Download | play Download | play (h/t Heather)

Tuesday's Worst Persons In The World segment on Countdown featured GOP presidential candidates. First up with the bronze is John McCain, who touted the recent de-Baathification law as proof that the surge is working and we're winning in Iraq. (Anyone else tired of that canard?) Unfortunately for McCain, the reality is that the new law isn't so great, especially for the ex-Baathists it supposedly helps.

The silver goes to Mitt Romney for his silly staged "concerned for the little people" photo op in Marshall with the mother of one of his staffers. By the way, as an eagle-eyed commenter over at Balloon Juice noted, Elizabeth Sachs has been in the news before. Ooooh, it's a sign!

And finally, the gold goes to Rudy "Señor Nuevo Once" Giuliani, whose harsh English-0nly rhetoric has been tempered or rendered ridiculous (your choice) by his pandering to the Hispanic vote in his all-in bid for relevance in Florida, including a visit with Katherine Harris to a bilingual Hispanic mega-church in Miami. ¿Dónde está la double standard, Rudy?

TPMmuckraker :

The stage is set for Rep. Katherine Harris' (R-FL) dramatic last minute comeback. She's down 20 points in the polls. Her campaign is way behind in fundraising ($1 million in the bank compared to Sen. Bill Nelson's $6.8 million). She's a national laughingstock. But she's not giving up. She won't ever give up. In fact, she's even going to sell her Washington D.C. house.

That's right. To prove that she's "committed," Harris has said that she's selling her home to generate campaign funds. Read on...

One of my favorite Democrats, Debbie Wasserman Schultz responds:

Rep. Katherine Harris said this week that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws" and that a failure to elect Christians to political office will allow lawmaking bodies to "legislate sin." The remarks, published in the weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention, unleashed a torrent of criticism from political and religious officials.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she was "disgusted" by the comments "and deeply disappointed in Rep. Harris personally." Harris, Wasserman Schultz said, "clearly shows that she does not deserve to be a Representative."

Katherine Harris has made yet another absurd statement and Keith Olbermann caught it last night.

Video - WMV   Video - QT

So separation of church and state is a "fallacy" because "God chooses our rulers"? Funny, I thought it was the Supreme Court who made that decision. Ironic that this is coming from the key person in the 2000 ballot recount.

Olbermann: "Congresswoman - apparently the Almighty is voting for Nelson this time"

(h/t Mike)

 From Raw Story:

In a lengthy interview with Florida Baptist Witness, struggling U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris asserts, among other things, that the separation of church and state is a fallacy.

"We have to have the faithful in government and over time," the Witness quotes Harris as saying, "that lie we have been told, the separation of church and state, people have internalized, thinking that they needed to avoid politics and that is so wrong because God is the one who chooses our rulers." [emphasis added] read on...  

I wonder how her campaign is faring in "God's eyes?"

Read the whole article. ..

Katherine Harris' attempt to boost her campaign with a series of high-profile endorsements wilted Thursday when none of the officials appeared at her campaign rally and one of them said Harris wrongly included him on her list of supporters.---

Harris spoke in an airplane hangar that seemed to highlight the modest size of the crowd. She said a last-minute location change - required because a tree fell on the hangar where the event was supposed to be held - kept crowd numbers down---Airport officials, however, said no hangar had been damaged by a downed tree and that the rally was held in the hangar that had been originally booked...read on

Lewis Black took "Connecticut's most circumcised Senator", Joe Lieberman to the mats last night on TDS. He even got his digs in on "the kiss" as only Lewis Black can do. Afterwards he got on Katherine Harris and her sudden loss of support by the Florida GOP and then Mike DeWine and his altered 9/11 footage ads.

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This is classic black. He hits on the stories that most of the people out there may not have heard about and gives them that extra zing they need.

TMV:

Katherine Harris' floundering U.S. Senate campaign lost its high-level staff again this week and is groping for a message — which doesn't surprise Republican insiders who trace the seeds of her trouble to the story of ``Joe's dead intern.'' It was Joe Scarborough, host of the prime-time MSNBC show Scarborough Country and a former Pensacola Republican congressman who was courted last summer by national Republicans to run against Harris. But before he could announce he wouldn't, Harris called major donors and suggested Scarborough would have to answer questions about the strange death of a former staff member in 2001, according to two former high-level Harris staff members, a GOP donor and Scarborough...read on

Take the Katherine Harris poll. Did she bring up the "dead intern," yes or no?

They are deserting a sinking ship. 

Political Insider :

A lot of political blogs are reporting Katherine Harris is losing more than just her campaign communications director, Chris Ingram. We reported Ingram’s departure in today’s Herald-Tribune.

The National Journal’s Hotline is reporting through unnamed sources that Harris campaign manager Glenn Hodas and her field director Pat Thomas have also quit. We have received similar tips, but have yet to confirm them. Harris’ remaining staff is denying that there have been more defections. In a statement to the press, her campaign says: “Harris has only accepted the resignation of Chris Ingram.”
Harris’ new campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Marks has not returned phone calls seeking comments, but we are trying to get it confirmed.

Hodas, Thomas and Ingram were all hired in April after her previous campaign staff walked out on her at the end of March.

Continue reading »

Campaign-related news items that wouldn't generate a post of their own, but may be of interest to political observers:

* Not only is Katherine Harris (R) struggling badly in her Senate campaign in Florida, but she's also having trouble breaking through with Republicans. In the latest Quinnipiac poll, Harris trails Sen. Bill Nelson (D), 59% to 26%. According to the poll, only 35% of Florida Republicans want Harris as their Senate nominee.

* In Maryland, a Washington Post poll shows former Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D) pulling ahead in the Dem Senate primary against Rep. Ben Cardin (D), 31% to 25%. In the general election, however, Cardin seems to be in a stronger position, leading Lt. Gov. Michael Steele (R) by 10 points, while Mfume is ahead of Steele by three.

* The AP had an interesting report out of Washington state today on Sen. Maria Cantwell (D), who is struggling in her re-election effort, in part because of her support for the war in Iraq and the consternation it's causing among the state's progressive voters. Unlike Joe Lieberman, however, Cantwell's two primary opponents are largely unknown and have very limited financial resources.

* According to a report in Roll Call, a poll conducted for Jim Webb's (D) Senate campaign in Virginia shows the challenger pulling to within seven points of incumbent Sen. George Allen (R). In the Benenson Strategy Group poll, Allen leads, 46% to 39%.

* And in Minnesota, the two latest Rasmussen polls offer Dems good news in both of the state's major statewide contests. In the open Senate, Rasmussen shows attorney Amy Klobuchar (D) with a narrow lead over Rep. Mark Kennedy (R), 47% to 44%. In Minnesota's gubernatorial race, state Attorney General Mike Hatch continues to lead incumbent Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), 47% to 42%.

-- Guest Post by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report

Katherine and Wade: Dinner for two

"When a corrupt defense contractor took Katherine Harris to a posh D.C. restaurant last year, it wasn't the first time he wined and dined the Longboat Key Republican. Mitchell Wade had taken Harris to dinner at the same high-end restaurant, Citronelle, the year before, a Harris campaign spokesman said Monday...read on"

Katherine Harris: We've turned it around

Katherine just loves Hannity & Colmes. She appeared last night to calm all our fears about her campaign. it was great to hear her say that she turned it all around. She does respectively disagree with that traitor Governor from Florida.

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Colmes asked her about her dealings with illegal campaign contribution from Mitchell Wade. You guys can check into the legal implications she faces over this. Hannity thinks like me. Why would Jeb Bush throw our beloved Katherine under the bus like he did?

News out of Florida is that the Repubs are scrambling since Bense won't run. Mac Stipanovich said:

"I'm not sure anyone knew in advance that her fund raising would be so poor, that there would be so many gaffes, that there would be such a staff turnover."

Herald Tribune: "Polls have shown Harris as much as 32 percentage points behind Nelson, and she has struggled to raise money. She has also struggled to distance herself from questions about her dealings with a corrupt defense contractor, who in February admitted in federal court that he gave Harris illegal campaign donations."

georgia10 says Katherine put her foot in her mouth:

COLMES: Did Mitchell offer to hold a fundraiser for you? And did you ask for $10 million that would have gone to benefit his company?

HARRIS: I asked for an appropriation for an authorized naval program in Sarasota, Florida, which would bring a lot of new jobs. So, clearly -- and, in the future, I had hoped that he would host one for me.

COLMES: So there was a quid pro quo?

HARRIS: There was no quid pro quo, ever...read on

(h/t David)

Jeb Bush: Katherine Harris is a loser

"Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris has dropped so low in public opinion polls that she cannot unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, unleashing his strongest statement yet about her struggling campaign. "I just don't think she can win," Bush said about Harris after participating in an annual memorial for fallen Florida police officers in the Capitol courtyard...read on

 Florida House Speaker Allan Bense is mulling over a bid to get into the race.

Anyone care to come up with some suggestions on how we can all help her stay in the race?

(h/t DH)

Katherine Harris has a new ad

Folks, you can't make this up.

She's better than Nelson because.....she never gives up and she never gives in.