For Harris, a Case of Bad Timing

As U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris weathers a run of downbeat campaign news, a tantalizing story is making the rounds in Republican circles. The story goes that Gov. Jeb Bush was invited, but has refused, to attend a campaign fund-raiser next month for the Sarasota congresswoman who wants to unseat Democrat Bill Nelson.

Well, it's true, but Bush's refusal to go to a Dec. 5 Harris event requires context. The governor told reporters the Tallahassee event falls on the first day of a week-long special legislative session, and Bush is a long-standing critic of legislators using those weeks to raise money.

"I have been asked, and I can't do it the day that I've been asked to do it because that's the day the special session starts," Bush said. "I just don't believe it's appropriate ... I have not been involved in fund-raising during special sessions."

Bush dismissed concerns in GOP circles that Harris' awful poll numbers could be a drag on the ticket next year. "It's way early," Bush said. "Florida politics plays out at the end."

Will he campaign with Harris later on? "Yeah, sure," Bush said, without further elaboration. It didn't sound like a ringing endorsement, but Harris surely will take it. In a Happy Thanksgiving memo to supporters Wednesday, Harris said of her rocky start: "There have been some bumps on the road, but we have turned a new corner."

In another bit of irony, Harris' fund-raiser falls on the same night that Bush has another commitment, carrying out an annual tradition of a reception at the Governor's Mansion for the capital press corps.