Despite being repudiated by nearly every big-name Republican in sight, Congressmember Katherine Harris (about whom we have had several recent SDMB threads – see here,here,here, and here) has won the Florida Republican Senate primary, clearing the way for her to challenge incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson.
I don’t think Harris has a chance of beating Nelson, but neither did any of her rivals. So why were the Pubs at such pains to scuttle her candidacy? Two reasons come to mind:
Harris’ extreme religious-right views, which will energize that particular base, but also everyone opposed to it, from left-wingers to moderate conservatives.
Harris’ role in the 2000 election. Og knows the Pubs don’t want that raked up again, but there will be no avoiding it even if Nelson makes no issue of it; it’s what everybody thinks of when they think of Katherine Harris. OTOH, isn’t everybody long since sick of thinking/hearing about it anyway? Water under the bridge, and all that.
So now that she is the Senate nominee – a situation the leadership-level Pubs tried hard to avoid but the Pub voters in Florida found acceptable – how, if at all, will that affect the dynamics of other races this year, in Florida and elsewhere?
Well, she wasn’t invited to the Unity party hosted by Governor Jeb Bush. He said “I don’t know why she isn’t here” and then stated it was more for state candidates, yet Bill McCullum has shown up at past events where he was running for senator.
I think you’re going to find that now that she’s the candidate, the party is going to swallow hard, put on a brave face and pretend everything is hunky-dory and we love her, always have, always will, let bygones be bygones, etc etc. She’s won every election she’s run in so far, so I think you’ll see a lot of gritted teeth and tight smiles for the sake of the camera.
Are they going to sabotage her if they think she has a chance of beating Nelson? Nope. Do they wish it were anyone but her? Most likely. But, to paraphrase, she’s the girl that showed up and now they have to dance with her.
I don’t know that I’d agree with that. Florida leans Republican, and Nelson’s popularity is only so-so (His approval ratings hover around 50%). If a stronger candidate than Harris had gotten the nomination, like Mark Foley, for example, the seat might have been in play.
Yeah, but IIRC Keyes didn’t have to win a primary to get the nomination. Didn’t he just get appointed as the candidate once other original candidate flamed out and noone else would take it?
The fact that Harris beat other Republican candidates in the primaries seems to show me that the Republican grassroots (in Florida at least) are even more conservative than the State Republican party. She did manage about 50% of the vote in a 4-way race, no?
She got about 49% of the vote, and her next opponent (the one I voted for) got about 30%. I think she just had the name recognition in the primary, and the voters voted for her because the other candidates didn’t have enough money to spend to get their name out there.
I’m sorry, but you’re completely wrong about the issues among Florida Republicans.
#1 is absurd; Florida Republicans are not especially moderate. Nearly every Pub primary candidate tried to link themselves to Jeb Bush, even ones who did not have his endorsement.
#2 on your list is the only reason she has any support all. To loyal Pubs, it was her finest hour.
Your missing #3 is her general incomptence as a candidate. She is a poor public speaker, projecting neither warm humanity nor steely cerebral competence. Most accounts of her private personality include the words “stupid” and “arrogant.” She rejects the advice of professional political operatives. Faced with even mild questioning, she turns hostile and/or petulant. She repeatedly says and does things which are – aside from their intrinsic merit – politically stupid.
It is not about her stand on the issues, as disenchantment with Harris is just as strong among stauch conservatives as among moderates. It’s simply about her, personally.
Of course it was, to those who believe that the job of an elections supervisor is to ensure that Republicans win. To those who believe instead that it is the job of an elections supervisor to ensure that the vote is fairly held, and that the votes are objectively and accurately tabulated, it is something else.
Dude, I offered but they blew me off since I wasn’t willing to spend my own money on the ads. I thought I offered a real contrast with Obama, being white, homely, stupid, and uncharismatic, but unlike Keyes at least I’m not crazy. They were looking for crazy and rich and since they were stuck with stupid (but not THAT stupid, I mean not even Jim Oberweis ran.) but with some bucks versus me, stupid and poorish and a Yellow Dog Democrat, they thought there was no contest. Makes up for the time the Illinois Dems had to sacrifice a campagn because a LaRouchie won the primary.
Of course, if their original candidate had not been found to have been divorced by Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine, but really Twelve of Ten when she’s in a silver catsuit) because he tried to get her to fuck publicly in a sex club he’d still have been creamed, and not in a good way. OTOH, had he succeeded and, especially, had there been films every nerdboy in the country would’ve moved to Illinois to vote for the Greatest Guy EVAH! His own failure doomed him.
You are ignoring the possibility that some of the voters you term “loyal Pubs” might also share Frank’s view of an election supervisor’s role, and hold Harris’ 2000 actions against her.