Is The GOP Harris-ing Good Candidates?

by Kerry Thomas

March 23, 2006

Thee are at least two national-level political races in 2006 where the GOP is hanging well-qualified conservative candidates out to dry. Neither of these situations have caught the attention of the national media – yet.

You may remember Katherine Harris, the former Florida Secretary of State who captured the nation’s media attention during the 2000 Presidential race. You remember the recounts, hanging chads, and the battle over election certification.

In 2002 Katherine Harris was elected to the House of Representatives in Florida’s 13^th Congressional District, and was re-elected in 2004. Now she’s running for the U.S. Senate in Florida, and receiving little support from the Florida GOP.

In Wisconsin, Assemblywoman Terri McCormick is a candidate in that state’s 8^th congressional district race. The current Congressman from that district, Republican Mark Green, is leaving Congress, in his bid to become Wisconsin’s next Governor. This leaves that seat open and a prime target for the Democrats.

Last year, Wisconsin Assembly Speaker John Gard was exploring his own run for Governor. Then Mark Green, one of John Gard’s former Wisconsin Assembly colleagues, announced his candidacy. Shortly thereafter, Gard announced he was running for Congress.

Gard lost no time seeking endorsements from prominent national politicians, and the campaign money that comes with them. The Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW) invoked a special rule to allow national Republicans to steer PAC money to Gard, in violation of the Party’s public policy of non-endorsement of competing Republican candidates prior to a primary election.

McCormick waited until her work in the Assembly was almost finished, continuing to serve the people of her legislative district as she has for the last 6 years. When the legislature adjourned for the year, McCormick then focused her energies on her Congressional bid.

She began making the customary campaign rounds, paying courtesy calls to the Republican leadership in Washington, only to find that Gard had already been there. She was told in no uncertain terms that the RPW had given permission to the national Republicans to fund Gard’s campaign, leaving her out in the cold. Gard was buoyed by the endorsement of Green, who seemed not too shy about using his Washington contacts to help Gard’s campaign, even sharing campaign headquarters with his former Assembly colleague. And Gard never fails to mention in his campaign literature what a good friend he is to the retiring Congressman.

The Republicans know that this race is going to be a real battle with the Democrats. Outside special interest groups on both ends of the political spectrum are racing to see who can throw the most money into this race. It’s a district that leans Republican, but the GOP senses it’s own vulnerability this year. With the exception in 1996 of former Green Bay television anchor (and subsequent Director of the U.S. Mint) Jay Johnson, the 8^th District has sent a Republican to Congress for more than 25 years. Republican strategists are hoping that trend will continue in 2006.

The Republican candidate who wins the primary election in September will most likely go on to be the next Representative from the 8^th District. So the RPW has waived its normal rules about endorsements and allowed national Republican leaders to take sides in this race before the voters have been allowed to cast a single vote.

While Gard is eagerly courting these national figures and outside special interest groups, McCormick is focusing her efforts on winning the votes of the people of Wisconsin’s 8^th Congressional District.

Back in Florida, lacking the support of her own Party, Katherine Harris has announced she will finance her own campaign, pledging some $10 million in personal funds, inherited from her father, to win her Senate race. This will at least keep her competitive with her Democrat opponents, for now. But her Party continues its efforts to try to recruit another candidate to run on the GOP ticket, rather than putting their energies into Harris’ campaign. So far, they haven’t gotten any takers.

The actions of the Republican Party in these races is just too reminiscent of the days when politics was conducted in smoke-filled back rooms, out of the public view. It shows a definite arrogance on the part of GOP leaders, when they make statements like, as one GOP official put it, “Who knows better (than us) who the best candidate is?”

Has the GOP grown arrogant with power? It took the American voters 40 years to throw the Democrats out of power in Congress. The Republicans won control in 1994, and set out on a mission to change the way things were done in Washington. Now, only 12 years later, we see the GOP succumbing to the same inane lust for power that brought down Democrat rule in Congress.

We see small stories coming to light here and there, stories about Republican leaders ignoring some of their most qualified candidates in favor of those who agree to “play the game.” It’s the GOP Harris-ment factor. As a result, in race after race, we’re getting the same old stale career politicians, with little or no real world experience, being proffered as candidates, as career politicians use these races to advance their own political careers.

Instead of getting candidates with new perspectives and fresh points of view, we end up having to decide whether we will cast a vote for the lesser of two evils, or just stay home and not vote on election day. Republicans used to embrace these fresh candidates; now they’re seen as a threat to the status quo.

As President Bush said on January 26, 2006, “People are not happy with the status quo.”

© 2006 Kerry Thomas ~ All Rights Reserved