After most of her
top staff resigned over the weekend, one might think that
Katherine Harris would find a way to bow out of her $10M "widow's mite" promise and ditch the race all together.
But Noooo... Harris is on the warpath again, but this time against her former staffers. Heaven help them.
Jeremy Wallace of the Sarasota-Herald Tribune
writes:
Now, as she sets about reassembling her campaign staff for the second time, Harris is also changing the locks on her office doors and, according to one published report, blasting the people who left.
Very well, no problems that a little prayer and a new set of locks can't handle... but, just in case, why not throw in a little internecine scolding:
"I didn't know I was going to get the knives in my back from my own party and I'll be honest, it's infiltrated my campaign staff," Harris told a group of about 50 supporters on Saturday, according to Florida Today, a newspaper in Brevard County. "For too long we have been undermined by people in our own party and staffers in our own campaign."
"Infiltrated"? - A vast right wing conspiracy, hmmm, where have I heard that before?
One quibble with an otherwise excellent Jeremy Wallace:
Instead, Harris put $10 million of her own money into her campaign to make up for lagging fund raising.
Harris has only promised to put up $10M and we all know that's a very different thing. I will not sleep well until that money is actually in her campaign account.
At least Harris can take solace in the support she's getting from the republican party:
Officials with the Republican National Committee and the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee refused comment on Harris on Monday.
But, we can be thankful that Katherine is her own woman and is forging ahead with new staff to be announced today.
Which is a good thing for Harris because her office seems to need a little direction:
"Things are changing right now, so it's up in the air," said Jenna Lihvarcik, who put a reporter on hold for several minutes before she could say that her title was communications assistant.
And, to be fair, some staffers stood up for her (off the record):
Several staffers, who asked not to be identified, also said Harris' emotional stability has suffered since the death of her father, George Harris, in January.
Which means I probably have more genuine sympathy for Harris' loss of her father than her own staff. What a thing for staffers to tell a reporter - my goodness!
Perhaps, this will ultimately be her excuse to back out of the race which would be sad (for us). In the meantime, Harris has found some brave new staff and looks set to re-relaunch her campaign today. It looks as though she's going to stick it out at least until the May 12th deadline for others to enter the Senate race.
With Katherine, you never really know, but for now Nelson's seat is looking solid.