WHY DOES THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT FEAR KATHERINE HARRIS SO MUCH? IT'S NOT JUST THE HAIR AND MAKEUP

Today my friend Marc told me about how he got fired from a 6-figure job at a corporate record label. There was one of those endlessly re-occurring shake-ups at the company and the CEO put his arm around Marc and said "Don't worry; you're my guy." Three days later he was called into a conference room and fired by a functionary from the Human Resources Dept. That's the corporate way-- and the George Bush way as well. George Bush claims to be all about LOYALTY, right? Let's forget for a moment how he and Rumsfeld shit on the armed forces and how he and his party have eviscerated veterans benefits. Who should Bush be more loyal to than his former Florida campaign chairman, then Secretary of State Katherine Harris? She took her state's election returns, in which Al Gore, the sitting Vice President, won an irrefutably substantial victory and handed Florida's electoral votes, and the presidency, to Bush. It has made her one of the most hated and derided figures in contemporary American politics. She ran for Congress in a staunchly GOP district and won-- but not resoundingly. And now she wants to be senator. Is Bush supporting her? No way, Jose! Is his brother Governor Jeb (rumored to have been her lover once) supporting her? Even less so. Polls show she is far more popular--inside the GOP-- than any potential Republican challenger. A poll released last week by the GOP firm Strategic Vision highlights questions about Harris' prospects. In the poll, Harris trounces all the other Republicans considering a Senate bid, capturing 52% of the vote, compared to 16% for former Gen. Tommy Franks and 7% for Allen Bense. The right-wing base LOVES her; she's as ignorant, small-minded and bigoted as they are. But the same polls also show she is the least likely Republican to win against the less-than-popular Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson. The Bushes have been frantically beating the bushes to drum up a candidate-- any candidate-- to take her on in the Republican primary. Jeb was betting on House Speaker Allan Bense who withdrew his name from consideration a couple of weeks ago. Other people they've tried to start boomlets for include Lt Governor Toni Jennings, General Franks, CFO Tom Gallagher and Attorney General Charlie Crist. None of them are interested. When semi-closeted gay Congressman Mark Foley tried to get something going for himself, Bush and the Republicans passed (better to go down in flames with a dim-bulb fascist than support a homo, even a closeted one). And their latest bright idea-- to run Pensacola right-wing talk show host Joe Scarborough-- got shot down by Scarborough himself today. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, headed by Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina, had tried to talk Scarborough into challenging Harris. "When party leaders approached me three weeks ago, I told them how difficult a campaign would be this year considering my personal and professional commitments," Scarborough said. "Besides, I never cared for candidates who had to be coaxed into a political battle. Either you feel it in your gut or you don't."

Republicans are noisily fretting about Harris' chances of beating Nelson mostly because early polling shows Nelson may have as much as 85% of independent voters on his side, according to Strategic Vision. Her name recognition is as high as can be and her negatives are prohibitive. The August 20 issue of THE HILL sums it up clearly: "Leading Republicans in Washington — including President Bush’s deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove, and NRSC Chairwoman Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) — oppose Harris' candidacy, saying she cannot beat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) next year, Republicans sources say." In the same article, the disgruntled closet case Foley points out that "White House opposition can be veiled. People plant these little stories attributable to ‘unidentified Republican sources,’ ‘people close to the White House.’ … You don’t get a phone call, ‘Mark, it’s Karl.’ It’s this subtle, parlor game that nobody can put fingerprints on.”

Why is this so important to Bush? If the Democrats take the Senate-- and with DeWine (OH), Santorum (PA), Burns (MT), and Talent (MO) all floundering badly while competitive races loom for GOP seats in Arizona, Rhode Island, Tennessee and possibly Nevada (if Reid gets off his ass and recruits a candidate), this is not out of reach-- Bush's last 2 years in office will be all about investigations of the unprecedented corruption, mismanagement and malfeasance of his ill-starred administration. So they have to try to pick off a couple of weak Democratic seats. Nelson, who is not loved by progressives because of his right-of-center position on virtually everything-- is one of two vulnerable Democratic incumbents. Polls show that widespread and passionate antipathy for Harris will unite progressives and moderates to turn out overwhelmingly for Nelson, something that would not happen with a less polarizing Republican candidate. That's the conventional wisdom. Is there more?

Follow the money. The GOP is sitting on a volcano of corruption charges everywhere. And wherever there are corruption investigations, with dirty money changing hands, Katherine Harris' name always surfaces. For instance, if you've been reading this blog you know how defense contractor MZM and it's CEO Wade Mitchell have been caught bribing Randy "Duke" Cunningham of San Diego and how Cunningham-- who will soon be headed for federal prison-- has agreed not to run for Congress again. Well, guess who Katherine Harris' #1 donor was in her 2004 re-election bid. According to the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics, MZM gave her $50,000. What makes it worse is that individual MZM employees have complained to the FBI that they were coerced into contributing to Harris (which is clearly illegal). Harris has made an extremely half-assed offer to refund the money. There is a LOT of Harris dirt that will be coming up as her Senate race unfolds.