I was in my car returning from work that November 2000 evening, listening to Michael Savage rant away, when word came of the press conference she had called. As I anticipated that she was going to allow the clueless, leftist Florida Supreme Court, the Democrats and the media to bully her into backing down, I started tearing up. I said to myself, "They're going to get away with it again. They can't be stopped."
Then Harris stepped up to the mic and said, in effect, 'The Florida Supreme Court says that I make the decision whether or not to certify the vote, and that's what I'm doing!'
It was a feeling that I can only describe in terms of come-from-behind sports victories I have witnessed: Dick Witcher's catch of a John Brodie pass, putting the 49ers in the playoffs in 1972. Dwight Clark's catch of Joe Montana's pass in the 1981 NFC Championship Game against the Dallas Cowboys. Joe Morgan's game-winning homer knocking the Dodgers out of the playoffs in 1982 (returning the favor L.A. did the Giants the day before). Will Clark's single up the middle off the Cubs' Mitch Williams in the 1989 NL Championship Series, sending the Giants to the World Series for the first time in thirty-seven years. And, yes, Mike Eruzione's wrist shot past Soviet goalie Vladimir Myshkin in the 1980 Olympic Winter Games.
I rolled down the window, pumped my fist, honked my horn and screamed like a banshee. The sense of impending doom was replaced by elation. It was that big a moment.
Thanks, Katherine. You have a special place in my heart forever.
Great post - thanks for that!
Being from Philadelphia, it's a little hard to relate to those sports analogies (we're usually the team on the other side, eg., Mitch Williams vs. Joe Carter) but I share your feelings about Katherine Harris. The guts she displayed in the face of a blistering Democrat attack machine (including the liberal "mainstream media") will forever make me proud. It was definitely pump-fist-in-the-air time.