Monday, August 07, 2006

The Devil Wears Blue Eyeshadow


Apparently, Rep. Katherine Harris is not just a bitch, she's a bitch to work for. And some ex-staffers are ready to give her the Lauren Weisberger treatment.

"We used to call her 'The Hurricane' because she would spin completely out of control over the smallest things," said Jim Dornan, Harris' first campaign manager, who quit last fall.

"I have never in my life worked for somebody like her — ever — and hopefully I'll never have to again," Dornan said. Jamie Miller, Harris' second campaign manager, who quit in April, said, "It's almost like she won't allow herself to be successful with someone else helping her.

"Any time it's not about her, she makes it about her."Glenn Hodas, her third campaign manager, who quit in mid-July, said Harris failed to kept her promises "not to have tantrums, not to berate staff, not to micromanage and nitpick, and not to get flustered on inconsequential details."

Harris' campaign isn't the only place where her top aides have quit. Her congressional office also has seen more than a dozen key staffers leave since she took office in 2003, including four chiefs of staff and four press secretaries.

In July, congressional speechwriter Jennifer Hickey informed her friends she was quitting in an e-mail that said: "Value of Handing in my Resignation Letter: Priceless."Harris didn't only berate her campaign managers, "she was an equal opportunity abuser," Dornan said.

She chastised speechwriters, press secretaries, fund-raisers, even travel aides who drove her from one event to anotherFor those travel aides, a top priority was to get her Starbucks coffee, no matter where she was campaigning, "and God help him if it wasn't hot," an aide said. Several aides said Harris was so obsessed with Starbucks coffee she insisted that Starbucks locations be mapped out when she was traveling from one campaign stop to another.

One aide recalled going to Harris' house for a day of fund-raising calls without bringing her a cup of Starbucks. The aide said Harris made it clear that it was expected he bring her a coffee when coming to her house.

Another time, the aide said, he went to dinner with other staffers after a full day of campaigning while Harris was attending a church conference in Fort Lauderdale. By the time he returned, Harris had called the campaign manager to find out where the aide was so he could bring her something to drink. The aide said he was incredulous because there was a water fountain nearby.

"She literally yelled at me in the hallway," the aide said. "She said, 'Never, ever do that again.' I just walked away."




(thanks to JackJo for the tip)

5 comments:

Peter Patau said...

All hell breaking loose in Lebanon. Continued chaos in Iraq. The Alaska pipeline going down and jacking up gas prices some more (thanks, BP). Spooky. Are these the End Times? Should you be bracing yourself for thousands (millions?) of people to beam up and leave the rest of us behind? Relax. The Rapture Index is holding steady at about 158, or thereabouts. (I'm sure Harris is in there somewhere as part of the Index.)

Anonymous said...

Looks like we have a pyscho to thank, in part, for the Bush presidency.

Some Guy said...

As long as there is this sense of entitlement, we will not have good representation. Harris is but a cartoonish example of politicians thinking they are special and deserving of subservience. We see it with Lieberman. It won't change until we find a way to stop electing millionaires and start electing poor people who more accurately reflect the majority of the population.

vikkitikkitavi said...

MG: Thank you for the link. I am going to start monitoring the rapture index so I can convert in time.

Dad: I knew she was crazy the first time I saw her. No sane woman wears her makeup like that.

Chris: Elvis was poor once.

GETkristiLOVE said...

Don't people in hell have fashion advisors?