Katherine Harris ignored FL Republican leaders when they withdrew support

Sometimes I wonder why I keep coming back to the Katherine Harris campaign for Senator from Florida, but it's a lot like when the fire truck drove past me last night and I wondered what was on fire. The Katherine Harris campaign keeps sending up heavy smoke signals of disaster, but it never burns totally down.

CNN has reported that last May the Florida Republican Party told her bluntly that she cannot possibly defeat the Democratic Senator Ben Nelson, so she should withdraw her candidacy. Ms. Harris' response was (from the CNN report):

"[But] the next day, Harris turned in paperwork to get her name on the September 5 Republican primary ballot.

The letter [from by the Florida Republican Party to Ms Harris May 7] came as Gov. Jeb Bush was trying to get state House Speaker Allan Bense into the race. Bense announced later that week that he would not enter the race. [Snip]

The letter was also signed by national committeewoman Sharon Day and national committeeman Paul Senft.

Harris contended Monday that all three were pressured into signing the letter by "the party elite."

"I knew the background; I knew that pressure was applied," she said. "I knew the motivation and I knew the players, and I knew they had no choice."

The problem for the Republicans is that Katherine Harris will defeat any of the current Republican candidates who are running for the nomination. It's just that she cannot win in the November election when she faces the current Democratic Senator, Ben Nelson.

In attempting to discern why this is happening from between the lines of the news reports I have read since last Spring, it appears to me that Ms. Harris has a lock on the Republican Social Conservatives [Religious Right] who will vote for her no matter what. But once she gets their vote, no one else is likely to vote for her. The result is that she is unbeatable in the Republican Primary, and cannot win the general election in November because no one outside the religious right will vote for her.

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Prior articles on Katherine Harris

• Katherine Harris loses another aide. 07-21-2006
• Some Katherine Harris snark. 06-19-2006
• Katherine Harris loses fourth Chief of Staff. 06-10-2006
• Katherine Harris' problems in the Florida Senate race. 06-06-2006
• Update of Katherine Harris of Florida. 05-22-2006
• Nelson crusing Harris in latest poll. 04-14-2006