Harris lashes out at 2000 make-up jokes

TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Florida's former Secretary of State Katherine Harris lashed out at jokes made about her makeup during the presidential election recount of 2000.

Now a Republican U.S. representative for the Tampa region, Harris, speaking on a conservative radio talk show, ripped unnamed newspapers for publishing photos of her that she said had been "colorized."

At least two Harris news conferences in November 2000, detailing her decision to enforce a deadline and forbid presidential vote recount results, got national TV coverage.

At the time, comic Jay Leno said a cold snap made Florida so chilly Harris "put on a third layer of makeup."

The Tampa Tribune said newspapers and news agencies forbid changing photographic images.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia said he blames the jokes on Harris' appearance on television, rather than newspapers.

"I can remember watching her and thinking she learned all the wrong makeup lessons from Al Gore in the debates," Sabato said.