Thread: Katherine Harris visits with Hispanic voters in Miami

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/14980162.htm

Posted on Thu, Jul. 06, 2006

Katherine Harris visits with Hispanic voters in Miami

ADRIAN SAINZ
Associated Press

MIAMI - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris shared hugs and hellos in Spanish with potential voters at a Little Havana restaurant Thursday as part of a meet-and-greet campaign to reach Hispanics in the race for U.S. Senate.

Harris told about 75 supporters to ignore past campaign troubles and promised to work to shore up the nation's troubled immigration policy, cut taxes and preserve "traditional marriages" if chosen to join fellow Republican Mel Martinez - the first Cuban-American U.S. Sen..

Harris said "Hola" and "Gracias," which are hello and thank you in Spanish, as she walked into the landmark Versailles restaurant, then began her short speech with a sentence in Spanish thanking those in attendance for their support.

"When they said the president couldn't win, the governor couldn't win, or when I couldn't win as secretary of state, you helped me do it," she said in English.

Harris lags far behind in a general election matchup with incumbent U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Melbourne, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Nelson led Harris 59 to 26 in the poll.

Her campaign has dealt with poor fundraising, an effort by GOP leaders to find another candidate, a complete turnover in core campaign staff, her association with a corrupt defense contractor who gave her $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions and her decision to spend $10 million of her own money on the race.

But optimism and forward progress was the message Thursday - the launch of Harris' campaign in Miami-Dade County, home to more than one-third of Florida's roughly 1.5 million Hispanic voters and almost three-fourths of Florida's Cuban voter population, according to Pew Hispanic Center statistics from 2003. Since the 1960s, Cuban-Americans have been a traditionally republican voting bloc.

Harris also made appearances on Spanish-language talk radio, an influential and indispensable tool for any politician seeking the Hispanic vote in South Florida. Harris also invoked the name of Martinez, who is wildly popular among many Cubans in Miami.

"Every time Mel Martinez votes to preserve traditional marriage or to cut your taxes or make certain that we have a good immigration policy, Bill Nelson votes against it," she said during the speech.

Nelson's campaign manager, Chad Clanton, said Harris has lost all credibility.

Afterward, Harris clarified with reporters her stance on the nation's immigration policy. Harris said she voted for a House bill that would toughen border security but did not support the aspect of the measure that makes all illegal immigrants subject to felony charges.

"I did not support felonizing and that will not be in the final bill whatsoever," she said, adding that she wants a temporary worker program.

Some in attendance said they admired Harris, the former secretary of state, for her role in certifying the results of the contentious 2000 presidential recount, which gave George W. Bush the state's electoral votes.

State Rep. Gus Barreiro, R-Miami, one of a handful of state legislators who attended the event, said voters remember her role in the recount.

"You find true leadership in tough times, not in easy times," Barreiro said. "Here's a public official, in one of our nation's darkest moments, who really showed her character under a lot of adversity and a lot of criticism. She still did her job."

I never could imagine this but as much as I hear from this Harris, I think I'll vote Democrat at least he won't be Bush "s puppet.

and her decision to spend $10 million of her own money on the race.

How much does this office pay on top of the table?

Wow, that's someone who isn't playing the game very well.

Isn't she the queen of hanging chads?

Doesn't she wear cosmetics from the Tammy Fay make-up line too?

Dixie

Just read she got the support of Martinez this morning.

We have no option with Nelson or Harris. Nelson has an F in immigration. He is all for wide open borders and letting any and all come and stay and live off the taxpayer. I have emailed the others running and have gotten no response.

This is a dilemma. However we can vote Nelson out now and then vote Martinez out in 2008. Who wants Katherine Harris....but Bill Nelson has never stood up for the American people on illegal immigration. He's a major panderer and he has to go.

And who are we going to put there? The CAFTA or NAFTA wit a Republican as Harris wont be defeated and Bush will go on and on takin even the SS. Taking our tricks and substituing for mexicans I am a Republican too, tha's why i'm so disappointed with them, threy betraied all their constituints .There are some that are starting to talk, against amnesty, the guest worker etc... but how much can we trust? In Harris certanly not.

Minnie, I don't think she has a chance to win anyway. Our state can't seem to win for losing. We have no place to turn. We can only seem to go from bad to worse. (Ex. Mel Martinez).

Maybe they should scratch us off the map. When we put someone like Martinez in office, all we do is to bring harm to the rest of the country and bring them down too.

Tha's why I don't intend to vote for the Senate only if it will be a close race between Harris and Nelson(Democrat) I'l vote for him, at least he wont be saying amen to everything Bush wants.