In 2006, Senator Bill Nelson Likely to Face Republican Pariah Katherine Harris

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) testified in frustration on January 28, 2004 on the Senate floor....

"I, along with nearly every Senator in this Chamber, in that secure room of this Capitol complex, was not only told there were weapons of mass destruction---specifically chemical and biological---but I was looked at straight in the face and told that Saddam Hussein had the means of delivering those biological and chemical weapons of mass destruction by unmanned drones, called UAVs, unmanned aerial vehicles.

Further, I was looked at straight in the face and told that UAVs could be launched from ships off the Atlantic coast to attack eastern seaboard cities of the United States. Is it any wonder that I concluded there was an imminent peril to the United States? '

Senator Nelson, a centrist Democrat, is a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, as well as a US Army veteran. He's known in his home state of Florida for fighting long and hard for improved health care and benefits for veterans and their families. He is a uniquely strong advocate for our soldiers. But he, too, is frustrated with the Bush Administration over Iraq.

He perfectly described the stance of moderate Democratic leaders among them) on Iraq when he told CNN's Judy Woodruff in January 2005, "You measure success by getting Iraq to be stabilized politically and economically. And that's not going to happen with all of the terrorists and the insurgents that are now in there in the short run. It's going to take a while......

We can question whether or not we went in under false pretenses. And I am certainly one that's questioning that....But now that we're there, I don't know that we have any other choice .... what's at stake is not letting terrorism get a foothold in that part of the world that is all the more close to the United States' interests."

Despite his cautious views on Iraq, Senator Bill Nelson has a strong pro-choice, pro-environment and pro-public health voting record. And Nelson, an unusually private politican, is also a strong defender of privacy rights.

He's up for reelection in 2006. In fact, Nelson is among 5 Democrats up for 2006 Senate reelection who have been targeted for defeat by ultra-conservative Christian lobbyist Dr. James Dobson.

Despite being a first-term senator, and despite being considered a Democratic target in red-state Florida, the only Republican running officially running against Senator Nelson in 2006 is Congresswoman Katherine Harris, the infamous Florida Secretary of State during the 2000 Presidential election recount.

And Republicans have actively tried to discourage Harris from running for the Senate, as they believe she is an unelectable pariah. At October 15, 2005, Nelson had $6.5 million in campaign funds to less than $1 million held by Harris.

But Florida elections can be surprising and unpredictable, as we all now know. While pundits rate Senator Nelson's seat as "safe" for Democratic reelection, we can take nothing for granted.

Get to know Senator Bill Nelson, only the second member of Congress ever to serve as crew on the space shuttle. Then urge your Florida relatives to reelect Senator Bill Nelson in 2006. Be sure to read my Profile of US Senator of Bill Nelson of Florida.
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