6/17/2005
The Martinez strategy again
The Bushes seem about to do to Katherine Harris what they did to Bill McCollum last year: Recruit a different candidate with fewer negatives. The Herald says Florida House Speaker Allan Bense is being positioned to oppose Harris. The St Pete Times says both Bense and Senate President Tom Lee have been urged to run. The front-page Orlando Sentinel story also notes that the national party is not thrilled will Harris and is recruiting Bense.
Like Martinez, Bense is not much known statewide, has a bland public persona, and supports the governor in all things. Harris, however, remains a strong fundraiser. So good that she sucks money out of other Republican races. She's even a great fundraiser for the Democrats.
Less discussed is her rather remarkable inability to handle unscripted situations. (She's been booed at meetings in her own district.) She has received vigorous opposition in a district that should be a sure thing for any Republican and was not endorsed for reelection by the local paper. If she can't play well in ultraconservative Sarasota, how will she do in a statewide race?
The unstated downside to a Bense candidacy is that it could create a mess in the Legislature. Everybody remembers what Johnnie Byrd's run for Senate did to the place. (Representative commentary: "And almost everyone sees Byrd's candidacy for the U.S. Senate and his incessant fundraising as a major part of the problem." - Lucy Morgan.)
Like Martinez, Bense is not much known statewide, has a bland public persona, and supports the governor in all things. Harris, however, remains a strong fundraiser. So good that she sucks money out of other Republican races. She's even a great fundraiser for the Democrats.
Less discussed is her rather remarkable inability to handle unscripted situations. (She's been booed at meetings in her own district.) She has received vigorous opposition in a district that should be a sure thing for any Republican and was not endorsed for reelection by the local paper. If she can't play well in ultraconservative Sarasota, how will she do in a statewide race?
The unstated downside to a Bense candidacy is that it could create a mess in the Legislature. Everybody remembers what Johnnie Byrd's run for Senate did to the place. (Representative commentary: "And almost everyone sees Byrd's candidacy for the U.S. Senate and his incessant fundraising as a major part of the problem." - Lucy Morgan.)
