Harris's Gambit

GOP consultant Rick Wilson sums up on his blog how the party feels Katherine Harris right now.

Oh...dear...GOD
What in the name of hell was that? It was so bizarre...so completely loco. That sound you heard? It was the sound of Bill Nelson raising $50 million dollars and the Florida GOP swirling down the proverbial political crapper.

Not for nothing did Nelson's campaign manager, Chad Clanton, try to leverage the interview.

From an e-mail sent to supporters: "People are smart; they're informed; and, they're active. However, $10,000,000 spent on attack ads and a willingness to say anything can put a dent in even the most formidable lead. This is going to be a hard-fought battle against a very heavily funded opponent - an opponent who must be beat."

More: "Over the past 30 days, our online supporters have come through big for us by helping to build a substantial fundraising advantage. This support allowed us to make decisions based primarily on strategy, instead of financial constraints. When Harris announced that she will redouble her efforts and start pouring her own personal money into this campaign, I thought about how much your support has already meant and how much it will mean down the road as we work to return Bill Nelson to office."

BTW: Here are some excerpts from the Harris interview.

Harris mentioned her father, who passed away recently, several times during the interview: "He was kind, he was strong. But for me and my mom and my brother and sister, he created a legacy for us. Certainly working day and night I could call him at midnight and he'd still be at his office but he created a legacy of financial security for us, but more importantly he gave us a legacy, his legacy that he lived every -- life of integrity."

She added: "Let me tell you what the truth is. I'm staying. I'm in this race. I'm going to win. And let me tell you how. I'm going to put everything on the line. Everything. Not just my future and my reputation. My father's name. I'm going to take his legacy that he gave to me, everything that I have, and I'm going to put it in this race. I'm going to commit my legacy for my father, $10 million."

Harris noted: "This is everything that I have. And this levels temporarily the playing field, but we are in this race. We are at ground zero. We are recharged, restarting and ready to win."

She was also asked about the lack of party support: "It's been a little surprising, but in January the governor couldn't have been more generous in coming out in his support of me. But quite frankly, for everything else the race isn't going to be won in Washington, D.C. The last time I checked they can't vote for me."

The contrversy surrounding the contributions she received from Mitchell Wade, who also donated to Randy "Duke" Cunningham, also came up. Harris said of the allegations: "If you keep reading on, it says the authorities say that I could not have known. I did not know, and I didn't. ... He promised he was going to bring jobs to my district. And he's a bad guy. But when we found out that he had, at a later date, reimbursed his employees, which by the way, is illegal. ... I took all of that and I did what my father has been committed to for so long. He builds Habitat houses, so we built a home in his name"