Miami Herald: (Katherine Harris) Shying away from reporters

[brooklynite]

BY MICHAEL PUTNEY

I talked to Katherine Harris the other day, and it wasn't easy. Not the talking part, the finding-the-candidate-and-getting-permission-to-talk-to-her part.

The two-term Sarasota congresswoman and star of Florida's 2000 election was perfectly willing to go on Fox News last week to field some soft balls from Sean Hannity about her new and improved Senate campaign. But she canceled a news conference two days later with Florida reporters and was not available to sit down with me for 12 minutes of free TV air time on Sunday even though she was in town.

I eventually caught up with Harris last Saturday at one of her ''grass fire'' campaign events in Fort Lauderdale. Speaking to about 30 people at a restaurant, she spent a lot of time talking about her commitment to keeping Florida ''strong in job creation,'' building adequate infrastructure and making sure we have enough evacuation routes during hurricanes. She also scolded the media for ignoring her sponsorship of ''Carlie's Law,'' named for Carlie Brucia, which calls for harsher probation for anyone convicted of a committing a crime against a child. All well and good, but if she thinks she'll be elected to the U.S. Senate on any of these issues, she's delusional.

...snip...

It looks like Harris is floating merrily along on the far-right side of the political mainstream and can't even see the other shore. It's not just that she sees the world through rose-colored Prada glasses, she sees it through a different prism. Hers is a Weltenschauung based on privilege and plutocracy. As the granddaughter of one of Florida's great citrus and cattle barons, Ben Hill Griffin, you can understand why. But Harris gives no sign of understanding or even empathizing with the plight of Floridians who struggle to find a decent job, make their mortgage payments, buy groceries or see a doctor when they get sick.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14155490.htm

[graywarrior]

1. Take it from someone who sees her often in Sarasota

She's not in touch with reality.

[wordpix2]

2. how can she relate to middle class Floridians when she has $10 mil to burn

Most Americans wouldn't see that much money in a lifetime of work, much less blow through it in 8 months of campaigning

[AndyTiedye]

4. The $10M Campaign is the Cover Story. They'll Really Spend only $10,000…

…on some "custom" programming for the voting machinez, and
then credit the "Ten-million-dollar campaign" for her "victory".
The media will love that, since it would sucker other candidates
into blowing vast sums on TV advertising, while the ones they want
get all the free media they need.

[mitchum]

6. I think that you are absolutely correct, Andy

[cliss]

3. This is getting amusing....

Little Miss Fix-It made sure Bush got his dirty votes in Florida in 2000. From then on, she's been a "rising star" in the Repub party. About 1 year ago, though, the Repub party started getting tired of her. They (politely) asked her to give up her candidacy for the Senate.

She fumed. "After all I've done for that family (= meaning, the Bush's). She feels she earned the right to be in the Senate!

Time has proven her to be a fool and an idiot. On Sean Insanity last week, she sounded like a little child, spouting Biblical prophecies and wanting to do "God's will". Looks like she learned from her tutors!

At this ugly stage, the Repub party wants to wash its hands of her. She's a liability. But it's touchy because they can't make her angry and upset, because she'll go public on how they stole the election in 2000.

What to do? Let her spend Daddy's $10 million, but make sure she loses. Case closed.

[mitchum]

5. She's too busy with trampoline practice