Sunday, August 06, 2006

KATHERINE HARRIS' POLITICAL OBITUARY

The former Florida secretary of state, now a congresswoman, is so far behind in her race for U.S. Senate that it's almost impossible for her to win.

The Palm Beach Post publishes a detailed account of Harris' doomed campaign. A couple of eye-popping disclosures:
She chastised speechwriters, press secretaries, fund-raisers, even travel aides who drove her from one event to another.

For those travel aides, a top priority was to get her Starbucks coffee, no matter where she was campaigning, "and God help him if it wasn't hot," an aide said

Several aides said Harris was so obsessed with Starbucks coffee she insisted that Starbucks locations be mapped out when she was traveling from one campaign stop to another. ...

Standing outside a Starbucks in Sarasota, Harris was berating a campaign aide as customers at outdoor tables sat watching.

Two days earlier, she had left some books in the aide's car as he drove her to campaign events in Florida. That night, when she returned to Washington, she called the aide and told him to send the books to her right away. He sent them the next morning by FedEx, but Harris returned to Sarasota that day before the books arrived.

"She kept saying 'I need those books. Why didn't you get them to me?' She wouldn't let it die," said the aide, one of more than a dozen key staffers who have quit Harris' campaign for the U.S. Senate this year. ...

In interviews with The Palm Beach Post during the past three weeks, six of those former aides, three of whom did not want to be identified, have described Harris as a temperamental boss who routinely yelled at staffers, belittled their intelligence, criticized their efforts, micromanaged every aspect of her campaign, and was ungrateful to those working for her.

"We used to call her 'The Hurricane' because she would spin completely out of control over the smallest things," said Jim Dornan, Harris' first campaign manager, who quit last fall.
Blown away.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, the Kerry campaign had to put up with Teresa...

Anonymous said...

This doesn't have anything to do with anything, but you know Roy Blunt's wife looks like Harris...

Anonymous said...

And Roy looks like Ned Reynolds...

Anonymous said...

Hey, that nickname is already taken locally! Damn it, those copy cats!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like she studied under newspaperman Gordon Nordquist.

Anonymous said...

Naw ... Gordon had a more successful campaign.

I used to call him "Floyd". He thought it was a compliment -- Floy the Barber from the Andy Griffith show. Nope -- "Floyd" after Floyd R. Turbo, the Johnny Carson character who always wore the red plaid hunting cap with the earflaps down ....

Anonymous said...

Teresa was one of the few interesting aspects of an otherwise boring and ultimately very frustrating Kerry campaign.

Harris is a Republican who has less shame than a pavement princess.

Anonymous said...

Tuh-re-sah struck me as being one of those who knew Spanish, like:

"Manuel, the pool needs cleaning."

A snooty, rich liberal, in other words.

Anonymous said...

Teresa Heinz Kerry really shone at the Democratic convention. Delivered her opening statement, fluently, in five different languages.

For some reason intellectual achievements seem to disturb right-wingers.

Anonymous said...

Marcus said:"For some reason intellectual achievements seem to disturb right-wingers."

Hell, having A BRAIN disturbs right-wingers. Desdinova the Eternal Light

Anonymous said...

Who cares if she can speak five languages. Big whoop.

It's not the fact liberals have brains that disturbs "right-wingers" it's just that Marty Feldman delivered it to them.

Anonymous said...

You are licking your chops and clearly seeing her demise as a vendetta for 2000 in Florida.

It's must be sad to be a supporter of a party that draws its energy and momentum from an others' failure.

It's almost as good as getting Nixon again, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

It's a lot worse than getting Nixon again, Newtie.

At least Nixon eventually got us OUT of Vietnam. The idiot currently occupying 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue still sees a light at the end of the Iraq tunnel.

Anonymous said...

Hey, anon, that "idiot" as you call him isn't as stupid as you would like to believe. He was smart enough to gain GOP seats in the 2002 elections and won re-election in 2004.

Bush is no idiot.

It's typical, though. No liberal ever sees light at the end of any tunnel. Because if there was a light, that would mean hope. That would mean an end is in sight. And if there was an end in sight, well, that would spell the end of them.

Anonymous said...

Newt, quit being such a flaming asshole. Just because a person disagrees with you doesn't instantly make him or her a "liberal."

Ron Davis said...

Anon: Enough with the profanity. You can disagree with someone without stooping to profanity.

Anonymous said...

You know Newt, ordinarily I'd ignore you because as anon above points out, you're just a flaming asshole with an opinion. Basically, your ilk are a dime a dozen. There are plenty of folks who post here at Ron's blog who are both liberal and conservative who try to have a dialogue without flaming anyone or throwing invective around. You, and a few others (on both sides of the political fence I might add), seem to get off on trashing people. It's childish and ridiculous. Your comments rarely, if ever, add anything to the conversation you merely try to throw gasoline on a fire that doesn't need to be fanned any further. Quit blog squatting. You want to throw invective around? Start your own blog and then we can all be trolls on your site and see how much you like it.

Anonymous said...

Ron, I apologize. Let me rephrase:

Newt, quit being such a flaming anus.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see. Anon refers to Bush as an idiot and I'm the flamer. Right.

As the old saying goes, it isn't the heat. It's the humility.

Anonymous said...

Back to the original topic...
Was it not clear during her first campaign that Harris was a loon?
Regardless of your political affiliation, it was quite obvious during her first campaign that this woman was 100% whack.
True, she had name recognition and a complete lack of self-conciousness, but who was the first person who looked at this train-wreck of a human being and thought, "She should be a Congresswoman!"????

Anonymous said...

"... who was the first person who looked at this train-wreck of a human being and thought, "She should be a Congresswoman!"????"

Bush cronies who needed to reward her for Dubya's "victory" in Florida.

Anonymous said...

Oh.
I guess that explains it.
I'd need proof to go to press with it, but there does seem to be a pretty obvious reward and punishment system in place with the Cons.
Thanks for the answer!

Anonymous said...

Poor Cynthia McKinney... will she start griping about how "the Jews" cost her THIS election, like she did when she lost the last time? ;)