Katherine Harris’ “Imploding” Campaign

U.S. Rep and former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris wanted to explode on the national scene in her race for Florida’s Senate seat and she most certainly has.

Well, the actual word being used is “implode”:

The last of U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris’ key staffers appear ready to abandon her campaign for the U.S. Senate in a wave of resignations expected to start this weekend.

Sources close to the campaign said Friday that the defections would touch virtually every level of her operation.

Harris, who is running against Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, is likely to lose her chief political strategist, her campaign manager, her spokeswoman, her director of field operations and even a traveling aide who helps hand out stickers at campaign appearances.

It is the latest and most dramatic indication so far that her campaign is on the verge of collapse.

“I’ve never seen staffers go like this,” said David Johnson, a Republican pollster and consultant. “It’s just imploding.”

The Orlando Sentinel piece then goes on to detail the chaos that has enveloped the Harris campaign.

It resembles a train wreck. That’s hit by a car. Then landed on by an airplane. Then wiped away by a hurricane.

And, apparently, some of it is due to The Woman Democrats Love To Hate herself since she issued an ultimatum that in effect was: You either recommit to staying onboard the sinking Titanic or you jump overboard into some lifeboats. It was an offer they couldn’t refuse — but not in her favor:

Calls and e-mails to the campaign were not returned Friday night, but sources said Harris met with staffers earlier in the day to tell them she would be hiring new people to replace those who had already left.

Campaign workers could stay, she said, but they would have to recommit themselves to the Senate race. She gave them until 5 p.m. Sunday to decide.

Two sources familiar with what happened at the meeting said Harris, in part, blamed the staff for the chaos that has consumed the campaign. Those sources did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak for the campaign.

OH HOW FAST WE HAVE TO UPDATE THIS. The from the AP:

Katherine Harris’ U.S. Senate campaign lost what was left of its core team when a top adviser, campaign manager, and communications director resigned this weekend.

Harris, a Republican congresswoman challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, said Saturday she would introduce new members of her campaign early in the week.

But no one could accuse Harris of not attempting to put a huge wad of political make-up on what has happened. Her spin:

“We are stronger as a campaign today than we were yesterday,” Harris said in a press release.

Harris said her campaign has lined up people who believe in her candidacy, are committed, and support the “values of mainstream Florida citizens.”

Former campaign manager Jim Dornan, who resigned in November, said, “She had the best people in the country. She can’t get any better than that.

“This is a campaign that is spiraling downward by the minute,” he said, adding she should drop out of the race.

Among those resigning over the weekend were Ed Rollins, a political adviser to President Reagan; campaign manager Jamie Miller; press secretary Morgan Dobbs; and other key staff.

Phone messages left for Rollins and Dobbs were not immediately returned, while contact information was not found for Miller. Harris didn’t immediately return a call Saturday for additional comment.

Top GOPers have wanted to see Harris exit the race for some time now. The reasons: she is a highly polarizing figure that will probably draw more Democrats to the polls to vote against her (and other Republicans on the ticket) than Republicans that’ll flock to the polls to vote for her; and her name came up in a scandal involving a contractor, although she denies she did anything wrong and she has not been charged with any crime.

She has faced high staff turnover, a virtual chorus of top GOP officials and pros subtly and not-so-subtly asking (or pleading) with her to withdraw, and problems raising funds. So she announced she was using $10 million in inheritance from her father to fund her campaign. But a few days later, her spokesperson issued a big “Never mind” on that one.

The best GOPers can hope for: she’ll pull out so they can field a real challenger to Nelson. The best Democrats can hope for: that she’ll continue her campaign. Negative media coverage, about her hapless campaign — and more resignations in her campaign in a month than during a year in the Bush administration — won’t help her one bit.