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Harris mines those makeup jokes in campaign kickoff

With party support not certain, the Republican congresswoman commits to the U.S. Senate race.

By ADAM C. SMITH
Published August 10, 2005

SARASOTA - Nobody is going to outdo Katherine Harris on Katherine Harris makeup jokes.

She made that clear Tuesday as she kicked off her campaign for U.S. Senate. Aside from promising "to stand up for what's right, speak up for what's needed and rise up to get the job done," she showed a self-effacing side that hometown fans ate up.

"What I really wanted to say is I only trail (incumbent Bill Nelson) by an eyelash, but I know what you guys would do to me," joked Florida's former secretary of state, whose makeup became fodder for late night comics suggesting she overdid it.

The Republican congresswoman from Sarasota recounted her childhood in Bartow, "keeping in touch with my girlfriends, dreaming about the big dance, and hoping we would be asked. And of course that was all back in the time when blue eye shadow was quite fashionable."

Her quips brought roars from roughly 100 supporters gathered in the sweltering gym of a Sarasota Boys & Girls Club.

Harris' makeup leapt back into the news last week when she said in a radio interview that newspapers had doctored photos to make her look bad. On CNN, Bob Novak and James Carville weighed in on the matter, and Novak wound up suspended from the network after cursing while talking up Harris.

"Bob Novak, my good friend and defender, I sure do wish he were here. But I think he's still locked in a blue room somewhere," Harris joked.

Harris declared her candidacy in early June, but her higher-profile campaign kickoff Tuesday appeared likely to quell efforts by Republican leaders to recruit an alternate to take on incumbent Democratic Sen. Nelson.

"My job is done," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who had unsuccessfully encouraged Republican state House Speaker Allan Bense to run, even after Harris announced her candidacy. "I hope that Congressman Harris runs a strong race and she'll be a good candidate. Bill Nelson is very vulnerable."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee is still talking to prospective Republican candidates, spokesman Brian Nick said, but "the window's closing."

Harris, 48, is scheduled to campaign at Gorrie Elementary School in Tampa this morning as part of a Florida "listening tour." She promised "a road map for change that remains heavy on security and light on taxes; strong on defense but even stronger for those who man our defense; for health care not limited by cost or availability; and relief for those in trouble that bridges every storm while harboring no excuse for delay."

Democrats promptly challenged her promises to fight offshore drilling, saying she supported a bill that environmentalists worried could limit states' ability to control their coastlines. They criticized her for not taking a position on President Bush's plan to divert some Social Security money into private investment accounts.

Times staff writer Joni James contributed to this report. Adam C. Smith can be reached at 727 893-8241 or adam@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 10, 2005, 00:36:13]