Tag: Florida

It doesn’t have to be true, it just has to make headlines: Katherine Harris is again making it up as she goes along. At a public forum given by a Republican women’s club in Florida, she pulled from her ass a reference to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson taking bribes.

No Katherine. That was you.

Republican Rep. Katherine Harris accused the man she is trying to unseat in her quest for the U.S. Senate of accepting illegal campaign contributions, as she did last year…

But after a question from a member of the audience about illegal contributions made to her campaign by a defense contractor in 2004, Harris said that she had not known the $32,000 donation was illegal and she has since donated the money to charity.

She then upped the political ante by suggesting Nelson had made a similar mistake.

“That actually happened in the past, and it happened to Bill Nelson,” Harris said. “The difference is that when I did find out, I donated that money to charity. . . He received some $80,000 the same way and he never did reimburse. So there is a little bit of difference, and I’m happy to draw attention to that.”

She never identified the money to which she was referring.

Harris gets more and more delusional with each passing day. I can see her shrieking maniacally as she paces in her hotel room before speeches, wringing her hands and wiping the odd fleck of foam from her lips.

It was only last week that she claimed Democrat fellow House members from Florida fervently wished she would beat Nelson. All seven denied it.

The Orlando Sentinel, which published the latest story, seemed equally unconvinced. The subhead for the article was: “In Kissimmee [Fla.], the U.S. Senate candidate says her chief opponent erred but offers no specifics.”

Orlando Sentinel columnist Mike Thomas makes a depressing case for a McCain/Jeb ticket in 2008.

If he had any other last name, [Jeb] Bush would be a front-runner for the 2008 Republican nomination. But given his brother’s lagging popularity, the name that got Jeb where he is could stop him from going any further.

Diluting that name with McCain’s makes it more palatable for a Bush-weary nation. It gives Jeb a chance to get people to look beyond the name.

If they lose, that sets him up for 2012. If they win, Jeb would fit the new VP mold of an Al Gore or Dick Cheney, an active participant in the White House…

Playing second fiddle allows Jeb to stay engaged while we recover from the George hangover…

As for McCain, his problem isn’t beating Hillary Clinton as much as it is getting to that point. Jeb gets him there. Jeb’s presence eliminates any serious opposition within the Republican Party.

For McCain, the only drawback from Jeb would be if the Bush name penalizes him in a general election.

But come on. Jeb’s dad won with Dan Quayle.

Poor Bill Nelson. The Democratic U.S. Senator from Florida is either being damned with faint praise, or jinxed by favorable early polls.

As PR Editor in Chief Jon noted recently, a new poll gives Nelson a 35 percent lead over U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris (R) in his race for re-election. In the post’s comments, PR Editor Buck agreed with the rosy assessment, predicting, “It basically does not matter who ends up with the Republican nomination, Nelson’s gonna win unless he sleeps with [fellow U.S. Senator] Mel Martinez.”

But other comments revealed a much larger problem for Nelson.

shellynm: “Who cares! Nelson votes with the Republicans a great deal of the time on VERY IMPORTANT ISSUES.”

spencer1: “shellynm is absolutely right! I can’t vote for Nelson, I guess I’ll write in, NONE OF THE ABOVE”

Stephen Kriz: “If Nelson is the best that the Dems can do, I’m goin’ Green!”

That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Here’s what Democrats do: They look at all the candidates, assess their positions, and pick the one who most closely agrees with their most strongly held views. Factors like electability, party affiliation, and the big picture are tossed aside. They are perfectly willing to vote for Ralph Nader, Ross Perot, John McCain, or any other kook out there, particularly if they feel it will send a message to Democratic candidates that they should think more like them in the future if they want their vote.

Here’s what Republicans do: They look at all the candidates, locate the one with an “R” after his or her name, and send that person a check. When time comes to vote, that’s who they cast their ballot for. They are not distracted by third-party candidates like Libertarians who favor ending government (and especially taxation) as we know it — even if they agree with that idea — because they realize this will only split their voting power and a Democrat will end up with the office.

Over and over, good Democrats lose because they are not perfect enough for other Democrats to support.

The most significant part of the poll Jon cited was the answer to this question.

Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Bill Nelson?
Favorable: 48 percent
Unfavorable: 14 percent
Undecided: 38 percent

That’s 38 percent who haven’t decided if Nelson is perfect enough, and 14 percent who say he’s not. On the other hand, Harris — or Orlando personal injury lawyer and Karl Rove special friend Will McBride — has what 100 percent of Republicans want, an “R” after the name.

Nelson is perfect enough for me. I hope my fellow Dems agree by election time.

Stick a fork in her (please): According to a new Strategic Vision poll, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, leads Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Cuckooland, 61 percent to 26 percent, with 13 percent undecided.

Yesterday, we reported that Harris had announced that her colleagues in the House Democratic delegation from Florida had told her that they hoped she would beat Nelson in November.

Meanwhile, in reality:

[…]

Support for Katherine Harris is so universal — according to Katherine Harris — that even Democratic lawmakers from Florida have told her they hope she beats Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

…According to the Palatka Daily News, Harris said, “I’ve had Democrats in the House of Representatives come to me and say, ‘You know, we’d really like to take the majority in the U.S. Senate’ — these are Florida Democrats in the U.S. Congress — ‘but you’ll do so much more for us if you’re there.’ ”

Somebody call Rush Limbaugh and have him bring her over some of the good stuff

Harris said one Democrat — “one of the most liberal House members from Florida” — even offered her a slogan to use in her race against Nelson: “All about nothing for far too long.”

The problem is, none of the allegedly plural Democratic congresspeople in Washington are backing up Harris.

…all seven House Democrats from Florida told the Orlando Sentinel they never expressed any support for Harris. Responses from two — Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee Hastings — were typical.

“That would be a big ‘No,’ ” Wasserman Schultz said.

“Under no circumstances, in any way, shape or form am I supporting Katherine Harris, nor do I know anybody in the delegation who is.”

“I can assure you, Congressman Hastings is 110 percent committed to the re-election of Bill Nelson,” Hastings’ spokesman said.

“He wishes Katherine Harris well in her life as a private citizen next year.”

Harris’ current beleaguered spokesperson (she goes through them like water) says his boss is too principled to expose her supporters.

Her former campaign manager says she’s just wacked.

[Spokesman Chris] Ingram said Harris was “taking the high road” by protecting their identity. He did not respond to an e-mail asking for the names of others who might corroborate Harris’ account.

The episode creates for voters a rare moment of political clarity: Either some Florida Democrats are hiding something and actually told Harris they want her to win, or Harris is making up the whole thing.

Former Harris campaign manager Jim Dornan is convinced Harris invented the story.

Dornan said she told her senior staff the same thing last year. But she would not name names.

“I just figured it had never happened,” said Dornan, who has become a critic of Harris since leaving the campaign late last year.

“It was all too weird.”

Katherine has obviously forgotten to refill her prescription. Somebody call Rush Limbaugh and have him bring her over some of the good stuff.

Jeb Bush isn’t saying what he plans to use the $1.9 million he’s amassed in a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organization. The Foundation for Florida’s Future web site is decorated with apples and glowing headlines about how great the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Acheivement Test) is, so we would assume it has something to do with education. Not necessarily. The Palm Beach Post says the fund it can be whatever Jeb wants it to be.

Bush has since been coy about what the foundation will fund.

“No plans yet,” he said last week.

Despite its vague goals, Bush faithful — those who have been well rewarded for loyalty by various Bush family members — continue to give generously to the fund.

…donors, including a host of developers and construction industry-related magnates from around the state, say they don’t care how he spends it.

…Jacksonville engineer Richard Blankenship, who served Bush’s brother, President George W. Bush, as ambassador to the Bahamas for two years, said he has given the foundation at least $185,000 over its lifetime.

… The top donation, $500,000, was given by Tampa-based Cast-Crete Corp., which makes building materials and is headed by conservative activist Ralph Hughes.

The Geo Group, a Boca Raton-based company that runs private prisons, donated $100,000. Its major shareholder is George Zoley, a Florida Atlantic University graduate Bush appointed to the university’s board of trustees.

Of all the headlines on the FFF web site about the FCAT, there were no links to the most recent story, about how the people employed by a private company to grade the test are not educators but instead, pizza delivery drivers and movie theater popcorn technicians. Read on for more.

Slowed down and rode alongside, trying to see what a genuine Katherine Harris supporter looks like. She was driving a new, foreign minivan. She was a slim 54 or so but she didn’t look like she’d had, or was currently having, much fun in her life. Straight blond bowl cut, no makeup, Sally Jesse Raphael glasses. Looked like a nurse or maybe a nun out of uniform because her top resembled a hospital scrub. Older man was in the passenger seat, but beyond the fact that he was bald and white, I couldn’t really see him.

I need to find a Bill Nelson bumpersticker to paste on my PT Cruiser. Too bad I traded the Volvo…