Redstate

None really have much of a chance.  Although of the crowd, I've heard the most buzz about McBride.  Nelson scores above 60% against all of them right now.  And with the GOV race taking most of the money and media, I don't see how a low-level candidate can break through.  Harris should have dropped out before the primary which would have allowed a viable candidate to take a shot.  They were cowards, which is unfortunately but not surprising.

No one encouraged her to run.  Gov Bush, Pres Bush, Karl Rove, and every other major RNC poo-bah opposed her running.  She did this out of hubris and it hurt the party.  This should end her political career if people have memories.

Political ambitions at the same time. I don't think it would have been possible to have done a worse job at recruiting senatorial candidates. She could've sent people out to slash the tires of any good candidates and scratch an invite to run into their car with a key and she would've received about the same response. Worse to me than the situation in FL are the seats we are taking a bye on in very cheap, very red states (like ND).

5 hours ago.

"If I had permitted my failures, or what seemed to me at the time a lack of success, to discourage me I cannot see any way in which I would ever have made progress. " - Calvin Coolidge

Why aren't top Republicans being held accountable for the embarrassment and failure that is Katharine Harris when it comes to this Senate race? This was a Senate seat that should have been hotly contested by Republicans. Instead, Harris will go down in flames.

Why aren't folks like Elizabeth Dole (head of the NRCC) and Jeb Bush (Governor and titular head of the Republican Party in Florida) being held to answer for this?

The same thing happened last election cycle with the Illinois U.S. Senate seat, even in the face of having the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives hail from that state our party could come up with no viable candidate.

Dole could turn out to be a disaster for this election cycle in the Senate. Norm Coleman would have been a better choice for the NRCC position. But Republicans continue to bow to legacy candidates.

It is because of places like RED STATE that held Republicans accountable. Any one who follows FL politics saw this comeing a mile away. Not to mention it was at the very start of the primaries that we were all saying Harris will not win. Why do you think she had put $10 million of her own dollers up so early. You are wrong. It is places like this that Americans can finally not only be heard but have an effect.

Both Liddy and Jeb should have prevented this debacle. Heck where was Rove?

If we're going to hold people accountable for the Republican party of Florida nominating Rep. Harris, then we have to be able to DO something to the people who are accountable.

How are you suggesting we hold them accountable, beyond writing angry letters?

In huge states like Florida and California that generate such large amounts of funds for the Republican Party, better Senate candidates should have been found by the NRCC and the Republican governors of those states. Failing to do so indicates a lack of responsibility and competence.

The tenure of Elizabeth Dole at the NRCC could end up being disastrous. Once again the Republican Party selects the familiar instead of the hungry and most likely to succeed.

What exactly are Florida Republican supposed to do, write a mean letter to the Governor saying "Hey, you're a jerk because we nominated a lousy candidate."

What of substance are you proposing?

run is an embarrassment.

She was and is an awful choice, the GOP could do so much better in Florida, but it appears the GOP wants to hand the DNC a victory rather than try to actually take the seat.

since she was convinced she could "change the democrats" and what she really meant was "make the republicans more liberal," I present a song to entertain, though possibly a little prematurely:

Munchkins

Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!

Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.

Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.

Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She's gone where the goblins go,

Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.

Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.

Let them know

The Wicked Witch is dead!

Mayor

As Mayor of the Munchkin City, In the County of the Land of Oz, I welcome you most regally.

Barrister

But we've got to verify it legally, to see

Mayor

To see?

Barrister

If she

Mayor

If she?

Barrister

Is morally, ethic'lly

Father No.1

Spiritually, physically

Father No. 2

Positively, absolutely

Munchkins

Undeniably and reliably Dead

Coroner

As Coroner I must aver, I thoroughly examined her.

And she's not only merely dead, she's really most sincerely dead.

Mayor

Then this is a day of Independence For all the Munchkins and their descendants

Barrister

If any.

Mayor

Yes, let the joyous news be spread The wicked Old Witch at last id dead!

lyrics ala google

They tried everything to get her to stop campaigning.

Republicans are stuck with what Elizabeth Dole at the NRCC and Jeb Bush as Governor have done in states like Florida where no viable Senate candidate has been found. So since they cannot be voted out of office, they should at least be publicly reproached and questioned for their failure in this regard.

My concern is that because they are named Dole and Bush too many in the Republican Party will look the other way and not criticize their incompetent handling of this situation.

As another Dole once famously said about Bill Clinton, "Where is the outrage?" That is what I suggest and perhaps all that can be done at this juncture.

but that makes it even funnier!

Was that a short joke, Ms. Harris is not a very tall person you know.

Munchkins want to know.

It's the completely scurrilous attacks that have come from, and keep coming from, fellow Republicans (including RedState) that have destroyed the Harris campaign.

When FL elects a Democrat governor this year as well, everyone around here can look in the mirror when they ask "How did this happen?!"

Now gets the Republican nod the race is over.  I still think Harris will get the nomination but this use to be the top race against Democrats now it is hardly on the radar.

...can't let their own self-admiration get too far ahead of the public's admiration (or non-admiration) of them. That's a fatal mistake in politics, unless you're someone like John McCain who's obviously paid his dues in full, and can be forgiven. For the others, the public can't wait to put the swelled head, like Harris, back in their place.

start a "Draft Tommy Franks" campaign?  Is it too late for that?

I'm really not against Kathy Harris.  I just don't think that she can win.

Florida is trending Republican.  I'd love to pick up a senate seat there.

The job of the NRCC and Republicans at the highest levels is to recruit candidates, among other things. At this point I would be satisfied with Republicans at large and the conservative blogs and any conservative publications putting the heat on Elizabeth Dole for having handed U.S. Senate elections in states like California and Florida to incumbent Democrats without a fight. Shame on the Republican governors of those states as well for failing to recruit more viable candidates. Even if those seats were unlikely to turn over, they should have had more competitive candidates recruited on the Republican side in order to at least tie up and diffuse Democrat money. Now the Democrats can consider Feinstein and Nelson locks and spend the extra money to topple Burns and Santorum.

The problem with the Republican Party is that if you are named Dole or Bush or are either rich or a celebrity (like Schwarzenegger) you are given a free pass and not held accountable.

To imply that nothing substantive can be done is ridiculous. Candidate recruitment is a vital function for any political luminary.

I'm a Florida resident.  How do we start a "draft Franks" campaign.  I'm sure he's got better things to do in his hard-earned retirement.  But, who knows...

Does the ovarian mass produce hormones? Tumors of the adrenal glands do, and the host is usually a mess as a result.

I have been previously supporting her, in the face of many obstacles (poll numbers not the least among them).  At this point it seems untenable, and I must join the crowd at RS.  And I must say, the gathering rumors from the inside of someone 'difficult to work for' -- which if true, REALLY burns my citizen-legislator-loving cookies.  I don't care to root for a GOP version of Sheila Jackson Lee, the most obnoxious person in Washington.

And I guess the good news is that there is still time for another GOP candidate to gain momentum, win the primary and carry that momentum into a dogfight with Nelson.  This mass exodus of Harris's staff will hurt her chances in the primary quite a bit I would think.  Is it enough?  

Of those who are running in the primary (I believe they are Monroe, Collins, McBride, and Noah), is any of these considered a possible threat to Nelson?