The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
45°F
Current Conditions
Scattered clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

Tension greets Bush’s landing in Tampa

President Bush, center, talks with Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, looks on during the president's arrival at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on Tuesday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Jennifer Loven Associated Press
President Bush, center, talks with Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, right, looks on during the president's arrival at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on Tuesday. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

TAMPA, Fla. – President Bush’s Florida travels put him smack in the middle of a political brouhaha involving his brother and the woman who helped the president win the White House.

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday that Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., can’t win her campaign to unseat Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Harris has been dragged down in polls after staff departures and her acceptance of $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from defense contractor Mitchell Wade.

The governor is pushing Florida House Speaker Allan Bense to challenge Harris in the Republican primary. The filing deadline is Friday; the primary is Sept. 5.

Though the White House also has spoken supportively of Bense – who remains undecided about running – it’s difficult for a president to shun a local member of Congress. So Harris, the state’s former secretary of state who captured headlines for her role in clinching the 2000 election for Bush, was waiting for the president as his plane landed in Tampa.

But though Harris spoke animatedly for several minutes and kept a firm grip on the president’s hand, he wore a grim expression and didn’t display the jocularity he usually bestows on local greeters. Harris did not attend other events with the president.