Straughn
09-05-2006, 09:29
A little while ago i started a brisk thread about Katherine Harris's publicity of intent to Senatorship, with her positives being basically an augment in the torso and horse-riding (or at least mounting) skill(s).
There is a happy sequel to that thread, being this one.
I note however that it's a bizarre public quip that the Bush family is willing to go public/on record as biting the hand that truly fluffed - er, fed them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-briefs9.3may09,1,2828701.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Gov. Bush Says Harris Can't Win Senate Seat
From Times Wire Reports
May 9, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush said in Tallahassee that Republican Rep. Katherine Harris has dropped so low in public opinion polls that she cannot beat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November.
"I just don't think she can win," Bush said in his strongest statement yet about his fellow Republican's struggling campaign.
The governor has made no secret that he hopes House Speaker Allan Bense will challenge Harris for the Republican nomination.
The deadline for entering September's primary is Friday.
"With all due respect to the governor … we know we can win," Harris told reporters.
--
With a little more in-depth ...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/14532891.htm
GOP urges challenge to Harris Senate bid
Powerful Florida Republicans made it clear that they will back someone other than Katherine Harris for the U.S. Senate.
TALLAHASSEE - On the day Katherine Harris made it official that she is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, her colleagues in the Republican Party made it clear they are ready to work for somebody else -- someone they believe can actually defeat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
The man of the hour: Allan Bense, 54, an affable, get-along politician from the Panhandle who is finishing out his term as speaker of the state House of Representatives.
The loudest voice Monday against Harris' troubled campaign came from the most important Republican in Florida: Gov. Jeb Bush.
''I just don't believe she can win,'' Bush said.
The governor is using his considerable influence to persuade the Panama City lawmaker to take the plunge by Friday's filing deadline for the Senate race.
Many of the governor's financial supporters say they're ready to open their wallets. Legislators say they'll give Bense access to their political networks. And those closest to Bense say he is finding the offers of help increasingly enticing.
''The governor's clear affection for him will open a lot of pocketbooks,'' said John Thrasher, a former House speaker and Bush advisor. ``They're waiting to find out, when does the real game start? And the real game starts this week. I think he's going to get in.''
Bense, who did not return calls Monday seeking comment, spent much of the day talking to Republicans from South Florida to Washington, D.C., to assess the pluses and minuses, said Towson Fraser, his communications director.
''There aren't a lot of minuses,'' Fraser acknowledged. ``To run a campaign on this time schedule with immense support is hard to find.''
BETTER TIMING
Bense supporters say there are three reasons the timing is better now than last year, when Bush and White House political strategist Karl Rove first tried to recruit the House speaker to take Harris on:
• Bense is now finished with the last regular session of the Legislature before his term expires and is free from having a statewide candidacy interfere with legislative politics.
• Harris' campaign has been wracked by staff turnover and reports that she accepted $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing another congressman. Harris said she didn't know the contributions were illegal, adding she would give the proceeds to charity.
• High-level Republican contributors are ready to agree to Bense's demands that they back him in the primary against Harris because she enters the race with much higher name recognition and appeal to female voters.
''Before, he didn't have people who were willing to stick their necks out in the primary. Now, people are talking,'' said Al Cárdenas, former state Republican Party chairman.
For example, Fort Lauderdale cardiologist Zachariah P. Zachariah, who co-chaired President Bush's 2004 fundraising in Florida, has not written a check to Harris but said Monday he would be happy to send one to Bense if he gets in the race.
`A FINE CANDIDATE'
''He would be a fine candidate who would give Bill Nelson a run for his money,'' Zachariah said. ``Katherine Harris is a fine lady, but I don't think she can win.''
The value of Bense getting the governor's endorsement and access to his national political money machine cannot be understated, said David Johnson, former political director for the Florida Republican Party and now a national political consultant.
''The governor's endorsement means instant credibility,'' he said. ''It brings a different breed of donor for a federal race,'' where contributions must come from personal checks, not corporations.
Harris, who represents the Sarasota area in Congress, dismissed the Bense talk Monday as speculation and said she has never been a ''part of the club . . . of the establishment elite'' :rolleyes: and wouldn't be one now.
''With all due respect to the governor, because I think he's done an extraordinary job, we can win -- and we've got a start to do so,'' she said as she hand-delivered her qualifying papers to the secretary of state's office in Tallahassee.
After hugging several of her former colleagues who worked under her :eek: when she was secretary of state, Harris paid the $9,726 filing fee to secure her place on the ballot. Until this week, Harris had hoped the only race she would face would be against Nelson in the Nov. 7 general election.
If Bense gets in, she'll now be on the Sept. 5 primary ballot.
''We've always anticipated a primary,'' Harris said. ``We've kept our team rather small in case of that.''
She added she ``would hate to run against [Bense] because I really like him a lot. But I'm ready for a challenge.''
---
What's all this about "standards"?
There is a happy sequel to that thread, being this one.
I note however that it's a bizarre public quip that the Bush family is willing to go public/on record as biting the hand that truly fluffed - er, fed them.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-briefs9.3may09,1,2828701.story?coll=la-news-a_section
Gov. Bush Says Harris Can't Win Senate Seat
From Times Wire Reports
May 9, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush said in Tallahassee that Republican Rep. Katherine Harris has dropped so low in public opinion polls that she cannot beat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson in November.
"I just don't think she can win," Bush said in his strongest statement yet about his fellow Republican's struggling campaign.
The governor has made no secret that he hopes House Speaker Allan Bense will challenge Harris for the Republican nomination.
The deadline for entering September's primary is Friday.
"With all due respect to the governor … we know we can win," Harris told reporters.
--
With a little more in-depth ...
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/14532891.htm
GOP urges challenge to Harris Senate bid
Powerful Florida Republicans made it clear that they will back someone other than Katherine Harris for the U.S. Senate.
TALLAHASSEE - On the day Katherine Harris made it official that she is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, her colleagues in the Republican Party made it clear they are ready to work for somebody else -- someone they believe can actually defeat incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
The man of the hour: Allan Bense, 54, an affable, get-along politician from the Panhandle who is finishing out his term as speaker of the state House of Representatives.
The loudest voice Monday against Harris' troubled campaign came from the most important Republican in Florida: Gov. Jeb Bush.
''I just don't believe she can win,'' Bush said.
The governor is using his considerable influence to persuade the Panama City lawmaker to take the plunge by Friday's filing deadline for the Senate race.
Many of the governor's financial supporters say they're ready to open their wallets. Legislators say they'll give Bense access to their political networks. And those closest to Bense say he is finding the offers of help increasingly enticing.
''The governor's clear affection for him will open a lot of pocketbooks,'' said John Thrasher, a former House speaker and Bush advisor. ``They're waiting to find out, when does the real game start? And the real game starts this week. I think he's going to get in.''
Bense, who did not return calls Monday seeking comment, spent much of the day talking to Republicans from South Florida to Washington, D.C., to assess the pluses and minuses, said Towson Fraser, his communications director.
''There aren't a lot of minuses,'' Fraser acknowledged. ``To run a campaign on this time schedule with immense support is hard to find.''
BETTER TIMING
Bense supporters say there are three reasons the timing is better now than last year, when Bush and White House political strategist Karl Rove first tried to recruit the House speaker to take Harris on:
• Bense is now finished with the last regular session of the Legislature before his term expires and is free from having a statewide candidacy interfere with legislative politics.
• Harris' campaign has been wracked by staff turnover and reports that she accepted $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing another congressman. Harris said she didn't know the contributions were illegal, adding she would give the proceeds to charity.
• High-level Republican contributors are ready to agree to Bense's demands that they back him in the primary against Harris because she enters the race with much higher name recognition and appeal to female voters.
''Before, he didn't have people who were willing to stick their necks out in the primary. Now, people are talking,'' said Al Cárdenas, former state Republican Party chairman.
For example, Fort Lauderdale cardiologist Zachariah P. Zachariah, who co-chaired President Bush's 2004 fundraising in Florida, has not written a check to Harris but said Monday he would be happy to send one to Bense if he gets in the race.
`A FINE CANDIDATE'
''He would be a fine candidate who would give Bill Nelson a run for his money,'' Zachariah said. ``Katherine Harris is a fine lady, but I don't think she can win.''
The value of Bense getting the governor's endorsement and access to his national political money machine cannot be understated, said David Johnson, former political director for the Florida Republican Party and now a national political consultant.
''The governor's endorsement means instant credibility,'' he said. ''It brings a different breed of donor for a federal race,'' where contributions must come from personal checks, not corporations.
Harris, who represents the Sarasota area in Congress, dismissed the Bense talk Monday as speculation and said she has never been a ''part of the club . . . of the establishment elite'' :rolleyes: and wouldn't be one now.
''With all due respect to the governor, because I think he's done an extraordinary job, we can win -- and we've got a start to do so,'' she said as she hand-delivered her qualifying papers to the secretary of state's office in Tallahassee.
After hugging several of her former colleagues who worked under her :eek: when she was secretary of state, Harris paid the $9,726 filing fee to secure her place on the ballot. Until this week, Harris had hoped the only race she would face would be against Nelson in the Nov. 7 general election.
If Bense gets in, she'll now be on the Sept. 5 primary ballot.
''We've always anticipated a primary,'' Harris said. ``We've kept our team rather small in case of that.''
She added she ``would hate to run against [Bense] because I really like him a lot. But I'm ready for a challenge.''
---
What's all this about "standards"?