New Campaign Manager Faces Challenge
By KEVIN BEGOS and CATHERINE DOLINSKI The Tampa Tribune
Katherine Harris' new campaign manager is an energetic young conservative best known for an anti-gay marriage initiative in Massachusetts and for bringing actor and National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston to speak at his liberal college.
Bryan Rudnick, a member of the Palm Beach County Republican Executive Committee, was named her fourth campaign manager on Thursday.
In a statement, Harris said she was "delighted" to have Rudnick on her team, saying he "has over 10 years of experience in Florida politics."
That seemed to be a bit of a stretch, since Rudnick was a senior at Brandeis University in the spring of 2000. Soon afterward he helped found Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage, a citizen group that attempted to pass a gay marriage ban in the state. He is the president of Alliance Strategies Group in Boca Raton, which describes itself as a political consulting firm.
The challenge for Rudnick will be to bring calm to a campaign that has seen massive staff turnover. Harris' previous three managers all resigned, along with many other staff members.
"'Stabilize.' I think that's the key word right now," said Susan MacManus, a professor of political science at the University of South Florida. "That and refocus the message away from her, and to the issues."
The Harris campaign declined requests for an interview with Rudnick, and he did not return calls. Other analysts said his skills or shortcomings might not matter if Harris doesn't learn from prior experiences with her staff.
"She's the one who needs to change and she hasn't. It sounds like she's kind of the problem here," said Davis Houck, a professor of communications at Florida State University.
Some who knew Rudnick's work in Massachusetts questioned how effective he was there.
"I do not think of him as a particularly skilled organizer," said Josh Friedes, a longtime board member of the Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts, which worked against Rudnick's ballot initiative in 2001 and 2002.
Friedes, who recently relocated to Washington state, described Rudnick as a zealot who appears to think gays and lesbians are inferior, despite Rudnick's protestations during the petition drive that his motives were pro-family, not anti-gay.
"Actually, I think Bryan Rudnick was one of the best things that ever happened to the civil rights movement in Massachusetts," Friedes said. "He was so ardent and strident I think what a lot of people saw when they interacted with Bryan and his organization was, they came face to face with hate and bigotry."
Stephen Gaskill, communications director for the Florida GLBT Democratic Alliance, said he doubts Rudnick's past will be much of an issue here.
"I don't think this is going to have an impact on her campaign either way," he said, adding that Harris has been moving more and more to the right, and "this is just one more hire to buck up that credential."
According to his company Web site, Rudnick "specializes in strategic planning, political consulting and communications, with an emphasis on public relations and crisis management." Rudnick also has experience working in Israel, and was active with the Massachusetts group Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.
Harris has three opponents in the Sept. 5 Republican primary, and that winner will face incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in November.
Katherine Harris' new campaign manager is an energetic young conservative best known for an anti-gay marriage initiative in Massachusetts and for bringing actor and National Rifle Association President Charlton Heston to speak at his liberal college.
Bryan Rudnick, a member of the Palm Beach County Republican Executive Committee, was named her fourth campaign manager on Thursday.
In a statement, Harris said she was "delighted" to have Rudnick on her team, saying he "has over 10 years of experience in Florida politics."
That seemed to be a bit of a stretch, since Rudnick was a senior at Brandeis University in the spring of 2000. Soon afterward he helped found Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage, a citizen group that attempted to pass a gay marriage ban in the state. He is the president of Alliance Strategies Group in Boca Raton, which describes itself as a political consulting firm.
The challenge for Rudnick will be to bring calm to a campaign that has seen massive staff turnover. Harris' previous three managers all resigned, along with many other staff members.
"'Stabilize.' I think that's the key word right now," said Susan MacManus, a professor of political science at the University of South Florida. "That and refocus the message away from her, and to the issues."
The Harris campaign declined requests for an interview with Rudnick, and he did not return calls. Other analysts said his skills or shortcomings might not matter if Harris doesn't learn from prior experiences with her staff.
"She's the one who needs to change and she hasn't. It sounds like she's kind of the problem here," said Davis Houck, a professor of communications at Florida State University.
Some who knew Rudnick's work in Massachusetts questioned how effective he was there.
"I do not think of him as a particularly skilled organizer," said Josh Friedes, a longtime board member of the Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts, which worked against Rudnick's ballot initiative in 2001 and 2002.
Friedes, who recently relocated to Washington state, described Rudnick as a zealot who appears to think gays and lesbians are inferior, despite Rudnick's protestations during the petition drive that his motives were pro-family, not anti-gay.
"Actually, I think Bryan Rudnick was one of the best things that ever happened to the civil rights movement in Massachusetts," Friedes said. "He was so ardent and strident I think what a lot of people saw when they interacted with Bryan and his organization was, they came face to face with hate and bigotry."
Stephen Gaskill, communications director for the Florida GLBT Democratic Alliance, said he doubts Rudnick's past will be much of an issue here.
"I don't think this is going to have an impact on her campaign either way," he said, adding that Harris has been moving more and more to the right, and "this is just one more hire to buck up that credential."
According to his company Web site, Rudnick "specializes in strategic planning, political consulting and communications, with an emphasis on public relations and crisis management." Rudnick also has experience working in Israel, and was active with the Massachusetts group Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation.
Harris has three opponents in the Sept. 5 Republican primary, and that winner will face incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson in November.
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