# What went wrong with Katherine Harris? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 22, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690 "2006-08-22T03:03:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/1 "2006-08-22T03:03:06Z")
I am putting this in GD because I don’t think it really has a straight answer, but if this is wrong then I hope a mod will move it. [Link](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-harris1806aug18,0,5885765.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-state) Lately, the funny/sad thing I’ve been thinking on is poor Katherine Harris in Florida. As I am an ardent Democrat, I really and truly hated her in 2000, and when her campaign started falling apart, I was happy. Then it seemed to get really pathetic, and I laughed. Then it became an absolute trainwreck, and while I still manage a smile at first, my feelings are quickly turning to pity. I never thought I’d say this, but I feel bad for Katherine Harris. Here is my question: What exactly happened to her campaign? I don’t live in Florida, so I haven’t really been following it except for the major disasters, but didn’t she used to be pretty popular? Is it just that she got that loser stink on her, and everything sort of spiraled down from there? Was she never popular, and somehow I just got the wrong idea? I’m just curious as to what happened, and I figured someone on here might have been paying better attention at the “begining of the end” so to speak. I also have this awful suspicion that all this drama and madness will finally be capped with a truely wacky concession speech, once she finally loses. I sort of hope I’m wrong, but I’ll be watching for sure. With popcorn. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/2 "2006-08-22T03:16:29Z")
The explanation is simple. [The bitch is nuckin’ futs.](http://progressive.org/mag_elliott0706) ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/3 "2006-08-22T03:20:22Z")
Well, yeah, but you could say that about Ted Stevens, too. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/4 "2006-08-22T03:44:13Z")
> [@](#): > > What went wrong with Katherine Harris? There’s nothing wrong with Katherine Harris. [Polls say she’s going to win](http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060821/LOCAL/60821011/1078/news) her primary race against three republican opponents! I wish her the best of luck in that contest. ---
**Author:** ![Malienation](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Malienation](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malienation)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/5 "2006-08-22T03:53:24Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] The explanation is simple. [The bitch is nuckin’ futs.](http://progressive.org/mag_elliott0706) [/QUOTE] [Nice Tits](http://www.themoderatevoice.com/files/joe-14harris.large1.jpg), though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/6 "2006-08-22T03:54:58Z")
[QUOTE=miss elizabeth] Well, yeah, but you could say that about Ted Stevens, too. [/QUOTE] That’s different. [Stevens](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_stevens) is from Alaska, and you got to make allowances. > [@](#): > > Alaskans – whose judgment about anything must be measured against their willingness to live where tomatoes won’t – think theirs is a separate nation. They go to elaborate lengths to bolster this theory. – Joel Garreau, [_The Nine Nations of North America_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Nations_of_North_America) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/7 "2006-08-22T03:56:23Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] There’s nothing wrong with Katherine Harris. [Polls say she’s going to win](http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060821/LOCAL/60821011/1078/news) her primary race against three republican opponents! I wish her the best of luck in that contest. [/QUOTE] Oh, so do I! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/8 "2006-08-22T06:12:16Z")
At least we know now that a combination of anorexia and rabies is not necessarily fatal. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/9 "2006-08-22T11:33:15Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] At least we know now that a combination of anorexia and rabies is not necessarily fatal. [/QUOTE] Well… at best this would be a second line of research giving independent confirmation to your hypothesis. But clearly the type specimen would be Ann Coulter. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/10 "2006-08-22T11:38:52Z")
I think Aslan came back from a campaign against the Northern Giants, noticed she was running, and said, “Uh-uh. Not on my watch.” ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/11 "2006-08-22T13:47:34Z")
She went to my undergrad alma mater. I was there when all that went down in 2000, and the librarians had to hide the old yearbooks from the reporters. It was embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/12 "2006-08-22T14:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=Zsofia] It was embarassing. [/QUOTE] I think you hit “submit” too early. Like, before you typed out the embarrasing things that reporters would have found out had they seen the yearbooks. (crossing fingers) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/13 "2006-08-22T14:58:19Z")
[Difficult person to work with](http://www.sptimes.com/2006/08/11/State/Former_staffers_open_.shtml) [Nice body though](http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/2006/04/kissimmee_im_ru.html) [Very nice body](http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/08/09.html#a4385) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/14 "2006-08-22T20:51:02Z")
If I were one to believe in karma, I’d say it was cosmic payback for helping derail the Florida 2000 elections. 😉 As it is, I’ll toss my vote in with the “she’s nuts” crowd. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/15 "2006-08-22T21:09:48Z")
This is what happens when you fuck democracy in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/16 "2006-08-23T02:02:05Z")
Help me out here … I’m not seeing this “nice body” which has been mentioned. All I see some photos of a woman apparently attempting to smuggle soccer balls. Where is the woman with the nice body? [sub]more than a mouthful is a waste, I always say[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/17 "2006-08-23T02:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=Ravenman] I think you hit “submit” too early. Like, before you typed out the embarrasing things that reporters would have found out had they seen the yearbooks. (crossing fingers) [/QUOTE] \ Not the yearbooks, the media presence. All the accomplished women to come out of Agnes Scott and the one you know is her? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/18 "2006-08-23T02:27:04Z")
I’ll show my age here: 'tis the Peter Principle in action. Being a member of the House of Representatives is her level of competence. She could easily have remained a representative in a safe seat, probably for life, simply due to the debt owed her by the Republican Party. She’s just not senatorial material, and even the Republicans know that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/19 "2006-08-23T02:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] I’ll show my age here: 'tis the Peter Principle in action. Being a member of the House of Representatives is her level of competence. [/QUOTE] Actually, she has risen to her level of **in** competence, as the Peter Principle predicts. As Secretary of State, she was highly “competent” in terms of her agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2006, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690/20 "2006-08-23T03:04:55Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Actually, she has risen to her level of **in** competence, as the Peter Principle predicts. As Secretary of State, she was highly “competent” in terms of her agenda. [/QUOTE] Good point, and you are more correct than I. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-went-wrong-with-katherine-harris/369690.md?page=2)