Harris Graps at Straws

By Kanrei

When I first heard Katherine “Wicked Witch” Harris was planning to run for Senate in Florida I was giddy with excitement. I did not think she could get the nomination, but I really hoped she would. I had dreams of the train wreck that was to come if she won and she did and it has exceeded my expectations.

Harris has been involved in more scandals than the entire G.O.P. this election season and it has been a joyous thing to watch. She has lost campaign managers, been linked to dirty campaign contributions, has expressed a complete lack of historical knowledge, and basically said every wrong thing that a candidate could say. So far I have yet to see a single Bill Nelson campaign ad and I do not blame him. She is wrecking her own campaign.

It now appears that she is going to win in November if a recent poll is to be believed. According to her website she won a recent straw poll beating Nelson 54% to 45%. The site claims she is “engendering tremendous grassroots support” in Florida. The poll was conducted at the Lakeland Bi-Annual Politics in the Park held last Thursday.

In accepting the results a gracious Katherine Harris said “I appreciate the strong support of a majority of voters who are disillusioned with Bill Nelson’s lack of leadership and his record of voting against Florida’s best interests.” The only problem with this entire story is that the poll itself is a fraud.

Bill Rufty of The Ledger confirms an immediate suspicion I had about this poll. He reports that the only people to vote in the poll had to pay $25 to do so. He further states that the straw poll at the Politics in the Park is known to be a situation “where both sides have been known to buy extra tickets for family, friends and co-workers.”

This is not an offense of any sort because the straw poll is not a serious poll. The sponsors and participants know it is just for fun. Well, everyone but Katherine Harris who sent the results out in a state wide press release. More recent polls show Nelson beating Harris 53% to 35% or so.

This is just plain embarrassing for the Harris camp to be honest. It is almost as bad as falling for a story from the Onion. She comes ahead by only ten points in a fixed race and is predicted to lose by fifteen. To top it off, it was a poll done on not only those attended the Politics in the Park, but also paid the money. We are talking about a sample pool of below zero.

I am so happy Katherine Harris is in the race this year. There is really not much on television to watch and her campaign is giving me some ideas for a sitcom next season. I have said too much about it. Just watch for the “Harris Follies” on Fox because they buy anything.