I Hate Harold Ford (0.00 / 0)

God what a disgusting person.  Isn't Merrill Lynch (where he's a vice chairman) imploding?  Shouldn't he focus on that and let, you know, Republicans elect Republicans?

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by: Random Dude @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:16:49 AM CST

I can't wait till this clown .. (0.00 / 0)

shows up at Netroots Nation this year(If he still accepts Markos' invitation) .. if Hillary thought she had it bad when she got booed because of her lobbyist remark ... Ford is going to get booed right out of there

John McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:25:28 AM CST

If Harold Ford is a Democrat... (0.00 / 0)

  ...then Rudy Giuliani is Mother Theresa.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

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by: Master Jack @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:31:23 AM CST

Harold Ford- the next Lieberman (0.00 / 0)

It won't be long before Harold Ford officially becomes a wing-nut. It must be another example of the Stockholm Syndrome, another Clarence Thomas. He's finished in the Dem. party.

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by: cmpnwtr @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:38:31 AM CST

Good idea (0.00 / 0)

Hey, let's put a guy who couldn't win his OWN race in charge of winning ALL the races.  It's the Bob Shrum Principle in action.

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by: Notorious P.A.T. @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:41:15 AM CST

Any pay him millions... (0.00 / 0)

...in the process, like Bob Schrum who build a great place on Nantucket (or is it MV) on those fees for all those 9 losing campaigns.  

I supported Ford in 2006 and still wish he had won in Tennessee but this is just absurd.  Howard Dean should sue to make then take out the "D" in DLC.

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by: howardpark @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:55:51 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Hey, that's not fair!... (0.00 / 0)

...to Bob Shrum, who I understand has a very good record outside of presidential races.

Ford's a joke, though. I'm definitely an Obama supporter, but I've never hat any antipathy towards Clinton herself: it's the awful people she surrounds herself with that get to me.

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by: LittleMac @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:56:31 AM CST

[ Parent ]

And by "hat" (0.00 / 0)

I mean "had"

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by: LittleMac @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 09:57:08 AM CST

[ Parent ]

For god's sake (0.00 / 0)

Ford was at an even that Shays was attending, in Shays's district.  It wasn't a campaign event - it was a university forum.  He was being polite.

Beyond that, Chris Shays is a pretty decent Republican.  I'm a yellow dog, so I'd generally vote for his Democratic opponent, unless said opponent was a complete loon, but this is kind of a ridiculous complaint.

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by: jlkenney @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 10:14:26 AM CST

Which isn't to say... (0.00 / 0)

that I particularly care for Harold Ford.  I don't much like him.  But this is making a mountain out of a mole hill.

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by: jlkenney @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 10:15:14 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Where's that photo of Shays kissing Bush? (4.00 / 3)

Sorry I'm technologically impaired.

Shays is decietful. two-faced and a staunch Bush supporter on all the key issues.  He deserves to lose.

Just gave Himes $100.  Let's put our money where our mouths are.

And Ford is almost as bad.  His machine is conducting an anti-semitic campaign against Steve Cohen in Ford's old district (TN-06) and criticizing him for supporting gay rights.  Another person we should support.

John McCain--He's not who you think he is.

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by: Mimikatz @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 10:40:05 AM CST

[ Parent ]

He's stood up to Bush (0.00 / 0)

on a number of issues.  He was a determined enemy of Tom DeLay.  He's pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay rights, pro-environment.  He supports a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq.  He's been in favor of whistle-blower protection.  

He sucks on other issues - he was pro-social security privatization.  And he's a Republican, and votes for John Boehner as speaker of the house, etc.  I wouldn't vote for him.  But he's pretty good for a Republican.

I actually like Shays a lot better than I like Ford, who's a corporate hack.  Shays is decent kind of because he's forced to be, but he's a lot better than, say, Peter King, who's just awful

(It's TN-09, by the way)

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by: jlkenney @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 11:59:42 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I was just thinking... (0.00 / 0)

.... "Chris Shays sounds like a better Democrat than Harold Ford".

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by: Stilton_Cheddar @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:40:23 PM CST

[ Parent ]

There Are Other Ways to Be Polite (4.00 / 1)

Examples:

"I have respect for Chris Shays, even though we disagree on a number of issues."

"I'm pleased to have the opportunity to share this forum with Chris Shays."

"Chris Shays and I served together in the House, and we co-sponsored Bill XYZ. I was very appreciative of his support to get that bill passed into law."

"I know Chris well, and I appreciate that he was always willing to talk with me about issues whether we agreed or disagreed."

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by: BBCWatcher @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 11:19:11 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I agree (0.00 / 0)

Ford's kind of a hack, and it isn't how I would want a Democratic politician to describe a Republican incumbent.  That being said, I don't think it's really a big deal.

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by: jlkenney @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:00:55 PM CST

[ Parent ]

There's a Ford backed primary challenge to Steve Cohen (4.00 / 1)

Niki Tinker.  She was Ford's campaign manager for his house races.  It's not been getting nearly enough netroots attention.

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by: Velvet Elvis @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 10:29:59 AM CST

Cohen has been vilified (4.00 / 1)

By black ministers for supporting gay rights.  he deserves support.  Nikki Tinker was supported last time around by  Emily's List, but Cohen is a pretty decent guy who doesn;t deserve the sliming he is getting by the Ford Machine.

John McCain--He's not who you think he is.

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by: Mimikatz @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 10:41:50 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I doubt (0.00 / 0)

that Cohen is ever going to be safe.  A white guy in a majority black district is always going to be vulnerable to primary challenges - he only won because the black vote was split among several candidates.

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by: jlkenney @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:02:04 PM CST

[ Parent ]

What were the precentages? .. (0.00 / 0)

How much did Cohen win by in the general?  and what percentage did he get in the primary?

John McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion

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by: Calvin Jones and the 13th Apostle @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:33:58 PM CST

[ Parent ]

It's not true that Cohen only won (0.00 / 0)

because the black vote was split between other candidates.  I live right across the Mississippi river from Memphis, and I can tell you that most Memphians- black and white- really like Steve Cohen.  He won his election with 60% of the vote, and his closest challenger was Jake Ford (Harold's cousin) who got like 20% of the vote.

The Black ministers backed Jake Ford last time, and have always been allies of the Ford family, but Cohen had the support of most of the local Democratic apparatus, and is backed by the overwhelmingly popular African-American mayor of Shelby County, AC Wharton.

I think Cohen will be fine, but if you feel like supporting him, go ahead and do it, he's a good Rep.

P.S.- Political allegiances in the Memphis area are not strictly racial, much of the African American community is sick of the Ford family due to a string of recent scandals involving them.  

P.P.S- While I'm at it, it is important to note that Harold Ford did not lose his senate seat due to racism of the "call me Harold" commercial.  He lost the senate race by THREE percentage points- because the black community in Shelby county his HOME districtdidn't turn out to vote for him.  Why was that?  Because this is the bankruptcy capital of the world, and the black community was FURIOUS with his support of the Bankruptcy bill.  His DLC centrism is why he is not currently a US Senator.

John McCain.  Wrong for America.

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by: ArkansasLiberal @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 14:10:54 PM CST

[ Parent ]

he's irrelevant (0.00 / 0)

This guy's a loser. Good thing he doesn't represent any of the American people these days.

The DLC is fading into obscurity. It's a wonder that the media actually gives him any attention at all.

The truth about McCain

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by: nstrauss @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:50:51 PM CST

Primary him. (0.00 / 0)

Hopefully this behavior continues, and he gets a strong primary challenger, to either be pushed to the left or even better, be pushed out of the party.

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by: Jack McMillin @ Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 14:41:02 PM CST

[ Parent ]