MIAMI — She's called for a Christian theocracy so Congress won't "legislate sin." She's lost a dozen key campaign staffers in the home stretch, advertised endorsements she didn't get and failed to pick up a single recommendation from Florida's leading newspapers.
Rep. Katherine Harris -- the former darling of the Republican Party for her pivotal role in the 2000 presidential recount -- has stumbled so badly in her bid for the U.S. Senate that pollsters and pundits no longer focus on her longshot chances against Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson in November, but instead on the outlook for Tuesday's primary race against virtual unknowns.
Three polls released this week all put Harris, 49, at least 16 percentage points ahead of her three Republican rivals. But with two of the challengers closing in on her, and the share of undecided voters larger than her advantage, analysts say the contest for the party's nomination is far from over.
Attorney Will McBride and retired Navy Adm. LeRoy Collins Jr. have surged to within striking distance of Harris and have been barnstorming the state in these last days of campaigning in hopes of gaining critical mass amid deeply conflicted Republican voters.
"My message is: 'Republicans, don't throw in the towel. This race is not over. We can still win,' " McBride, 34, said as he hit the highways and airwaves with a tailwind of endorsements that Harris had expected to get.
Collins, who has collected less than $200,000 in contributions against the millions brought in by Nelson and Harris, said the huge pool of undecided voters is searching for an alternative and only now pondering what he has to offer.
"When I go and tell people I'm running for the U.S. Senate, they say they've never heard of me. But when I say my principal opponent is Katherine Harris, they welcome me with, 'Thank God somebody is opposing her,' " said Collins, who turns 72 on Sunday.
Harris' fortunes began to tumble more than a year ago and have lately been in free fall. After the disclosure last year that she had accepted $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a defense contractor who has pleaded guilty to bribing former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), the Florida state Republican Party urged her to withdraw from the Senate race. Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, said publicly that she couldn't beat Nelson.
