Republican Lt. Gov. candidate Jeff Kottkamp was spotted shaking hands and chatting with guests, including Republican U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris, at the mega-event with President George Bush and Gov. Jeb Bush, Thursday.A
Posted on 09/21/2006 7:26:13 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
ORLANDO, Fla. - President Bush came to Florida on Thursday and publicly complimented Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) for the first time since she won the GOP Senate nomination over the opposition of her own party.
"I'm proud to be here with Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who is running for Senate," Bush told a crowd of about 400 people at a fundraising event in Tampa.
The brief acknowledgment came after months of unsuccessful efforts by Republican leaders to push Harris out of the race in hopes of finding a candidate they felt had a better chance of winning against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (news, bio, voting record).
Some GOP leaders feared that Harris — who as Florida secretary of state oversaw the 2000 recount that gave Bush the White House — would send Democrats flocking to the polls to vote against her, dragging down the entire Republican ticket.
But now that the party is stuck with her, GOP leaders welcomed Harris as Bush visited Tampa and Orlando on Thursday to raise money for the party.
Bush's remarks came at a fundraising event for Republican congressional hopeful Gus Bilirakis in Tampa. It was the president's first trip to Florida since the Sept. 5 primary.
Harris also joined party leaders at the Orlando event, where the president followed his brother Gov. Jeb Bush in urging the crowd to vote for her.
"The party invited her, and we're glad she's able to attend," said state Republican Party spokesman Jeff Sadosky.
The star of the evening, though, was Attorney General Charlie Crist, the Republican nominee to replace the governor, who is barred from seeking a third term. Crist introduced the president, then sat behind him with Jeb Bush during his remarks. Harris was among several hundred people in the crowd.
Before Harris won the primary with less than half the vote in a four-way race, Republican leaders in Tallahassee and Washington tried to find a candidate who could defeat her. Gov. Bush openly said she couldn't win the November general election, and Carole Jean Jordan, the state party chairman, wrote to her saying the same, although Sadosky noted that both immediately supported Harris after the primary.
"Primaries are a family fight," Harris said before the Orlando event. "They're an internal little feud, and afterward, we come together so we can win."
Harris' Senate campaign has gone into a tailspin. She has been tied to a corrupt defense contractor, given embarrassing television interviews and seen top members of her staff quit in frustration.
Harris trails Nelson by more than 30 points in the polls and by millions of dollars in campaign contributions.
___
Associated Press writer Phil Davis in Tampa contributed to this report.
But seriously, no she's not. If the GOP thought that there was the slightest chance of her pulling out a win in November then she would be drowining in cash. They would be holding $2 million fund raisers for her and not the candidate for governor who is cruising in the polls. This is for a senate seat, for Christ's sake. Not a governorship or House seat. The GOP leadership have conceded the race. They've written her off and are paying lip service to her campaign so that they don't completely alienate her supporters. And when she gets creamed in November then they can cut her off, shrug their shoulders, and sigh, "If only we had had a real candidate."
BTTT!
I couldn't have said it better.
Its a shame they had to bow to the wind instead of acting on principles. America would be well served.
Hey, Marc, I hope she does prove us pundits wrong. I said that a long time ago.
Hey Julie. Where do they get this stuff from?
Nothing but wishful thinking from the "drive-by" L.S.M. who also are brainwashing a few of the "ass-naut" cadet bill nelson's detractors and the usual "poll-freaks" talents who now is calling themselves PUNDITS. Wow - ROFLMAO!
Just heard Ms. Kathrine Harris being interviewed by Sean Hannity here in South Florida where Hannity is on from 6 - 9 PM. She rocks and for sure will be our new jr. Senator for Florida by sending the double face b.n. out of D.C. back into "space" for gooooood!!
She is just fabulous and doesn't give a rip about what or how much the L.S.M., and the "pundits" here are saying about her. We are still living in a great Red State with a fantastic grass-rott movement showing up November 7th!!!
Thanks to 'Spirit' for the photos!
ROFL! Even better than I had imagined!
Oh give me a f*&king break.
They carved her out her own Congressional seat, and she repays them by going apes#!t and losing them a Senate seat.
Thanks a lot.
Glad you like it, waited two days but there doesn't seem to be a current thread.
LOL...
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