8.19.05Katherine Harris, Socially Moderate; but, Personally Conservative?
Few people in US politics provoke greater ire among Democrats than Katherine Harris. She is the flamboyant Republican who, as secretary of state for Florida, oversaw the controversial election recount that handed the presidency to George W. Bush in 2000.
8.19.05
Critics accused Ms Harris of rigging the process in favour of Mr Bush, robbing Al Gore, the Democratic candidate, of victory. Her pantomime villain status was enhanced by a glamorous appearance and brash manner that led foes to nickname her Cruella De Vil after the villain of the Disney film 101 Dalmatians.
Now, nearly five years later, Ms Harris is preparing to step once again into the national spotlight by running for one of Florida's two Senate seats. The 48-year-old last week ended months of speculation by officially announcing her bid to replace Bill Nelson, a Democratic incumbent and former astronaut, when he seeks a second term next year.
The campaign launch drew an enthusiastic response from rank-and-file Republicans, who consider Ms Harris a hero for her role in the 2000 recount. But among the party leadership there was barely disguised alarm at the prospect of such a polarising figure contesting one of their main target seats in the 2006 congressional election. They fear her candidacy will energise Democrats and alienate independents, making it impossible for her to defeat Mr Nelson.
Harris calls herself "socially moderate," but told the Bradenton [Florida] Herald that she has "always said I'm personally pro-life." She said she would vote to ban partial-birth abortion. "I think it is a heinous, heinous act." And she favors parental consent, with exceptions in some cases. But, Harris' refusal to say she would not completely draw the line on abortion was troubling for the republican supporters in her campagin for representative. Harris said she would not necessarily vote against abortion each time a bill addressed it. "It just depends on what the bill says," she said. "It's not a litmus test issue for me. I would have to look at the context." That galled many pro-lifers and republican supporters.
National party leaders have conspicuously failed to endorse her and openly sought alternative candidates. Two local businessmen active in Republican Party politics say the GOP is courting cable TV host Joe Scarborough to replace U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris in the 2006 Senate race against incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson. Scarborough, a former U.S. representative, has met with senior Republican officials, Collier Merrill, a Pensacola businessman told the Pensacola News Journal
Faced with a choice between Nelson and Ms Harris, the latest opinion polls show that Floridians would favour the incumbent by 50 per cent to 38 per cent.
I had not realized how much Harris saw herself as the victim of a conspiratorial press. I had also not realized how she sees the conspiracy not as editorial but as photographic. There she was, however, stating flatly that "whenever they made fun of my makeup, it was because the newspapers colorized my photograph." But in her defense she did have the good sense to at least joke about it this year.
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Ms Harris, who is currently serving a second term in the US House of Representatives, believes she will close the gap with Mr Nelson once voters get to know her better. Joking about her reputation for heavy use of cosmetics, she told a campaign rally last week: “I only trail by an eyelash.”
She described herself as “conservative but progressive” and “pro-small business, pro-economy and anti-tax”. Hinting at the political warfare to come, she portrayed Senator Nelson as a member of the “hard left” with one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate. “That's not where Florida is,” she said.
Perhaps it is in those $500.00 a night motels?
Katherine Harris has been investigated for campaign finance violations and criticized for jetting all around the world and spending up to $500 a night for hotel rooms in Washington - all on Florida taxpayers money.
During Katherine Harris's first two years on the job she has spent over $100,000 in Florida tax dollars on trips to places like Barbados, Brazil, and the Sydney Olympics. Katherine Harris ran up travel expenses that were significantly higher than the other five Cabinet members and three times more than Governor Jeb Bush.
Buried on page 363 of the 420-page state budget (2001) is the creation of a special review committee to look at the $3.4-million Harris budgeted for international relations that year and the money spent since she took office.
Legislative leaders questioned the emphasis that Harris put on international travel and in establishing relationships with other countries while failing to adequately deal with the state's election problems.
During
her first 22 months in office, Harris amassed more than $106,000 in travel
bills, more than any Cabinet officer and the governor. She visited eight countries
on 10 foreign trips, staying at luxury hotels at taxpayer expense.
Harris defended her international travel and the focus of her office on it in frequent speeches citing the importance of international relations to the state's economy.
In 1994 during her first run for public office Katherine Harris was implicated in a campaign finance scheme. After state investigators discovered that employees of Riscorp, Inc., an insurer, were improperly reimbursed for their contributions to her 1994 Senate campaign she was forced to reimburse $20,000.
If Harris wins, it will be because of the great number of disillusioned Democrats who didn't bother to go to the polls at all.