Amie Parnes: Sen. Nelson disavows 'bribe-taker' mudslinging

WASHINGTON — A sure sign campaign season is upon us?

The name-calling has begun.

This week, a top aide for Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., called Senate hopeful Katherine Harris "a bribe-taker" in an interview with the Associated Press.

The comment came months after the revelation that Harris, R-Longboat Key, received more than $30,000 in campaign contributions from a defense contractor who pleaded guilty to bribing former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now serving jail time. Harris, who wasn't charged with a crime, has donated the money to charity.

But the comments made by Dan McLaughlin, Nelson's deputy chief of staff and communications director, caused an uproar on Capitol Hill. Press secretaries on both sides of the aisle in Florida called the comment "out of line."

Things became so heated that Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, felt the need to intervene and send Nelson a letter asking that he admonish McLaughlin.

Those comments "are the most outrageous comments by a congressional staff member that I have heard in my 19 years of federal public service," Mica wrote. "I strongly urge you to separate yourself from this crude and unprecedented attack on a sitting member of our Florida delegation."

Nelson apparently felt the same way. The senator told staffers that he never would have called Harris a "bribe-taker," aides said, while admonishing McLaughlin.

Drilling splits delegation

It appears there's a deep divide among Florida Democrats and Republicans over offshore oil and natural gas drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf.

On Friday, the delegation's Democrats sent a letter to Republicans expressing "concern" about numerous reports indicating "some" members (read: Republicans) are working on a drilling compromise. The letter singles out Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, the chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee. Putnam said he was "hopeful" there will be an Outer Continental Shelf compromise.

Florida members of Congress have prevented numerous attempts to drill off Florida in the past year.

"As Florida's representatives in Congress, we owe it to our constituents to debate the future of oil and gas drilling off our coasts in the sunshine," the letter signed by House Democrats said. "For the past two decades, this delegation has set its political differences aside in an effort to protect Florida."

In 1990, the first President Bush issued a moratorium protecting Florida's waters from drilling. In 1998, President Clinton extended the moratorium until 2012. During that time, a united Florida delegation has fought off numerous attempts to overturn the moratoria, an important fact that Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, recently noted in an interview with the Daily News.

"Today a divided delegation could leave Florida with irreversible environmental and economic damage," the Democrats' letter continued. "If we are to continue to protect Florida from the dangers of offshore oil and gas drilling, we must work together and remain united.

The Democrats said they hope to meet as a delegation in the coming days and allow all members to discuss the issue.