Politics - WSJ - Katherine Harris Battles Old Friends For Florida's Keys

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WSJ.com

Katherine Harris Battles Old Friends For Florida's Keys
Despite Role in 2000 Recount, Her Senate Bid Is Souring; Jeb Bush Speaks Bluntly

By JOHN D. MCKINNON
Wednesday, May 10, 2006; Page A1

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Katherine Harris, overseer of the Florida recount that tipped the presidency to George W. Bush, is gunning for a U.S. Senate seat. But instead of gratefully supporting her, the Republican establishment just wishes she'd go away.

Democrats are having a field day with the candidate's entanglement in a Washington lobbying scandal as well as her uneven political touch -- she once made a speech about a terrorist plot that didn't exist. She's badly trailing Democrat incumbent Bill Nelson in the polls. A slew of staffers have quit her campaign, frustrated by her management style and her tendency to ignore their advice, in particular the suggestion that she forget the whole thing.
[Katherine Harris]

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, told reporters at a recent press briefing that he warned Ms. Harris about becoming a distraction, given the high degree of animus that still surrounds her. "The campaign can't be about her," Gov. Bush said. "I gave her that exact advice. Since then, it's gotten worse."

Last week, Gov. Bush mentioned that some were encouraging state House Speaker Allan Bense to run for the Republican nomination. The filing deadline is Friday. "He would be a great United States senator," Gov. Bush added.

Two days ago, the governor was at his most blunt: "I just don't think she can win," he said.

"I respectfully disagree," responds Ms. Harris, 49 years old, who is currently a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. "Clearly at the beginning of the year he said I could win. Last month he said we could turn it around, and we've done that."

Ms. Harris's troubles started not long after President Bush was elected. In 2001, as Florida's secretary of state, she raised eyebrows by encouraging agriculture officials to study "Celestial Drops," a product promoted by a New York rabbi as a cure for citrus-canker disease. In a test, the drops turned out to be useless.

In 2004, two years after winning a seat in Congress, Ms. Harris gave a speech describing a foiled terrorist plot to attack Carmel, Ind. Local officials later said there was no foiled terrorist plot. Ms. Harris said she'd heard about it secondhand.

In February 2006, the momentum behind Ms. Harris's senatorial campaign suddenly sputtered to a halt. Mitchell Wade, a Washington defense contractor, pleaded guilty to criminal charges that included the bribing of a California congressman. Among the counts was making $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Ms. Harris, funds that came from employees of Mr. Wade's firm who were reimbursed by their boss.

Mr. Wade also treated Ms. Harris -- identified as "Representative B" in the plea agreement -- to a $2,800 dinner at Citronelle, one of Washington's swankiest restaurants, according to Ed Rollins, a renowned Republican campaigner who for about nine months was Ms. Harris's top strategist.

Ms. Harris says, "clearly there was no quid pro quo" between her and Mr. Wade in accepting the dinner and the donations. Chris Ingram, a spokesman for Ms. Harris, says the congresswoman didn't know the contributions were illegal. In a recent written statement, her campaign explained the size of the restaurant tab by noting that Mr. Wade took home several expensive bottles of wine.

Ms. Harris may get trounced by Sen. Nelson in November, but she remains popular with parts of the Republican base, in part because they see her as someone who came through for the cause. In a late April poll measuring potential candidates conducted by Strategic Vision, a Republican public-relations firm, Ms. Harris led Mr. Bense for the nomination by 38% to 21%, with 41% undecided. None of the other current candidates for the primary are given a serious chance.

Her appeal was evident at a recent Saturday afternoon tea held by the Republican Club of the Palm Beaches. As Ms. Harris breezed through her stump speech, the audience, consisting mostly of women in fancy hats, interrupted frequently with applause. "I have a little bit of a history of sticking to my guns," Ms. Harris told them. "And I'm going to."

Longtime friends say she suffers in a political culture that still resists aggressive women. Ms. Harris herself has repeatedly accused newspapers of doctoring photos to exaggerate her makeup.

The Harris campaign looked like a more viable proposition in mid-2005 when Ms. Harris brought in Mr. Rollins, Ronald Reagan's pugnacious former political director, to run her campaign.

Mr. Rollins reminded would-be primary opponents of Ms. Harris's poll numbers among conservatives as well as her formidable bank account. Ms. Harris, who along with her husband is currently worth as much as $37 million, is a member of one of Florida's best-known families. The football stadium at the University of Florida is named for her late grandfather, a citrus and cattle baron who also served in the Florida Legislature.

Ms. Harris worked in commercial real estate and was active in the arts before entering politics. Today she is married to a Swedish-born businessman she met on a blind date at a Sarasota Opera production of Verdi's "La Forza del Destino."

When news broke about Mr. Wade, the Harris campaign was in turmoil. Ms. Harris, increasingly critical of her staff, turned more frequently to Dale Burroughs, a spiritual adviser to the campaign and founder of the Biblical Heritage Institute for the Behavioral Sciences, a Christian counseling service.

Ms. Burroughs told Ms. Harris that the campaign was not a "holy place" because women were dressed provocatively and the men swore and drank, according to Mr. Rollins. Mr. Ingram, the Harris spokesman, says Ms. Burroughs's role in the campaign has been exaggerated. Ms. Burroughs didn't return calls seeking comment.

In March, several senior advisers, plus representatives of President Bush and his brother, suggested to Ms. Harris that she drop out, according to two former campaign officials. Some in the party worried that her controversial reputation would drag down the entire Republican ticket. At one point, her staff scheduled a news conference to announce her withdrawal, only to see Ms. Harris change her mind.

During an interview soon after on Fox News's "Hannity & Colmes," Ms. Harris made public her fresh resolve. "Let me just answer the burning question," she said. "I'm in this race. And I'm going to win." She pledged to spend up to $10 million of her own fortune to do so.

In private, Mr. Rollins recalls Ms. Harris saying God told her to stay in the race -- God wanted her to be a senator.

The strategist says he responded: "Maybe God wants Nelson to stay a senator and that's why he's encouraging you to stay in."

Ms. Harris denies ever making such a comment, saying it would be "so presumptuous" and not in her character. She allows that Mr. Rollins's response is "pretty funny," even though she says he never said it.

Two weeks after the Fox News appearance, on a day dubbed "Bloody Friday" by ex-staffers, Ms. Harris called a meeting at her Tampa headquarters. She told the remaining professionals she was bringing in new blood.

Mr. Rollins didn't attend and quit within days. He's since moved to running other Republican campaigns. Ms. Harris's new team, more closely affiliated with the Christian right, came in and changed the locks.

Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB114722702872148541-EDGVl1yJ2NI94iA7_a1a4ieQBcA_20070509.html

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