Possible Senate Run By Harris Reportedly Concerns Bush
Campaign
By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
November 20, 2003
TALLAHASSEE, FL (Talon News) -- Rep. Katherine Harris (R-FL) recently said she is "seriously considering" a run for the United States Senate seat held by Democrat Sen. Bob Graham. Graham has indicated his intentions to retire from the Senate at the end of his current term.
Harris is best known for her role during the 2000 presidential election in Florida when she certified the election in favor of George W. Bush while serving as Secretary of State during the recount fiasco. Her popularity from that unprecedented event paved the way for her to win a seat in the U.S. Congress in 2002.
Political analysts have said that Harris would be an attractive candidate and would likely be the frontrunner in the race because of her high name recognition.
On the other hand, some Republicans believe that Harris' presence in the Senate race will incite a backlash from Democrat voters who will be reminded of the 2000 presidential election. They say that her candidacy could even jeopardize the chances of President George W. Bush winning reelection.
The Hill recently reported that Bush will likely distance himself from Harris as a precautionary measure in his bid for a second term.
"There's no way the White House will let her run," a legislative aide to a Republican Florida lawmaker told The Hill. "There's just no way the president's going to stand next to Katherine Harris on every stop in Florida in '04."
The Miami Herald recently quoted a senior Republican strategist in Washington who said that Bush is very concerned that if Harris enters the U.S. Senate race "the entire campaign in Florida becomes a rehash of the recount."
But Harris contends that she can help heal the wounds from the 2000 election by exposing the lies that have been spread by the Democrats about the recount efforts.
"I'm the only one that has the opportunity to gut all the inane arguments that they make about the recount, which are really ludicrous," Harris stated to the Miami Herald.
In fact, Harris says she would relish the opportunity to inspire those millions of Florida voters who felt they were cheated in 2000.
"What pains me deepest is the fact that millions of people literally have angst and gut-level pain because they believed they were disenfranchised, that their votes weren't counted, that Al Gore could have been elected if not for one maneuver," Harris expressed to the Miami Herald.
But if Harris does decide to run for the U.S. Senate, then she may have some tough competition from within her own party.
NewsMax.com reported on Wednesday that Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mel Martinez will officially announce his candidacy for the seat within the next two weeks.
Sources tell NewsMax.com that Martinez has been hand-picked to run by Bush strategist Karl Rove after speaking with Sen. George Allen (R-VA), who heads the Senate GOP Campaign Committee.
Martinez says that he is "thinking about it" and that he does not have "a timeline or a timetable on" his decision.
Republicans strategists believe that Martinez would attract Cuban and Latino voters for the GOP if he decides to run, a crucial voting bloc for the Bush campaign in Florida.
As an immigrant from Cuba at the age of 15, Martinez came to America in an effort called Operation Pedro Pan that delivered 14,000 Cuban children to the United States.
Martinez later became the first Cuban-American Cabinet member in U.S. history when Bush appointed him to serve as Housing Secretary in 2001.
He has previously expressed an interest in running for governor of Florida in 2006, but became more attracted to the U.S. Senate race after Graham said he was stepping down.
Meanwhile, Harris is paying close attention to what Martinez decides in the coming weeks. She said that she will likely remain in the House if Martinez decides to run for the Senate. However, she would not rule out conducting public opinion polls of Florida voters to assess her chances with or without Martinez in the race.
If Martinez decides to run, federal law will force him to give up his position in the Bush administration before he may begin campaigning.
There are already a number of candidates in the race on the Democrat side, including former state education secretary Betty Castor, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.
Republicans in the race include state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, political activist Larry Klayman, former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, and state Sen. Dan Webster.
Copyright © 2003 Talon News -- All rights reserved.
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