ah, the president's selector is off to a great start

[Guest guest]

Harris attempts to defuse controversy

 

By Jim Stratton

Orlando Sentinel

Posted August 27 2006

 

 

ORLANDO · Rep. Katherine Harris sought Saturday to smother a campaign

brushfire stoked by an earlier claim that failure to elect Christians

to public office would allow lawmakers to " legislate sin. "

 

Harris, appearing at a gun show in Orlando, said she did not mean to

offend non-Christians in her comments to the Florida Baptist Witness

last week. She explained that she referred exclusively -- and

repeatedly -- to Christians because she was being interviewed by the

weekly journal of the Florida Baptist State Convention.

 

 

 

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" My comments were specifically directed toward a Christian group, " said

Harris, a Republican senate candidate from Longboat Key.

 

Harris' campaign also released a statement Saturday. It said when

Harris called the separation of church and state a " lie, " she was

addressing a " misperception that people of faith should not be actively

involved in government. "

 

In her Witness interview, Harris sounded a fervent evangelical tone,

saying that God " chooses our rulers, " that voters needed to send

Christians to office and that God did not intend for the United States

to be a " nation of secular laws. "

 

On Friday, Jews, Muslims, Christians, Democrats and Republicans blasted

the comments, saying Harris was suggesting non-Christians were less

suited to govern.

 

Saturday, two of Harris' primary opponents joined the chorus of

critical voices. Orlando lawyer Will McBride said Harris, deliberately

or not, excluded people.

 

" I'm a Christian, and I'm a Republican and I don't share her views, "

said McBride, a lay minister and son of a pastor. " There are people of

other faiths and backgrounds of outstanding integrity who know how to

tell the truth. "

 

Another Harris opponent, developer Peter Monroe, called on Harris to

drop out of the Senate race and resign from Congress. He said her

comments were " warped, twisted and disgraceful. "

 

Monroe, McBride, Harris and LeRoy Collins are seeking the Republican

nomination to take on Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson in November.

 

 

If George Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headline would read, " Views

Differ on Shape of the Earth "