Is Harris' campaign in trouble?

There are several senate races worth watching this year as the Republicans attempt to maintain their thin 55 to 45 lead (real numbers are actually closer to 50/50 when you consider RINO's like Chaffee). There are a few Republican and Democrat incumbent senators in touch races. There are a few open races to replace both Republicans (Frist) and Democrats (Sarbanes) stepping down from the senate. My own guess is the lead is not likely to change more than 1 or 2 seats either direction. One race to watch is the Florida senate race. Rep. Katherine Harris best known for being the Florida Secretary of State during the contentious 2000 election recount is challenging incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson. Today there are two articles which purport to show Harris' campaign is in trouble.

First we have an article about Harris receiving potentially illegal campaign donations from Mitchell Wade. Wade is the defense contractor who bribed Rep. Cunningham who was sentenced last week to 8 years in prison. Harris has donated the contributions to a charity and disavows (of course) any knowledge that the donations were illegal.

Then there is this article which quotes Vice President Cheney talking about that senate race without mentioning Harris by name.

Cheney even provided some fuel when he said he was looking forward to swearing in a Republican replacement for Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson -- but didn't mention Harris by name. "As vice president I look forward to the opportunity to swear in a new Republican senator to serve next to Mel Martinez in the United States Senate," Cheney said.

It is possible to read too much into the VP's comments, but don't think for a second that they were completely unintentional. I've never been convinced of Harris' chances. She is a very polarizing figure in Florida politics. Often strong popularity in one congressional district doesn't translate statewide (Sherrod Brown will find this out in Ohio this November).

Bottom line: I didn't have strong hopes of picking up this senate seat and think there is no hope if Harris remains the candidate with lukewarm support from the national Republican party. Harris' only chance is to stick to the issues and strongly make the case that Nelson's senate votes have been wrong on the issues people care about.