Via WaPo comes a frightening tale: Campaign Gone South
Katherine Harris, who is trying to become a U.S. senator, says she is writing a tell-all about the many people who have wronged her. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to: the Republican leaders who didn’t want her to run, the press that has covered her troubled campaign, and the many staffers who have quit her employ, whom she accuses of colluding with her opponent.
So, it would appear that Harris’ goal is to have no professional relationships left when this campaign is said and done. Well, I guess we all need to have goals…
For example:
Ed Rollins, who managed Ronald Reagan’s reelection to the White House in 1984, said working for Harris was like “being in insanity camp.” He likened her staff to dogs that have been kicked.
And:
Several of her former staffers say they would have kept silent about goings-on in the Harris campaign if Harris herself had not publicly criticized them after they left, accusing them of being bad at their jobs, of putting “knives in my back” and of working with the Nelson campaign. They describe her as a micromanager, unable to trust her staff, prone to tears and rages over tiny things. They say she would rewrite speeches and press releases over and over. She would get upset if an aide hadn’t brought her the correct coffee order from Starbucks. Dornan, the former campaign manager, says Harris was so concerned that only the best photographs of her went up on the campaign Web site that she insisted on going through every picture.
And, quite frankly, she sounds a tad on the edge:
“They can make the polls say whatever they want,” Harris says. She says pollsters sometimes call her house and then hang up ” ’cause we’re not answering them the way they like.”The way Harris sees it, a vast left- and right-wing conspiracy, encompassing both the “liberal media” and the Republican “elite,” is attempting to keep her out of the Senate.
First off: the odds that Harris herself has been polled is quite small, let alone multiple times. And she may have a point about the GOP elite: they wanted someone in that slot who could, you know, have a chance to win.
The piece paints the picture of someone who is borderline unhinged. Its actually quite sad, really–especially considering she is coming apart in public and a hefty personal price tag.
Sphere: Related Content
October 31st, 2006 at 10:40 am
The piece paints the picture of someone who is borderline unhinged. Its actually quite sad, really–especially considering she is coming apart in public and a hefty personal price tag.
It is also pretty incredible to think that she was a key figure in insuring that Bush was awarded Florida in the 2000 election before the all the votes were counted.
Although, I guess it makes sense, in retrospect, that Bush would recruit someone nearly as irrational and out of touch as he is with reality to act as his Florida campaign chair.
October 31st, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Ratoe: The votes had been counted. Twice. She was doing exactly what she was supposed to do as SecState: Enforce the election laws codified by the Florida legislature. That she’s nuttier than a fruitcake doesn’t change history.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Katherine Harris’ Revenge
That Katherine Harris is on the odd side is hardly news. Still, according to reporting by WaPo’s Libby Copeland, Harris appears to be coming unglued.
Katherine Harris, who is trying to become a U.S. senator, says she is writing a tell-all about …
November 13th, 2006 at 6:36 am
[...] Update- Read this Washington Post article on Harris. She is playing the victim and will write all about those who oppose her in an upcoming book. Heavens to Betsy, TFM might become famous.(Cue the sarcastic laughter) James Joyner at OTB and Steven Taylor are also commenting on today’s WAPO article. [...]