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Controversial candidate Harris brings campaign to Stuart, Port St. Lucie
By MARGOT SUSCA
margot.susca@scripps.com
July 4, 2006

Lightning-rod political figure Katherine Harris made two Treasure Coast appearances Monday to her Republican party faithful as part of an effort to boost grass-roots support in an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson.

Harris spoke at Republican headquarters in Port St. Lucie and Stuart, pitching tax relief to jumpstart business, tougher immigration laws and heightened border security between the United States and Canada.

"We don't talk enough about the Canadian border," Harris said in Port St. Lucie. "They've got signs written in Arabic up there. The bleeding in America is our borders."

Roxeanna Boyette, 69, who attended the meeting, seemed to be in agreement. Speaking of illegal immigrants, Boyette said, "I hear they're walking right through the woods."

Harvard-educated Harris addressed small groups of between 20 and 25 on Monday, espousing homeland security fixes that included sending unmanned satellites patrolling the nation's northern and southern borders.

The crowds were small, but one political observer blamed the holiday and not the candidate, noting that such compact campaign stops are a growing trend during this mid-term election season.

"You really see the Republicans in Florida trying to make it a more localized election," University of South Florida political science professor Susan MacManus said. "A lot of the candidates are combing the rural areas because the turnout is there."

Today, Harris is visiting one of Indian River County's wealthiest communities after a private invitation to the John's Island Club's July Fourth celebration in Indian River Shores.

"She'd have to be the guest of a member," club Membership Assistant Dennis Dingman said. "This isn't open to the public. You can't even come in the gate unless you're a member or a guest."

Harris spokesman Chris Ingram said John's Island member Winston Hamilton invited Harris. Ingram called Hamilton a "personal friend of Katherine," but said he didn't know much more. He said the connection is personal, not political.

During Monday's visit, even in rooms filled with lifelong Republicans, Harris faced doubts about her ability to attract registered Democrats to her cause, an ability that MacManus says is crucial to winning elections in a state divided almost evenly between the two major parties.

Local Republicans talked about the event that brought Harris to the national stage overnight and that may cause Democrats to tune her out —the 2000 presidential election when, as Florida secretary of state, she declared George W. Bush had won the state.

GOP officials said they have to focus on Democrats willing to hear her message on conservative values. It's a tougher sell for those who automatically equate her face with an Al Gore loss.

"I cannot re-convert a Democrat who is a single-issue person on that issue," said Allen Miller, a state Republican party member from Fort Pierce. "It's a waste of our assets."

Assets generated at the local level are important to Harris' campaign. The national party largely has ignored Harris, a 49-year-old U.S. Representative from Longboat Key who has pledged $10 million of her own fortune towards the campaign. Of the $10 million, Harris said: "It's not enough."

To make up for that lack of support, Republicans such as Miller and Sewall's Point's Cynthia Lucas vowed to push harder passing out flyers and bumper stickers and going door-to-door to get out Harris' message of opposition to abortion and support for the war in Iraq.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Friday shows Harris trailing Nelson by 33 points but it also highlights a trend the candidate is hoping that handshakes and small gatherings will overcome. Of 1,311 residents interviewed for the Connecticut university's poll, nearly one-third said they had scant information to form an opinion.

Kathy Bradley, a 65-year-old Jensen Beach resident, says she was impressed with Harris' 10-minute speech Monday in Stuart, though she is saving her vote and 100 percent backing for a later date.

That type of reluctance also has led some in the part to wonder whether she will also have trouble attracting moderate Republicans in an election in which President Bush's coattails are shorter.

State Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, skipped the event but said the no-show was less national party influence than working in his office and planning the July 4 holiday.

"Please don't take my not being there that I'm not supportive," Pruitt said by telephone. "I've already got an endorsement letter for her and I'm fully supportive."

Staff writer Henry A. Stephens contributed to this report.