who was in charge during the 2000 Presidential Election fiasco.

 

Anyway, she's been a House rep from the Tampa/St. Petersburg area (where Blike, the owner of this board, originates -- it's all his fault, not mine!!). But this year she's been running for the Senate. Today she won the Republican Primary.

 

She's unlikely to win in November, however, since she faces a strong incumbent in popular moderate Democrat Bill "146 Hours in Space" Nelson.

[Martin]

 

She's unlikely to win in November' date=' however, since she faces a strong incumbent in popular moderate Democrat Bill "146 Hours in Space" Nelson.

 

Do you think this kind of thing may have hurt her chances?

===quote from Orlando Sentinal writer Jim Stratton===

Ruby Brooks, a veteran Tampa Bay Republican activist, said Harris's remarks "were offensive to me as a Christian and a Republican."

 

"This notion that you've been chosen or anointed, it's offensive," Brooks said. "We hurt our cause with that more than we help it."

===end quote===

 

Her recent remarks at the Florida Baptist Convention initially quoted in the Baptist Witness newspaper may have offended part of her political base.

 

To provide additional context, this is taken from something that was linked to earlier, IIRC by Bascule.

 

===quote===

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501640_pf.html

 

Rep. Harris Condemns Separation of Church, State

By Jim Stratton

Orlando Sentinel

Saturday, August 26, 2006; A09

 

ORLANDO, Aug. 25 -- Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) said this week that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws" and that the separation of church and state is a "lie we have been told" to keep religious people out of politics.

 

"If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin," Harris told interviewers from the Florida Baptist Witness, the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention. She cited abortion and same-sex marriage as examples of that sin.

 

Harris, a candidate in the Sept. 5 Republican primary for U.S. Senate, said her religious beliefs "animate" everything she does, including her votes in Congress.

 

Witness editors interviewed candidates for office, asking them to describe their faith and their positions on certain issues.

 

Harris has always professed a deep Christian faith. But she has rarely expressed such a fervent evangelical perspective publicly.

 

Political and religious officials responded to her published remarks with outrage and dismay.

 

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said she was "disgusted" by the comments "and deeply disappointed in Representative Harris personally."

 

Harris, Wasserman Schultz said, "clearly shows that she does not deserve to be a representative."

 

Ruby Brooks, a veteran Tampa Bay Republican activist, said Harris's remarks "were offensive to me as a Christian and a Republican."

 

"This notion that you've been chosen or anointed, it's offensive," Brooks said. "We hurt our cause with that more than we help it."

 

Harris told the journalists "we have to have the faithful in government" because that is God's will. Separating religion and politics is "so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers," she said.

 

"And if we are the ones not actively involved in electing those godly men and women," then "we're going to have a nation of secular laws. That's not what our Founding Fathers intended, and that certainly isn't what God intended."

 

Harris campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Marks would not answer questions about the Harris interview. Instead, she released a two-sentence statement.

 

"Congresswoman Harris encourages Americans from all walks of life and faith to participate in our government," it stated. "She continues to be an unwavering advocate of religious rights and freedoms."

===end quote===

 

If the Ruby Brooks reaction is at all indicative, Harris may actually have shot herself in the foot. Or do you think her strategy might pay off with a devout electorate?

[Pangloss]

There's no question that her play to the far right has been a major factor in the election. She went in that direction after it became clear that she was lacking in major support from the state Republican Party (Jeb Bush, who was her own boss, actually encouraged Republicans to run against her!). Donations were so slim that she ended up throwing her entire $10 million paternal inheritance into the pot.

 

Unfortunately she was running against a field of unknowns with few resources. I only knew one of the four names in the ballot that I saw yesterday. The party basically threw in the towel and conceeded to Bill Nelson and the Democrats. This happens a lot in politics, of course. And I like Bill Nelson so I don't really have a problem with it in this particular case, although I find a lot to be desired in the way elected officials so often run unopposed, for example. I guess I should be glad there is some kind of competition here.

[Martin]

thanks for the extra insight!

without knowing anything more, she sounds like she is real serious and has a lot of fight in her---no matter how popular Nelson is he may find it hard work

[Sisyphus]

Pangloss (or I guess anyone else), are Florida Republicans really that culturally conservative in general, or do you think this really is only a matter of name recognition? Is there any chance Florida as a whole would vote for someone who explicitly wants to institute a theocracy? It's hard to imagine, seeing as how Florida is such a swing state in national elections.

[Pangloss]

Well the simplest answer to your question is that Al Gore only lost by 537 votes. (grin) It's a culturally conservative state, which is why it keeps coming up red, but it's clearly not as solid as states like Georgia or Alabama. A lot of political observers think that Harris made a huge mistake in pandering to the far right, as that approach has never really worked in Florida (and since she took that approach her political advisers have been abandoning her like rats from a sinking ship). Another stunning example came this very same week in the race for Governor (Jeb Bush is up against a term limit) -- the far right Republican candidate was absolutely TROUNCED by his opponent, a moderate divorcee.

 

This is why so much attention is focused on Florida in the major elections. It's not just that it's populous, it's that it's populous and contestable.

 

(Something all states should aspire to, but that's another discussion I suppose.)