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The Buzz: Florida politics

MoveOn takes no chance that Rep. Harris won't run

By Times staff writers
Published April 24, 2005

	Harris

Will she or won't she? A lot of Republicans are speculating on whether U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris will take on Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, but MoveOn.org decided not to take any chances.

Last week the online political group aired radio ads bashing her and nine other Republican members of Congress for supporting the controversial bankruptcy revamping bill signed by President Bush. MoveOn targeted Republicans seen as having bigger ambitions in 2006, and noted that Harris had received $142,000 from companies with a financial stake in the law.

"This new law won't make it tougher for corporate giants like Enron and Worldcom. But the law will burden decent, hard-working people with more debt. The credit card companies sure have a friend in Katherine Harris," says the ad running on several Tampa Bay radio stations.

MoveOn could have said the same thing about Sen. Bill Nelson or Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Davis, who also voted for the bill that consumer groups oppose. Davis has received nearly $118,000 from banking and financial interests, and some Democrat-leaning groups are angry at the gubernatorial candidate for his vote.

David Swanson, coordinator of DebtSlavery.org, called Davis and each of the other Florida Democrats who voted for the bill (Nelson, and Reps. Allen Boyd of Monticello and Kendrick Meek of Miami) a "DINO" for Democrat In Name Only.

MONEY MATTERS: New fundraising reports offer few clues to Harris' plans. In the first quarter of the year, she raised $408,000, a respectable amount, but not overwhelming for her. Because of debts and spending she finished the quarter with about $253,126 on hand. Nelson, meanwhile, raised $1.27-million and finished the quarter with $3.02-million on hand.

SEN. FRANKS? One rumor that refuses to go away: retired Gen. Tommy Franks for Senate. If anyone has the celebrity power to unseat an incumbent senator (or beat Katherine Harris in a Republican primary), the thinking goes, it would be the former U.S. Central Command chief who enthusiastically campaigned for President Bush and Mel Martinez last year.

A spokesman for Franks, now a consultant, said he was unaware of the rumor but declined to put it to rest: "Gen. Franks has no comment on your question right now."

PINELLAS POWER: No Florida county has more open seats and competitive races in 2006 than Pinellas, so it was fitting that the Pinellas Democratic Executive Committee was the first and perhaps only local party to hold a forum for all four candidates to chair the state party.

There was little disagreement between Doug Courtney of Flagler County, state party vice chairwoman Diane Glasser, state House Democratic fundraiser Jeff Ryan or former U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, all of whom impressed the local party activists.

Statewide, Thurman remains the nominal front-runner for the May 7 election, though Nelson has managed to antagonize some local party officials by aggressively backing Thurman by having his staff working to keep Ryan from qualifying as a candidate. Some local party leaders fret that Nelson is intent on turning the party into an arm of his re-election campaign, though Thurman appeared to reassure some skeptics in Pinellas.

"What I heard was that she may be Bill Nelson's candidate, but he maybe did pick the right one," said Pinellas Democratic chairwoman Carrie Wadlinger.

GOOD GOP GIG: Todd Pressman has helped elect Republicans, and now Gov. Jeb Bush is helping elevate his influence over development around Tampa Bay. The president of Pressman & Associates in Clearwater was appointed to the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, commonly called Swiftmud. Pressman is a political and governmental consultant who often represents developers on land use matters. He served on the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council and replaces Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan on the Swiftmud board.

Adam C. Smith and Joni James contributed to this week's Buzz.

[Last modified April 24, 2005, 01:02:20]