HARRIS MUST BE WONDERING IF IT REALLY FEELS BETTER AT HOME

Congresswoman Katherine Harris (R - Longboat Key) ended the first significant tour of her U.S. Senate campaign Saturday near the family home since replacing much of her key staff earlier in the week. She was present for the local GOP Lincoln Day Dinner at the Lakeland Center, and was referred to by both Polk Republican Chairperson Carole Jean Jordan and emcee State Representative Dennis Ross as Florida's next U.S. Senator.

The Lakeland Ledger reported that while the remarks were met by friendly, polite applause, it could not compare to that honouring her late father, Bartow banker George Harris, who was posthumously awarded the Republican of the Year award and also had it named for him.

Ms. Harris actually had promised a newspaper interview that never materialized...no surprise there, the way she has been avoiding the press recently. However, she did answer one question earlier in the day about where she was getting the $10 million she had pledged to her campaign.

"I'm selling everything I have," she said. "But again, that's all process. I don't want to talk about process."

She continued to refer to Democratic incumbant Bill Nelson --- generally considered a centrist and who recently was graded by a national conservative group with among the highest scores of Democrats in the Senate --- as being to "the left of Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer".

And in Sebring earlier in the day, Ms. Harris talked about her lack of support among the GOP leadership in DC:

"Look -- a lot of the elite in D.C. may not be supportive of me, but guess what? That's because they know I'm going to fight for you. I don't get my marching orders from Washington."