Ford Out
By DougJ, Head of Infidelity March 1st, 2010
What HuffPost columnist will tell us this has really been a tough week for black people?
(via PBS)
Update. This is good news for Mort Zuckerman and Dan Senor.
Posted in General Stupidity, Good News For Conservatives
Thank the gods. Harold Ford represents the worst element in the Democratic Party.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Ford Decides Not to Run for New York Senate Seat
By MICHAEL BARBARO 14 minutes ago
Harold E. Ford Jr. told friends that he could beat Kirsten E. Gillibrand but feared the damage that his candidacy might inflict on the party, said the people he told of his plans.
he’s so full of shit
March 1st, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Too bad, I wanted to see the DLC wing get their balls shoved down their throat.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:28 pm
He can’t run against Gillibrand. He has to run for Bayh’s seat in Indiana. I hear he once flew over Gary in a helicopter.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:30 pm
It’s a damn shame. I was sort of hoping he’d be so thoroughly embarrassed as to stop showing up on my GODDAMN FUCKING TELEVISION.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:32 pm
Are helicopters laughing now?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Woo
March 1st, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Napoleon:
They did. His “candidacy” lasted, what, a month?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@freelancer: I don’t know, did Ford email Cole his credenza?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@gizmo:
March 1st, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@bkny:
When danger reared its ugly head
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Yes, brave Sir Harold turned about
And gallantly he chickened out
Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat
Bravest of the brave, Sir Harold!
March 1st, 2010 at 7:39 pm
@Brian J:
I see your point.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:40 pm
Fords oped piece is up at the NYTimes. I refuse to link to it but here is one choice paragraph.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Raises hand! “I know, I know”
Taylor Marsh. I noticed a post on her site earlier that Obama is to blame for Charlie Rangel, so it’s obvious that he’s going to take the hit for Ford too.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:43 pm
Harold Ford is photogenic? The New York Post writers must have been stretching for something positive to say about the creep.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:46 pm
@demo woman:
It says that?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Question related to NY politics…
Riddle me this…
If Blago and that mess was, according to the media, a reflection on Obama, why isn’t Patterson a reflection on Clinton, by those same people?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
Don’t be silly. Like just one person at HuffGlue will use this as an excuse to launch into yet another fist-clenching discussion of race.
[scoff]
March 1st, 2010 at 7:49 pm
But it might be kind of fun to go take a peek at the comments.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:49 pm
No, No, No. What Harold really said was that he only way he could beat Gillibrand was to give her a slap in the face if he’d manage to get within a foot or two, but that it probably wouldn’t look manly on national TV and might get him bumped from future helicopter rides into New York. That was a grave risk he was not prepared to take.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:50 pm
It sure took him a while to wise up. But I have to give him credit—some pols never do.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:51 pm
@demo woman:
This is just my random thoughts on the matter, but one of the reasons why New York is having such a budget crisis is that it lost a lot of revenue when Wall Street started to tank. In the long run, for this and other reasons, it’s probably very good if the state depends on industries other than finance to provide jobs.
As for the billions in new taxes imposed on New Yorkers, I’d bet a decent amount of money he has absolutely no idea how many billions in taxes will be levied. And that’s leaving aside the fact that people will be actually getting some concrete, like access to health care, and theoretically great, like the opportunity to work for themselves because they are not tied to their current jobs just because of insurance.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:51 pm
Damn, any suggestions for all the popcorn I have?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:55 pm
@Max: Believe me, anyone who says that Blago reflects on Obama has no idea in hell what they’re talking about. Blago is a product of the old Chicago machine, and Obama fought against and defeated that machine to get elected to the state senate and begin his career in elected office.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:55 pm
@Napoleon: Ford said that in a oped he wrote for the Times.. He single handedly has helped the dems by voicing his concerns. Of course, the idiot has never heard of the Hyde Amendment. Excuse my language but what an egotistical fucking idiot.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:56 pm
@gbear:
The oped piece doesn’t appear to allow comments. Smart move.
March 1st, 2010 at 7:58 pm
@Max:
I’m curious about how Obama is to blame for whatever Rangel did, but I’m too scared to read what she wrote. Brain cell death and all, you know?
March 1st, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Glad that Ford is out, but I’m far more concerned about the damage from Bunning’s obstruction of extending unemployment benefits (h/t Atrios).
The problem (outside the present tragic and utterly preventable damage) is that when the election rolls around, I don’t think most people are going to remember that a Republican blocked it, they’re just gonna remember that the Democrats were in charge and they lost benefits when they still needed them.
We need to be playing much, much, harder ball on this one. The Dems need to deal with this quickly, forcefully, and with complete disregard for GOP whinging.
.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:01 pm
@JGabriel: TPM is tallying up Republicans standing behind Bunning.
Dunno if consciousness will penetrate through into the media.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:04 pm
@Ash Can: Lynn Sweet, insert obligatory MSNBC host, and that balding Jim dude who always wears a turtleneck and blazer combo from Chicago have been saying how this is “bad for Obama” from jump.
To say nothing of the “Obama is part of the Chicago machine” or “Chicago-style politics” that we hear ad nauseum.
@Brian J: Honestly, I couldn’t read the whole post. I only visit that site to see what the Obama-haters meme is for the day. Her site usually lines up in the PUMAsphere with Aravosis, BTD, etc. I believe it has something to do with Obama’s “ineptness” and that Hillary should be president.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
@JGabriel: You’re right, if I were the President, I would be on TV and voice my concerns. As much as I disliked little Bush, he did use the TV to his advantage.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
@Brian J: New York City and New York State depend on taxes on trades and to a lesser extent income taxes on the high roller bankers. Mayor Bloomberg has been especially against raising income taxes on the super wealthy (no surprise there). Although the financial sector does employ a lot of people, for the last two decades those number have decreased as banks sent back-office jobs to other states and banks and brokerages merged and companies vanished. (Ant this trend was in the works way before September 11, 2001.)
March 1st, 2010 at 8:06 pm
Oh, I’m glad that Ford has decided not to run… and Maureen White and her husband Steven Rattner were/are some of the big money donors who were behind Ford. Their names were mentioned prominently in the early articles about Ford wanting to run for the Senate. And they are becoming important players in Manhattan charity circles.
If he wants to take some time and get to know the state that’s okay. But I’ll bet that there are skeletons he wants to hide or keep suppressed… like about taxes and if and when he became a resident.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:12 pm
Excellent, just what the Senate needs either an old rich white man or another white middle-aged neoconservative. Fine fellows, as Biden said about Cheney.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:12 pm
@PurpleGirl:
Hmm. I just remember reading something about how New York was specifically feeling the effects of the recession in its state income revenue because of how badly financial companies took a dive. I don’t remember the specific numbers, however.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I’m glad that sack of shit isn’t running.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:34 pm
I’ll miss the comic relief.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:45 pm
@JGabriel: Laurence O’Donnell (filling in for Keith on Countdown) had some footage on a short time ago showing Bunning in a confrontation with a couple of reporters (“This is a private elevator!”). According to L O’D, right before the camera started rolling Bunning shot them the bird. Stay classy, Senator.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:51 pm
HuffPost bashing is always welcome. More like this, please.
March 1st, 2010 at 8:53 pm
@SiubhanDuinne:
FWIW, it was Jonathan Karl of ABC. I think TPM has video of the “bird” shot.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:01 pm
The Empire State’s loss is the pedicure industry’s gain.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:03 pm
A CHALLENGER APPEARS
March 1st, 2010 at 9:09 pm
[...] inept campaigns all shed a tear with the news today that former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., Joe-Tenn., would not run for Senate in New York, where he was gonna totally wow the kids with his younger, hipper Joe Lieberman-style [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 9:20 pm
[...] inept campaigns all shed a tear with the news today that former Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., Joe-Tenn., would not run for Senate in New York, where he was gonna totally wow the kids with his younger, hipper Joe Lieberman-style [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 9:22 pm
Please please let the gods allow Mort Zuckerman to be the repub nominee. The guys has the delusion of thinking he’s Mike Bloomberg. I’d like to see him after NY’rs give him the spanking he deserves.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:22 pm
@Brian J: I don’t know the numbers but this is my impression: the state depends on income tax revenue and the city depends more taxes on trade activity. With various economic losses, those revenues have been reduced. Bloomberg is against raising city income taxes on millionaires. And with a high unemployment rate income tax receipts in general are down.
March 1st, 2010 at 9:46 pm
An example of the consolidation in banking :
Manufacturers Hanover Trust and Chemical Bank merged and kept the name Chemical Bank.
Chase Manhattan Bank then merged with Chemical Bank and became Chase Bank.
Chase Bank then combined with J.P. Morgan Guaranty Trust and kept the name Chase Bank.
Chase Bank, with no banks in NYC they could take over combined with Bank One from Chicago and kept the name Chase Bank.
BTW, Jamie Dimon became the chief of Bank One when he lost the competition to head Citigroup as Sanford Weill’s successor. Dimon returned to NYC when Bank One merged with Chase.
With each merger, there were jobs lost, jobs sent to other states, etc. I followed it when I worked in fund raising because as each merger occurred, corporate contributions decreased. In fact, the ability to reduce those contributions was as a reason for the shareholders to approve a merger.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:19 pm
@SRW1: First comment on the NY Times news article about Ford’s withdrawal:
It just keeps going from there.
March 1st, 2010 at 10:57 pm
Slightly OT, can anyone explain to me why Gillibrand needed to be primaried in the first place? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I feel like she’s represented my interests well in her short tenure as my senator, so I never understood (or rather, no one really made a compelling argument) why, outside general anti-incumbency sentiments, she needed to be challenged.
Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated.
March 1st, 2010 at 11:06 pm
@parksideq: Probably best explained as internal state Democratic party intrigue. Apparently a number of people, i.e., big donors in Manhattan decided that she was not truly [“something”] (I’m not sure this was ever explained) because she was appointed by Paterson, or they decided she voted against the TARP funds and was therefore unfriendly to banks, she was no longer a Wall Streeter herself so that was bad…. no real reason that could be or was publicly explained. And Ford was there at Bank of America… or maybe they decided a few years ago that he could be transplanted to NYC and run for something.
I agree with you that Gillibrand has been doing a decent job for the state as a whole. I don’t think it was really anti-incumbency. By those standards they should be going after Schumer and lots of others.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:26 am
Does anyone notice that the piece is co-written by someone named Frederic U. Dicker?
Isn’t that a name that people use for prank calls? Like Heywood Jablowme?
WTF.
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:14 am