The Spencerian

Love Notes from 2002

Duncan has been working hard rearranging stuff in the house.  This is being done mostly in the name of trying to find a good space for Emeline to play.  Between school work, managing the life of a seven-month old, managing her own life, preparing our dinner, and wrangling our own tragi-comic version of animal control, it is no simple task.    

She has gone through our books a few times, now, and has weeded out several of the ones we really don't need (is Bush at War truly such a keepsake?).  Still, I am glad not to be much a part of this process because if it were up to me I would almost certainly keep every single book we own.  I love books, I love having books around, and it's hard for me to make those kinds of decisions.

The other day I was delighted to see that Duncan left a love note of sorts on my pillow.  It was a newspaper clipping.  I figure she found it in one of those books, or high on some dusty shelf somewhere.  

The clip was small -- just five or six paragraphs -- on narrow, yellowed paper.  Five inches long, maybe.  The brief story was about Katherine Harris.  I don't actually have the clip in front of me but I don't need it.  I know it very, very well.

To the untrained eye, it was a small piece quoting the then-13th Congressional District candidate, Florida's Secretary of State, a Republican and the presumptive nominee, as saying she needed to raise at least $2 million dollars.  The Harris campaign needed the war chest, she said, because the Democratic establishment was going to "pour" money into the race against her as vengeance for her role in the disastrous Election 2000 fiasco.  All of this was accompanied by a fairly unfortunate photo of Katherine.  

Despite the passage of nearly ten years, that is still hilarious.  At the time, there were around four Democratic candidates running, one of them a fairly obvious plant from the Republican Party.  Candice Brown McElyea, the candidate who ran on the theme "Anyone but Katherine" went on to endorse Katherine Harris after she placed third in the Democratic primary.

I worked for Jan Schneider, the Democrat, from February of 2002 to August -- just before the primary she won with 44.4% over three other rivals (including Charles McKenzie who had about 23% of the vote, Candice who had around 21%, and Patrick Feheley who had about 10%).  I certainly don't take credit for Jan's win in the primary.  She was just a better candidate and Democrats knew it.

And by the time she went head-to-head with Katherine and came out with 45% in November, I was back in Arkansas working on Jimmie Lou Fisher's campaign for governor.

None of Jan's campaign was done with any attention paid from the Democratic establishment.  It certainly wasn't done with any of their money.  Jan invested a lot of her own money in the campaign.  I expended a lot of time trying to get her to raise more money, and I'm sure she got tired of hearing me bother her about it.  She paid me about $3,000 a month.  I think perhaps the state party sent a field director down at some point late in the game, but I doubt he was making much more than I did.  And if he was, it was likely paid out of the party's account.  

Every major organization that makes electoral predictions had called the 13th Congressional District in Florida a safe Republican seat, and it was (and it still is).  No reasonable Democrat was going to invest one dime fighting Katherine Harris.  Remember, this was less than a year after 9/11 and the build-up to the Iraq war was beginning.  Bush's popularity had shot through the roof, and the GOP was preparing to break with tradition and usher in more seats for their party in a mid-term.  Democrats were scrambling, trying to avoid the inevitable bloodbath.  

I'll never forget sitting in a Taco Bell in Sarasota having former president Clinton's aide (and Sarasota native) Doug Band screaming at me.  He was tired, he told me, of entertaining the request to have the former president come campaign for his old friend and Yale Law classmate.  I threw everything I had at him -- this was a race against Katherine Harris, the thief of Election 2000.  This was about Florida, a huge electoral state where the president's presence could have a major impact in an area where we knew Democratic registration was starting to grow.  Jan was indeed an old Yale Law classmate, Democratic fundraiser, and friend of the Clintons.  Didn't any of that matter?
 
Not really, no.  

Doug wasn't the only one who wrote us off.  The Democrats running in District 13 were written off by the media as well.  I can't find a link to it, but the Sarasota Herald-Tribune did this multi-page fluff piece on Katherine, complete with glamour pics and over-the-top beauty-queen shots of her in her gaudy house.  It was all about her, her life, her likes, her dislikes... It was the least political piece you could imagine.  And it was huge.  A full front page of the "Style" section, and then at least a couple of pages following.  It was genuinely disgusting.  

When one of Jan's supporters wrote to Herald-Tribune editor Rosemary Armao, he got back a remarkably candid email. 

"Katherine Harris is an international figure, like her or not," Armao wrote of the woman who became a central player in the presidential recount in Florida.  "She's going to be the next congresswoman from this area, like it or not...  I have no intentions of covering each of the Democratic candidates to the same extent."

Whoo, boy.  With respect to the political piece, this was my high-water mark on the campaign.  I got in touch with Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post, and the media boomlet which ensued eventually got Armao run out of the paper.  

The personal high-water mark was meeting Duncan.  I did a lot of my campaign work on the New College campus because they had a good library and all the free internet access you could want.  That, and it got me out of Jan's house.

About a month or so into the campaign, I knew I'd need help.  I looked up political science professors at New College and found one: a very sharp guy I've talked about before named Keith Fitzgerald.  When we were done talking after a couple of hours, I asked him why he wasn't running.  His twins were a lot younger then, he told me, but I knew he wanted to be involved.  I asked him to introduce Jan at her formal campaign kickoff.  He agreed.

I also asked him if he had any students who could help with the campaign.  This is the advice I'd give any campaign manager today: find volunteers and all the help you can get right out of the gate because you can't do it on your own.  Believe me, I've tried.  It doesn't work.

Never will I forget the day I stood outside one of the country clubs waiting for Jan.  I introduced myself to three New College students, Carolyn, Eric, and Duncan.  All three of them looked maybe a little confused, maybe a little bored.  

To this day, she doesn't believe me when I say was smitten right then.  But that's okay.  I was.  I still am.  

The rest of the story of how we got together is ours, and I'll keep it that way.  But you can see just how special a gift I was given just the other day as I watched my seven-month old grab a piece of yellowed newsprint and start to give it a little taste (don't worry, I kept her from chewing on it just in time).

Duncan and I learned a lot about politics on that campaign in 2002, much of it difficult lessons.  We learned a lot more about each other, and we fell in love.  

So thanks for the news clip, babe.  Every time I think about Election 2002, I think about tough decisions, hardball politics, biased media, difficult candidates, liars, cheats, and other strangers.  But I also think about you, sweetheart -- the very best part of 2002. 

Golden Opportunities

By now, everyone is familiar with unrepentant thug Vern Buchanan -- one the nation's most corrupt Members of Congress.  Vern took Katherine Harris's seat in Florida's long-suffering 13th Congressional District.  He won that seat in 2006 after Kitty decided to wage a spectacularly awful campaign against incumbent Senator Bill Nelson -- a campaign which flamed out in grand fashion and is still being criticized to this day by former Harris Campaign insiders.

The 2006 race that Vern "won" was a hotly contested run against Democrat Christine Jennings.  When he won the re-match again in 2008, a lot of people decided that a Democrat just couldn't win in that wildly gerrymandered district.

I will admit the 13th District is tough.  It covers all of Sarasota County, most of Manatee, and a small chunk of Charlotte County.  These are the big population centers with the cities of Sarasota, Bradenton, Englewood, and Venice lining the coast.  But the district also covers all of Hardee County and all of Desoto County.  Those two counties add around 17,000 voters to the mix -- not decisive, certainly, but just enough that you'd want to campaign there.  To keep it in perspective, there were just under 200,000 ballots cast for Congress in Sarasota County in the 2008 General Election.  

McCain won the District 52% to Obama's 47% -- a shrinking margin from when Bush won it 53% and 56% in 2004 and 2000, respectively.  This is a changing district.    

But I don't think the 13th us "unwinnable" for a Democrat.  In 2008, Obama lost Sarasota County to McCain by the razor-thin margin of 211 votes.  He lost Desoto County by about only about 1,200 votes (of about 10,000 cast)  Look, in 2006 Christine basically won the thing.  She only "lost" because of a poorly designed ballot and the fact that she had to fend off Jan Schneider in a pretty harsh primary.  Let me caveat right here that I worked as Jan Schneider's campaign manager in 2002.

Vern suprised me when he decided to seek re-election to his seat in Congress.  My assumption is that he didn't want to raise his profile in a time when he's undergoing serious investigations, and that he didn't want to either challenge McCollum for the governorship, or Crist (and Rubio) for the Senate seat.  

Regardless his reasons for seeking re-election, I think that there is plenty for a Democrat to run for in the Florida 13th (given Vern's status in the corruption rankings, it should go without saying that there's plenty to run against).

And there is a Democrat who is running!  Say hello to Reverend James T. Golden.

Look, I'll tell you right now: I don't know a thing about Reverend Golden.  You'll learn more about him from his website and from the Jeremy Wallace story linked just above than I can share with you.  

It was a tough fundraising quarter for Reverend Golden -- $26,000 compared to Buchanan's nearly one million dollar haul.  There are those who will point out his big campaign losses -- in 1998 for Manatee School Board, in 1995 for Bradenton City Council, and his city council re-election loss in '07 -- as negatives, but I wouldn't be so quick to judge them that way.  It means he's got a record of public service, that he's been through tough campaigns and lost (and won).  

I think his being from Manatee is a really interesting twist.  You'd expect a challenger to come out of Sarasota.  But Reverend Golden's long history of public service in Manatee County means that he'll have to do less work there -- where about 140,000 ballots were cast in the 2008 general election, but Christine lost by more than 33,000 votes.  

But the good Reverend shouldn't go on vacation.  He'll have a lot of work to do to take on Vern.  Vern will have a mountain of money, and he'll have footholds in Sarasota and Manatee.  And he'll turn out that small but important buffer in Hardee and Desoto (which are 70 and 73 percent white, respectively; Reverend Golden is African American.  I know we're supposed to be living in the Barack Obama post-racial world, but we really ought to stay grounded, here.  Who is going to have the harder job in these counties: the white, good ol' boy car salesman, or the African American Reverend?)  With this in mind, Reverend Golden ought to do a couple of things soon. 

First, he's going to have to get some issues up on that wesbite -- and fast.  My hope is that his years of experience in Manatee County have prepared him to be fluent, or at least conversational, on many of the issues facing Floridians -- and Americans -- today.  Where is he on the economy?  Where is he on health care?  The wars?  Where is he on drilling in the Gulf?  These -- and so many more -- are big issues facing Members (and potential Members) of Congress, and he ought to be able to speak to them.  

Second, he's going to need to get out on the road.  Take his message to the people of Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hardee, Desoto.  Believe me, I've heard the rap on District 13 before: you can't do field, you can't walk it.  This is nonsense.  It's a diverse district, to be sure -- but it can be worked by a Democrat.  And it can be won by a Democrat.

Between the Senate Race of the Century and the Florida Gubernatorial run, it'll be hard to focus on this race.  But I'll follow along and we'll see what happens.

Best of luck, Reverend Golden.

Fun Times at Lincoln Day

Oh, this would just about be worth it, if I could get the time off.  And stomach having to eat lunch with a bunch of Republicans.  I guess Ed Rollins -- most recently of Mike Huckabee's presidential bid -- is going to be at the Sarasota Lincoln Day dinner on Tuesday (it's like their Jefferson-Jackson thing).  You might remember Rollins. He does some commentary for CNN.  Worked for Ronald Reagan.  

Worked for Katherine Harris's spectacularly bad Senate campaign.

They had... a falling out.  

So we'll see if anyone there bothers to ask him about Kitty.  Or if she shows up.  Talk about entertainment.

My guess, by the way, is she won't.  And no one will ask.  First of all, Kitty has pretty much dropped off the face of the planet.  No one knows where she is or what she's doing.  Which is maybe how she wants it.  Fine with me.  I guess her name has come up in vain a few times, with respect to the stuff going on in Iran.  But there is a much better -- and more entertaining race -- going on right now for the U.S. Senate in the GOP primary.  I'm sure the conversation will center around Rubio vs. Crist.  They'll have a lot to talk about.

And if they're not talking about that, maybe they should talk about the guy who took Kitty's place in Congress: Vern Buchanan.  Things are looking bad for him.  Almost Katherine Harris bad. 

A Horrible Legislative Session: Elections

Like I said yesterday, the Grand Jury that indicted former Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom (R-Corrupt) pretty much indicted the entire Florida Legislature as well -- certainly their secretive and awful budget process. 

So you can imagine what the Republicans did in light of what happened to the man who was leading them just two short months ago:  they continued to hammer out budget deals in secret, of course!

Duh. 

Well, I'm sorry to tell you that the crappy budget you will be funding with your tax dollars is actually not the worst of it. 

If you want to know what might be the worst of it, try looking up SB 956.  You need to give a look at what this bill -- simply called "Elections" -- would do.  To say that it would disenfranchise voters in Florida is kind of like saying you might get a little wet standing on the beach in a hurricane.  That this is done in the state whose claim to shame is Election 2000 is just rubbing salt in a wound that never really healed (it might have healed if we hadn't elected Katherine Harris to the U.S. House of Representatives).

Let's take a fair and balanced look at what they're saying about this bill in the media around the state:

2-time Pulitzer winners, the St. Petersburg Times: GOP power grab is an affront to voters

Republican legislative leaders have lost all sense of shame with their 11th-hour bill to roll back voting rights in Florida. The legislation is so disgraceful it is no wonder a Republican-led House committee debated the bill for all of 6 minutes Friday before silencing public comment and approving the bill along party lines. This fast-moving train needs to be stopped cold.

"...lost all sense of shame", Times gang?  That would imply that had shame to begin with.

Kindra Muntz writing in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Bad for voters and democracy

The worst feature of the bill is that it gives almost unlimited control over elections to the Florida secretary of state, and deprives citizens of their right to reform the local elections process in their communities.

Wayne Garcia, the Political Whore, in Creative Loafing: Charlie Crist might veto bad election bill being pushed by Republicans

The Republicans have gone back to their old ways when it comes to trying to regain power: rig the election process rather than appeal to the majority of voters.

Good grief -- even Charlie doesn't like it.

The Miami Herald: Fla. nonprofits, Dems angry about elections bill

The Palm Beach Post: Proposed Florida elections bill inspires furor among activists

WJHG TV: Election Bill Angers Voter Groups

WCTV TV: Voter Groups Protest Election Bill

The only thing driving me a little nuts here is it should be voter groups that are angry -- it should be voters!

The Democrats in the Legislature are rightly infuriated and are trying to stand up for your rights.  From a press release sent out by Mark Hollis.  The headline:

HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO BLOCK PUBLIC TESTIMONY ON MASSIVE ELECTION REWRITE

Sounds true to form so far.

At today's House Rules & Calendar Council meeting, Florida House Republicans signaled intent to trample on the public's right to participate in the legislative process with a partisan refusal to allow public testimony in House committees about their sweeping election law changes.

They just don't care, do they? 

House Republican Leader Adam Hasner said today that House PCB-EDCA -09-08, a partisan power grab aimed at suppressing minority voters' turnout and registration drives, will be brought to the House floor on Friday --- a move that advances the legislation without having received adequate review.

In recent days, House Democrats and a wide array of public interest and advocacy groups have repeatedly requested that the proposal be analyzed thoroughly and transparently in House committees, including extensive public testimony.

Today, House Democratic members' request for the elections bill to be returned to committees for analysis and testimony was thwarted by Republicans on a party-line vote.

The 80-plus page proposed rewrite of the state election code surfaced in the Legislature for the first time last week and would drastically undo Florida's progress at improving public confidence in our election system.

Good job, Mark.

Let's show these guys it's not just elected Democrats and "public interest and advocacy groups" -- it's us, the voters.  Call your State Representative and protest this legislation.  Call your State Senator and tell them the same thing.  If you are represented by a Democrat, encourage them to keep on fighting. 

Don't let them get away with it.  Don't let them steal your vote.  Not again.

What I Learned at the Florida Convention

In 2002, I attended the Florida Democratic Convention in Orlando.  It was the first such event of its kind that I'd ever attended.  The event seemed full of energy, full of life.  Remember, at this point in time we had several candidates for governor, including Janet Reno, and the place felt alive with energy.

I was there on behalf of my candidate, who at that point was leading a five-way primary, and would ultimately win the nomination for the congressional seat in the 13th Congressional District -- what would ultimately become Katherine Harris' seat. 

For the life of me, I'll never know why the loyal fighting Democrats of Sarasota never got more support than they did.  They sure deserved it.  Much of it had to do with the ill-advised Terry McAuliffe-led DNC program of "targeting" districts, and that district at the time was nearly two-to-one Republicans over Democrats.  Still, it was the principle of the thing.  If George W. Bush stole the election in 2000, then Katherine Harris drove the getaway car.  Or worse -- I've never really come up with a good crime analogy for what she perpetrated on the people of Florida and America.  It seems that what she did was so awful on its own.  Kind of a new kind of crime, a category all its own.

But if what Kitty did was a crime -- and it was -- then the Democrats abandoning the district was as bad.  Jan Schneider -- the candidate I worked for -- attended Yale law school with the Clintons.  Where were they?  Where was Al Gore?  Hell, where was anyone? 

You've got to remember, it was just after 9/11, and Katherine Harris was yapping the party line about this new War on Terror and Democrats were literally running scared.

I couldn't understand it.  I still can't understand it. 

It helps to have a bit of perspective on where I was in my life.  After the new regime took office at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I lost my job and couldn't seem to find one for the life of me -- despite eight loyal and accolade-accumulating years to the Clinton Administration.  I'd separated from my wife of more than five years and had no idea how to start again.  My being in Florida represented a new start, a new phase in my life, a new chance to do things right. 

I'd gone to Orlando for that Conference with some signs for Jan and a plan to talk to as many activists across the state as I could find.  I wanted people to know about our struggle.

Remember, this is pretty much pre-blog phenomenon.  Or before blogs were really big, anyway.  I thought we'd get the word out word-of-mouth.  It obviously didn't work so well. 

That Convention is still a favorite memory of my time in Sarasota.  I married one of the wonderful New College volunteers who got started out on that campaign.  She's leaps and bounds beyond me, now, in terms of political acumen, political savvy, but that never surprised me.  I moved on to another campaign that year, a year that turned out to be pretty tough for Democrats nationwide.  I was in DC again for a short time, and then we came back to Florida, and I've been happy most every day for the year and a half we've been here.  I still think about that Convention every now and again, and it's always a good memory.

Needless to say, I was looking forward to the Convention we just had this past weekend.  I wasn't bothered by the fact that the candidates weren't there.  In fact, odd as it is to say, I'm not so sure that the Convention wasn't helped, to some degree, by not having the distraction of the candidates and their entourages there.  I expected to learn a few things.  Instead, I learned a lot of things, and that's good news.

I watched the Netroots workshops on Saturday, and I've filled my little notebook with page after page of notes.  I'm going to look into Drupal for the local candidate I'll be volunteering for (thank you, Ray).   

Kenny Quinnell is a rock star as far as I'm concerned.  I introduced myself to him about halfway through, thinking it was just good manners.  Being the cynic that I am, I don't much get sheepish anymore, meeting new people.  I mercifully got over that at some point.  But I have to tell you, after experiencing that level of learning -- look at all that I don't know! -- and finally seeing the likes of the people you only know online -- Susan S, meowmissy -- I found myself a touch on the nervous side.  I warmed myself up by talking to Gatordem for a bit first (just kidding, Gene -- always good to see you).  To put that much together -- albeit with wildly capable help, no doubt -- takes a special kind of person. 

All of this is for a guy on the outside to say thanks, Ken and company.  And I hope you get some rest.  Like 2002, I'm optimistic after our foray into Orlando -- but nobody has promised the road would be easy.  Like Matt said, let's pick our fights... and then take them to the other side.

cross posted at the florida progressive coalition.

The Long Slog Towards Meaningful Election Reform

It's really good news that Congress is making significant progress towards meaningful ethics reform -- this is, after all, what the people want.  However, I still remain mystified that, nearly seven years after the Election 2000 disaster, no one has delivered meaningful election reform.

Well, Ian Urbina at the New York Times gives me some hope today.  He has an article entitled "Voting Officials Face New Rules To Bar Conflicts."  And while it -- and the sudden picture of Kitty Harris -- may depress you briefly, I think it ultimately gives us cause for hope.

I was always floored by the fact that Harris, the Florida Secretary of State, the person most responsible for counting the votes of this great state, was also the chair of George W. Bush's election committee here.  Voting is, if not the most sacred right we have, then certainly one of the most sacred.  Why on earth would you entrust it to someone who has a clear stake in the outcome of the election?  It defies all logic, all reasoning, all common sense.

After what happened in Florida in 2000, what makes this okay?

"Across the country, state voting officials routinely participate as candidates in races they are responsible for overseeing or act as leaders in their political parties. In the last presidential election, the secretaries of state in Arizona, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Ohio, were chairmen of their states’ re-election campaigns for President Bush."

There has been legislation introduced in Congress to address this very problem (why it wasn't from someone from the Florida Delegation is beyond me).  But it doesn't look too promising, unfortunately:

Representative Susan A. Davis, Democrat of California, has introduced a bill prohibiting chief state election officials from serving on the political campaigns of federal candidates. When Ms. Davis submitted the bill to the National Association of Secretaries of State for its support, she said she was initially told that they would present it for discussion at the annual convention. Later, however, she was told that it would not be because opposition was too strong.

A similar bill in the Senate is sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California. Mrs. Feinstein’s bill has 11 co-sponsors, all Democrats, and is expected to face significant Republican opposition, as is the House bill.

Neither bill would prohibit election officials from overseeing elections in which they are candidates. Aides to both Ms. Davis and Mrs. Feinstein said such provisions might raise First Amendment or states’ rights challenges.

State ethics rules that limit the partisan behavior of election officials are rarely enforced and frequently come with loopholes, advocates of voting change say.

Shouldn't we be supporting Representative Davis and Senator Feinstein on this legislation?

Voting.  This is the stuff our freedom is made of.  And it's been compromised, and by the likes of Katherine Harris, no less.  I think that's an outrage.   

 

      

The Harris Curse: Rick Renzi Resignation-watch

Unbelievable.

Every once and again, I consider retiring the "Katherine Harris: She So Crazy" archive from this blog.  Still, not only is it rich with some of my very favorite posts, it seems that she still manages to make news.  In a way.

So, it looks like wildly corrupt Congressman Rick Renzi is on his way out.  Fast.  Renzi got got caught up -- in the dumbest way possible -- in this fired U.S. Attorneys mess.  Basically, he lied to a bunch of very important people about big money, and then tried to check in on how the investigation into, well, him was going.  Bad news all the way around, including for Alberto Gonzales, a guy you just have to believe is on his way out.  Right?     

For me, though, Rick will forever be linked to our favorite crazy person, the former Representative from Florida's 13th Congressional District and Election Thief, Katherine Harris!  How are they linked?
It's one of the first (and still one of the best) popular bits on YouTube.
It is the... Canoodle!  That's right!  Katherine and Rick, sittin' in a tree...

Rick ain't long for this political world.  He'll be joining his Congressional Canoodle girlfriend soon enough, it looks like.  Doing whatever it is shamed ex-Representatives do.  More Canoodling?         

Katherine Harris Rebukes Pesky "Voters" Yet Again, Stays Where She's Not Wanted

It seems that she just won't go away.   And it's gone from sort of humorous to downright wrong.

Apparently, Katherine Harris, Citizen, is still parking her fly ride -- a BMW, wouldn't you know -- on Capitol Hill, in her old parking place.  Um, doesn't Vern Buchanan, the mouth-breathing yokel that somehow managed to wrangle her old job, need to park there?  I'm just sayin'.  It's totally a legit question.

Look, I'm not one of these goofy, livin'-in-my-momma's-basement nerds who has nothing better to do than complain all the live-long day about where my tax dollars go.  But even I don't much appreciate the notion that Kitty Harris, of all people, is still roaming the Capitol and that I and every other decent taxpaying American is footing the bill for her free parking spot.  Not cool.

Memo to Kitty: you lost an election, babe.  And you lost it real bad.  And everyone knows you're not real keen on things like "laws" or "elections," but this one was pretty irrefutable.  Now, I think you and Anders ought to get on a boat and perhaps sail off to Sweden, or wherever it is he's from.  You're clearly not welcome in Florida anymore (not that you seem to interested in spending any time here), and staying in Washington is just not cool.  At least not on my dime it's not.

Update! 

More disturbing news on the Kitty Harris front!  Turns out that the Longboat Key Kiwanis Club has named her "Citizen of the Year."  Read the story on TBO here:link. 

The reasoning, just when you thought there could be no possible reason:

"She stood in the storm and held her own there for a while" during the 2000 presidential election recount.  This from club president Kelly Kary.  "We see her as a definite asset to our key."

Right.  An "asset."  "Held her own."  Honestly Kiwanis Club people -- all the folks you could've named as "Citizen of the Year," and this is who you come up with.  Seven years after the fact, by your reasoning.  Truly, I am at a loss.   

Thanks to Wonkette, too.

Oh, Snap! I Know She Did NOT Go To The SOTU!

U.S. News & World Report publishes a snarky little Washington-gossipy piece called Washington Whispers.

They've got a doozy they posted a couple of days ago.

She's baaaaccckk...

Noooooooo!!!!!!

Behold the Evil Plottings of the Zombie Harris

Just when you thought you'd heard the last of her, here she comes again, back to scare the bejeezus out of you.  Yes, like the wicked zombies that plague dancin' Michael Jackson in "Thriller," Katherine Harris is, apparently, back from the dead.  Well, the political dead, anyway.

You may have heard they're doing a machine recount today down in her old CD, district 13.  Don't worry, the irony of the fact that there are massive voting irregularities in the home district of the Most Notorious Former Florida Secretary of State in History is not lost on a single, solitary soul down here in the Sunshine State.

Anyway, it seems, according to Roll Call, that Kitty may actually be hoping for a Democratic win.  Adam Smith, writing for The Buzz -- the pretty good political blog of the St. Petersburg Times -- reports that the now out-of-work low-grade politician may be contemplating a comeback.  Of sorts.

Roll Call reports rumors that is Katherine Harris is "secretly plotting" an '08 U.S. House run for her soon-to-be former seat should Congressional Democrats wind up seating Democrat Christine Jennings.

Come on.  Can she do that?  After her crushing defeat, state-wide, would she really want to?  All good questions, and I guess only time will tell.

You know, I really did think I was done writing about her.  I probably should've known better.      

Farewell to a Real Bitch: Katherine Harris Will Soon be Relegated to the Farthest Reaches of the Dustbin of History, and We Just Can't Wait

You know of our loathing for Katherine Harris.

For some unfathomable reason we just can't figure out, our post on Glenn Beck is the most popular story, the most searched-for story on these pages.  (Our personal favorite?  It's a tie between one of our earliest ones on Kitty Harris, and one of our very first posts entitled "Huckabees Heart Each Other.")  Anyway, we like to think we've done a real hatchet job on ol' Kitty.  Don't get us wrong, though: it was well deserved.  Oh, so well deserved.

We were down in Sarasota in 2002 working for a Democratic congressional candidate trying to mount a real challenge to Katherine Harris, and no one seemed willing, at the time, to step up to the plate with us.  Katherine Harris was a terrible state senator, a corrupt Florida secretary of state, and just a downright idiotic congresswoman.  Too bad for the people of Florida.

Finally, though, it looks like Florida -- and the rest of America -- is waking up to the fact that Katherine Harris is not only way out of her league, she's a little nuts, too.  Washington Post staff writer Libby Copeland has a story on what she is describing as a campaign going south... But is it so much a campaign as the sanity of one woman?  The lede paragraph should clue you in:

Katherine Harris, who is trying to become a U.S. senator, says she is writing a tell-all about the many people who have wronged her. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to: the Republican leaders who didn't want her to run, the press that has covered her troubled campaign, and the many staffers who have quit her employ, whom she accuses of colluding with her opponent.

Check it out here:link. 

And there are others that are not just writing the obituary of this campaign -- they're actively relegating Congresswoman Harris to the more-than-a-lost-cause column.

Here's a story from The Lakeland Ledger.  Senator Bill Nelson is up by double digits.  Read it here:link.

The Orlando Sentinel is getting in on the game, too.  The lede in this story is one sad sentence: "The low point came in August."  Read the whole thing here:link.

Maybe you think we're being unfair, or just mean-spirited at a week out.  We don't think so.  Katherine Harris is a crook and a lightweight one at that.  She deliberately disenfranchised hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of Florida voters in 2000, and she's been a crooked Congresswoman ever since.  She represents everything bad in Republicans, and frankly, everything bad in politicians.

To paraphrase Al Gore, appropriately enough, it's time for her to go.  Goodbye, Katherine.  And good riddance. ts

A Call To Action: Tell Senator Nelson To Share The Wealth And Support Local Candidates In Florida

We think Senator Bill Nelson is fantastic.   He's a moderate voice in what has become an increasingly shrill and partisan echo chamber.  We like that. 

We also like that he's totally going to destroy -- just absolutely crush -- his miserably pathetic opposition in this senate race.  We think that's just great, and have said so on these pages.

Funny enough, our friends over at Florida Politics beat us to the punch and posted on an issue we'd like to take with Senator Nelson: the fact that he has not donated nearly enough to what some have called "benchbuilding," or more precisely, to local Florida candidates.  As of right now, he's donated a woefully anemic $250K to the Florida Democratic Party, and helped raise about another $30,000.  That's after he's raised $18 million for his own race. 

We may not be the best political minds of our time, but we feel fairly safe in saying that Nelson's going to win his race.  We think he can afford to share a little love. 

As the poster over at Florida Politics says, if he only gave just 10% of his haul, he'd be donating almost 2 million dollars.  2 million bucks donated to help candidates across the state, candidates that could use the help in a year when we are so close to taking back the House and Senate, we can taste it.  2 million bucks out of his pocket, which would leave him with 16 million -- plus whatever he'd continue to bring in.

Now, we saw an ad the other day for Nelson.  In Spanish.  And not to belittle the Spanish vote here in Florida -- it's important -- but if Bill Nelson can afford to spend money on ads in Spanish, we think he can afford a few million to candidates in races that could decide the makeup of the House of Representatives.  Or even local races for State Senate and State House. 

The logic of the Nelson Campaign is eluding us just a little bit.  For what amounts to a pretty small price tag, he'd be more than the Senior Senator from Florida -- he'd be King of Florida, or at least King of the Florida Democrats.

So, it's win-win, as far as we're concerned.  We can't understand why he wouldn't do it. 

That's why we've decided to voice our concern to Senator Nelson.  If you're reading this, take some time out of your day and thank Senator Nelson for his service to America.  Then strongly encourage him to donate some of his cash to his fellow Democrats.  It's only right. ts 

Harris Not Beating Nelson, Even In The Land Of Make Believe

Good Lord, we were going to take the high road and let Kitty Harris kind of fade off in to a necessary oblivion with as much dignity as she could muster.  Just let her corral whatever sense of decency she might have had left over after this humiliating campaign and never be heard from again.  Maybe she'd take off with her husband -- who creeps us out, by the way -- Anders, back to his home country somewhere in Europe. 

Well, we gave her the out, but she's still plugging along.  And now it's obvious the dementia has gotten the best of her.  Here's the headline from one of her most recent press statements:

Harris Beats Nelson -- Leads 54% to 45%

Yes, she's managed to finally round the bend and totally fool herself.  It's tragic, in a humanitarian sort of way. 

The first line of her statement sort of tells the whole story, really:

Congresswoman Katherine Harris, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate, soundly defeated Bill Nelson this evening by a 54% to 45% margin in the straw poll conducted at the Lakeland Bi-Annual Politics in the Park.

Well, problem Number One is that it's a straw poll.  And to vote in the Lakeland Bi-Annual Politics in the Park straw poll, you have to first pony up twenty-five bucks.  And, not incidentally, here, does anyone really think that something with the words "Politics in the Park" can possibly taken seriously?  It's probably sandwiched in between the Johnson-Bettison Family Reunion Picnic and the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce Division Five Softball Playoffs.   

Well, the Lakeland Ledger was having none of it, anyway.  Mr. Bill Rufty decided to call her out on it:

One of the biggest frustrations for public opinion pollsters and academics dealing with applied statistics is the misuse of and sometimes downright bending of the truth when it comes to poll results, especially by politicians.

Readers of poll stories then begin to doubt scientific polls and blame pollsters, writers, everybody, it seems, but the people who purposefully distort the numbers.

Well, that's the truth.  And then Mr. Rufty finally reveals the two paragraphs that must've really gotten under his skin:

The truth is you couldn't vote at Politics in the Park unless you paid $25. The Ledger even ran a picture of Harris helping a six-year-old vote in the straw ballot.

Recent, scientifically-conducted polls show that among most likely voters in Florida, Nelson still leads Harris by double digits.

Yeah.  The key words there being "scientifically-conducted." 

Although it's intriguing to learn that Katherine Harris is for allowing children to vote.  Maybe that could be her new campaign slogan:  Give Kids The Vote!

Don't worry, Kitty -- just a little under four weeks, and your oblivion awaits.  ts

Attack of the Giant Political Bug

Yes it is back -- a gargantuan bug with ugly stripes and wings and little fangs and about a million little legs.  And antennae.  It hisses, too.  And flies.  And leaves gross little poops everywhere. 

No, wait -- that's the bug that lives outside our front door.  The politics bug doesn't hiss.  It blows hot air. 

Anyway, the Florida primary is over, and our favorite local candidate now has an opponent.   We'll be working hard in our off-time to help him get elected.  The people of the 69th District here in Florida deserve a measure of sanity for a change. 

In other Florida news, Katherine Harris won a chance to go down in hard-core flames against Senator Bill Nelson.  This is great news for snarky, inconsiderate blogger-types such as ourselves.  Matter of fact, quick funny story about Senate Candidate Harris.  So, we were driving around town, waiting for the polls to close, when we came upon a major Sarasota intersection.  There were tons of kids out holding signs for the local congressional candidates, and the candidates for governor (don't make us say "gubernatorial," or we'll start giggling like children).  Anyway, we spotted an RV with some sad Harris signs crookedly tacked to it.  Then there was the SUV that had been painted with the Katherine Harris logo (there's an interesting campaign expenditure).  And then... there she was, none other than Harris herself, looking not unlike a robot -- a vaguely distraught robot, but a robot nonetheless -- in a sea of maniacally frantic Young Republicans all jacked up on too much Starbucks and Red Bull.  There was Kitty, holding white-knuckeled to her yard sign, waving animatronically at the passing traffic, her stilletoed feet firmly planted in the ground.  You'd have to hold a mirror up to her nose to tell if she was breathing.

Now, look.  We say this to the Katherine Harris campaign team (whoever is left): if that was some sort of Harris Robot, then you need to mass produce those bad boys, because it looked very, very lifelike.  Seriously, you could almost see the crazy in those cold, dead robot eyes.  Fantastic stuff, really. 

So, keep your own eyes out, fellow Floridians, for a stiff, impersonal, very unlifelike Katherine Harris to maybe wave at you, or through you, really.  You might want to have a little pity and wave back -- she's going to be very lonely over the next two months. ts

Katherine Harris: She So Crazy...Again

Seriously, gang, this is slowly but steadily moving from a humorous in a disasterous-for-Republicans kind of way to an outright pathetic for everyone-involved-in-politics kind of way.  We're not even sure where to start.  It seems that Representative Katherine Harris can't even sneeze without screwing it up.  She'll sneeze, only at the same time she'll let out a fart, too.  It'll be one of those sneeze-farts, where you sneeze, but the fart is just as loud, or louder, even, than the sneeze, and they kind of interrupt each other, leaving you somehow unsatisfied and the people around you wondering what is wrong with you.  And then she'll accuse Bill Nelson of passing gass, and then every headline in the country will read "She Who Smelt It, Dealt It."

Jesus, let's just start with the money.  According to the Associated Press this week:   

Katherine Harris gave her campaign $3.5 million to run for Senate, but then took back $100,000 to finish renovating her "historic home in Washington, D.C.," her campaign revealed Friday.

What?  What?  What?  Wasn't this Daddy's money he left her in the will?  Wasn't this her "putting it all on the line," as she told a vaguely embarrassed-looking Sean Hannity.  Apparently, the idea is to fix up the house, then sell it.  To fund the campaign.  You know, not even Mafia money launderers go to this much trouble.  What on Earth is she doing?

The news got worse this week, according to the Orlando Sentinel (read their story on it here:link).  Staff Writer Jim Stratton's story does not paint a pretty picture.  It starts:

Federal investigators have interviewed U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris' former top political strategist about the congresswoman's dealings with a defense contractor at the center of a widening Capitol Hill corruption probe.

Political consultant Ed Rollins confirmed Monday that Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents recently questioned him for two hours in Washington. He said the discussion focused on Harris' dealings with Mitchell Wade, a defense contractor who funneled $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Harris and also bribed a former California congressman.

Wade, who is cooperating with federal authorities, pleaded guilty to giving the illegal donations to Harris in 2004. He also admitted trying to curry favor with her in 2005 by offering to hold a fundraiser for her U.S. Senate campaign in Florida.

Rollins would not discuss his conversation with Justice investigators, saying only: "I assume more [interviews] will be coming, though. They were very serious."

Yeah.  That can't be good.  We would've suggested that perhaps the Congresswoman confer with her staff, but she can't.  Because they all quit.  Jeremy Wallace over at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune covered this one (read it here:link).  He's covering Representative Harris' home-town beat.  He's a busy man.  Maybe the the busiest man in journalism today.  We salute you, Jeremy.

Five top-level campaign workers left Katherine Harris' campaign for Senate on Thursday, the second time a group of staffers has walked away from her sputtering campaign.

"Sputtering" seems an awfully harsh term.  Harsh, but accurate.

With less than two months until the Sept. 5 Republican primary, political watchers say she'll be scraping the bottom of the barrel for new workers.

"All the good people have long been taken," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

The campaign defections on Thursday included campaign manager Glenn Hodas and field director Pat Thomas.  Both had been with the campaign for about four months.

Three other staffers -- John Byers, Brian Brooks and Stephen Gately -- also handed in resignations on Thursday.  A day earlier, Harris lost campaign communications director Chris Ingram.

Of course, there was the fairly in-depth article in the Miami Herald last week about how Katherine may have, oh, stepped on a few toes by insulting Joe Scarborough (R-Scarborough Country).  Evidently some poor woman died in his office -- totally not funny -- and Katherine picked up on that.  You know, Katherine, sometimes it really is best to just say, "no comment."  Read the story here:link.  It's bad, people.  It's real bad.

So, it sounds like Katherine Harris has had a pretty rough week. 

It gets rougher.  She had surgery this week to remove an ovarian mass (read how she's doing here:link).  Now, you've noticed how much we care for Representative Harris, but nobody should wish poor health on anyone else.  And that includes us. 

So get your rest, Representative Harris.  It sure seems like you'll need it. ts