Harold Ford is the best choice here is my reasoning.

[usregimechange]

We need the Senate and can't do it without Tennessee. I know Ford isn't super liberal but here is the thing. We have to win this thing to get the caucus back Blue.

The #1 most scary thing in the progressive world is a Republican President nominating a replacement for the 84 year old Justice Steves without a Dem majority in the US Senate.

Ford may be a moderate Dem but I don't see a Chuck Shumer or Barney Frank getting elected in Tenn.

Does Ford have a web-site?

[Zen Democrat]

1. So a fake Democrat is better than a real Democrat? Zell Miller, redux.

[tnlefty]

4. Exactly. I'm not interested in Ford. Rosalind Kurita who I find much

preferable to Ford is getting very little mention, and it's starting to piss me off. I will not do anything to promote Ford in this state and I know too many "grassroots" Dems/Progressives in my area who have stated the same. Some active Dems have told me that they would vote for Corker before they'd vote for Ford. I won't do that, but I would write-in Kurita.

[usregimechange]

41. I can't believe you compared Ford with Miller.

[Jim Sagle]

2. Harold Ford ain't no Democrat. Fuck'm.

[usregimechange]

42. Ford is very much a Democrat. A Democrat that can win in Tenn.

[Erika]

3. He carries tons of family garbage with him n/t

[TN Young Dem]

5. websites

Yes, he has a website.

http://www.fordfortennessee.com


but also check out Rosalind Kurita's

http://www.kurita2006.com

[FreedomAngel82]

6. Thanks for the sites

The interesting thing about Rosalind is how she is from Midland, Texas and her dad was a leader in the republican party and helped get both Bush's elected but she's always been a democrat. My kind of person! I'm not a huge fan of Ford's so I'm probably going to vote for Rosalind.

[tnlefty]

7. Welcome to DU, TN Young Dem!

:hi:

[TN Young Dem]

8. thanks!!!

glad to be here!

[newyawker99]

9. Hi TN Young Dem!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[TN Young Dem]

10. hiya

:) happy to be here

[lyrical di]

11. Seen them both.

Recently I have met with both Ford and Kurita. He has the ability to motivate the people. He is well-spoken and intelligent. He talked about the family garbage he has and used the Churchill phrase "When you're going through hell, keep going." He practices what he preaches. I have heard directly from teachers that he has helped. He keeps his promised to libraries - the bastions of democracy.

Kurita is also intelligent and well-spoken but she is still working on the charismatic aspects in crowds. She does very well one-on-one. Her stories are very interesting and she might pull in some more moderate women.

Most important thing is to get a Democrat in the Senate. You can pine for a "perfect candidate" forever, but when it comes to brass tacks, get out there and get a Democrat in the Senate.

[Clark2008]

12. I will be working for him in the primaries.

This won't sit well with most of this board, but I think Ford would have a better chance than Kurita.

Yes, Ford carries family baggage, but, if polling continues to drop for the Republican leadership, he has a chance.

And, yes, he has a website: http://fordfortennessee.com/

[Jackson4Gore]

13. I am with ya.

Already spoke with Harold and will be working with him during the campaign. I am the Vice Chair of my party here and I urge everyone out there, including everyone on this board to just look at Harold's record. He is respected by both sides of the isle and can get things done. I also urge you not to dismiss a candidate who might hold a different position than you do on a couple of issues. By the way just because one sides with the opposition every now and then doesn't make you a traitor. It is called compromise. Without it our country wouldn't be in existence.

[FreedomAngel82]

14. He's way too much of a dino

Plus he carries around too much family baggage and stuff on his own as well. Nobody likes that much corruption.

Here is Kurita's profile: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/senate/members/s22.htm#

[Jackson4Gore]

15. Again, as I said in the other thread, show me examples

Also, why are you blaming and associating him with his uncle? That is not fair. Harold is his own man and so is his uncle. In all his years in public service, Harold has not been in any type of curroption, so your assumption is dead wrong.

[FreedomAngel82]

16. I did in the other thread

He's a total flipflopper. He'll say one thing but vote the other way and has stud with George W. Bush on numerous issues including church and state issues. Sorry but anybody who isn't for religious freedom does NOT get my vote. Wanna turn Tennessee blue? Support a real democrat. Whether it be Rosalind Kurita or John Wolfe. No Ford! He's only a democrat because of his location. If he lived on my side of the state I can guarantee from watching him he would be a republican.

[Jackson4Gore]

17. Again, can't take you seriously because you are reading off a bogus script

As I said in the other thread you are getting all your talking points from one, false source. You still try to tie Harold with his uncle, which is not right and continually exaggerate his record.

Again, all because someone disagrees with you on one or two issues that doesn't mean they are a bad person. Dissent is the highest form of patriotism and should be respected.

BTW, you know, after re-reading that article those are the same tactics and buzzwords they used about John Kerry during the campaign. Flip flopper, voting which ever way the political winds blow, self promoter, Bush-lite, ect. I would urge you not to use this type of rhetoric. What good does it do to be Democrats if we in turn use their tactics on our own candidates?

[FreedomAngel82]

18. You can't deny Ford is a dino

Others here have also proclaimed their opinion similiar to mine. Again if you want to really turn Tennessee blue get behind a real democrat. Ford is a pure dino who is a flipflopper and doesn't deserve to be in the Senate.

[Jackson4Gore]

19. He is a Democrat.

We are all Democrats. I am not bashing Kurita, so why have you went out of your way to do this to Harold? Trust me, he is a great guy and votes his conscience. You may agree with him or not, but that is what is great about our country. We can disagree. However, again, just because you disagree on a few issues doesn't mean you should kick them to the curb and dismiss them.

[FreedomAngel82]

20. Oh really?

So tell me. Where does Mr. Harold Ford junior stand on women rights such as abortion? Where does he stand for gay's? What about education?
Name his biggest accomplishment he has done since he's been in the congress. What does he think about Howard Dean?

[FreedomAngel82]

21. Oh and also

where does he stand with NAFTA? How about Iraq? If you seem to know everything about him show me his voting record.

[Jackson4Gore]

22. Here

Abortion:

Ford is pro-choice, but wants to ban partial birth.

Gays:

Ford is against gay marriage, but has come to the defense of gay couples who wish to adopt.

Education:

Ford is against vouchers, wants to reduce class size to 18 children in grades 1 to 3, rated 91% by the NEA, indicating he is very pro-public education.

MORE: http://www.fordfortennessee.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=58&Itemid=54

Howard Dean:

He thinks Dean gets excited sometimes when he talks. Sometimes he makes off key comments some of which the Congresman disagrees with.

More:

• On the Iraq War: "I will be on my way to Iraq this weekend to meet the Iraqi government and our military leadership on the ground. ... I will see what more can be done to expedite the full handing over of authority to the Iraqi government so U.S. soldiers can begin coming home."

UPDATED: Read his plea to the President: http://www.fordfortennessee.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=0&Itemid=51

• On how he could improve TennCare, the state's financially troubled $8 billion Medicaid program: "We shouldn't cut Medicaid. (U.S. Sens. Bill Frist and Lamar Alexander) voted to cut Medicaid spending by more than $30 billion in the president's budget. ... One thing is clear - taxpayers in the state of Tennessee, with as many challenges that we have, we don't need the federal government adding more. The second thing we can do is address these drug costs. ... There's great resistance from the drug companies to allow us to import drugs from other countries. ... We should change the way we grant patents for the drug companies. One of the questions I have is that do we really need three male enhancement drugs on the market today? Look at the costs associated with that. Would we have been better off if those drug companies would have focused more research and development on how to reduce cholesterol or how to reduce the risk of developing cancer?"

• On how he might respond to President George W. Bush's future judicial nominees, including possible U.S. Supreme Court nominations, if elected to the U.S. Senate: "I would have been part of the 14 senators who negotiated a deal (on Monday) to avoid a Senate showdown (on federal appeals court nominee Priscilla Owen). I like the idea of the president having to consult with the Senate. When you put someone on the Supreme Court or any bench at the federal level, that's a lifetime appointment."

• On how the ethics investigation surrounding his uncle, state Sen. John Ford, will affect his candidacy: "I'm confident voters will judge me for who I am and what I believe. The final outcome of the campaign will not be affected by what anyone else has or has not done."

• On how he would assess his Republican competitors for the Senate seat - former U.S. Reps Van Hilleary and Ed Bryant, state Rep. Beth Harwell and former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker: "I'm going to compete for every voter in the state regardless of who emerges from that (GOP) primary. ... I expect we'll have a very issue-rich campaign in the fall (of 2006)."

Also, please check out this site which has tons of voting info on him: http://www.issues2000.org/House/Harold_Ford.htm

Notice, they rate each leader by their stands on the issues. Look at where they put Ford:

[Jackson4Gore]

23. Also

Ford is against Bush's Social Security plan:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/tn09_ford/pr_043012.html

He has recently called for a balanced budget, got $3 billion for Hybrids, among other things. Read them here:

http://www.house.gov/ford/press_room.shtml

[FreedomAngel82]

24. My comments

Parital birth is bullshit. It's hardly ever used. According to Howard Dean back in 2004 in an interview at a rally someone asked him (she was a nurse) what he thought about partial birth ban. According to Dean (who is a doctor by the way) that in his home state of Vermont there have been Z-E-R-O cases of partial birth abortion. It's just a non issue and to make the republicans look "moral" and "pro-life." Did you notice when Bush signed that bill NOT ONE WOMAN was standing with him? But when Clinton did a woman bill he had several women with him? http://bushflash.com/pb.html Where are the women??? Why isn't one woman with him? Because they know it's bullshit.

Sorry. If you're not for equal gay rights whether you call it civil unions Kerry style or marriage that's not right. Are you aware that there is a seperation of church and state and you're not allowed to make rules according to a specific religion? We live in a republic. NOT a theocracy.

Howard Dean's recent comment on the GOP Ford totally manipulated the comment. :mad: Pissed me off because Dean said N-O-T-H-I-N-G resembling what Ford claimed. Ford should apologize to Dean.

I'm glad he's pro-public education. I once had a math class and we had around twenty-five people in class and this was in high school. We got lucky one person didn't show up a lot so we had enough seats. But how are you going to reduce the sizes of the classroom when there aren't enough teachers? What about public funding and NCLB (which is total shit)? Are you aware (and him) of how they do with NCLB? It's total crap. They do not fund schools that have low test scores and the teachers teach the students how to take a test and not actually learn like how I did during Clinton's years. The schools that need funding are specifically in inner city areas. My area (Hamilton County) is really low on receiving public education funding. Right now our school board is trying to get the donations higher. How would he help us?

On TennCare and medicaid. I recently this past weekend heard a report that Bredesen is going to cut medicaid and re-do the program and update it since it's pretty old and he's going to cut medicine that doesn't do anything for people out of the program. I wish Bredesen could try to get us to get some medicine from Canada. I know there's one state that does (can't remember which one now since I read about it a long time ago).

On Iraq: We need to get out now. End of story. He should address the downing street minutes. There are at least four official reports out now. Has he addressed this at all?

Bush should do like Clinton did with judicial nominee's. He seeked advice on them and opinions before nominating. All of these are rightwing wacko's who are dangerous to us as a republic.

On the ethics investigation's he should come clean. There are plenty of rumors with him with himself and him connected to his family. If he's serious about being a US Senator I think he should come clean. I don't want someone reperesenting me who would pull something like with happened recently.

[Jackson4Gore]

25. Ok

Not going to comment on anything else. You continue to assert that he has ethical violations in connection with his uncle, which is false. I still don't understand while you insist on attacking him.

As you can see by his views, he is not what you thought he was.

Also, I read where you said you would vote for Corker if Ford was the Dem nominee. Why would you support a Republican if Ford is the nominee? Talk about a party sell-out.

[tnlefty]

26. Calling someone a "party sell-out" is rather disrespectful isn't it?

Just so you know, I'm not a member of the GLBT community, but I work with and interract with members of that community and many of them have also said that they would vote for Corker.

Their reasons:

Corker didn't shy away from attending an ACLU event while he was mayor. He hasn't yet (according to them anyway) publicly slapped them in the face and they feel that Ford shies away from the ACLU and has publicly slapped members of the GLBT community in the face.

Corker's wife seems supportive of these members and she is supportive of the ACLU and she donates money to democrats.

While I would never vote for Corker, as of now these members of the local GLBT community would. As the campaign moves along, if Corker is put into a position that makes him appear less friendly their opinions of him may change.

[FreedomAngel82]

28. You don't know though

MAY change is the key words here. And I've lived under Corker. He doesn't follow polling but sticks to whatever he belives in. And if Ford is a supposlivley democrat why doesn't he support the ACLU? The ACLU is a very important group to this country. I'm sure you know why. And no it's not disspresctful if the shoe fits. Ford is a pure dlc democrat and I don't want that. Either give me Rosalind Kurita or I'm going to jump on the Corker bandwagon and this is coming from a hard-core democrat. I do not want Ford representing me in the Senate.

[Jackson4Gore]

32. One issue shouldn't matter

It isn't as if Harold is anti-gay. He just opposes gay marriage. Crap, he even fought to keep it legal for gays to adopt children.

And yes, if you vote Republican over Ford or any candidate, you are a party sell out. It is funny how someone would call a candidate a Joe-like candidate and Bush-lite, yet would vote for a Republican.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. I'm the sell out?

Ha! Give me a fucking break. I'm not the one who's against civil liberties for someone. Oooo he fought for them to have adoption. oooo So what if one person in the couple dies and the other person doesn't have a job? How are they supposed to take care of each other? Hmmm? Answer that.

[FreedomAngel82]

35. Hmm let me see

Maybe because I don't want another DINO in my party. Hmm, could that be it? Nahhh! That possibly couldn't be it could it? And no I'm not basing it on the uncle. Can you not read what I wrote? I'm basing it on HIM. If he is serious about being a US Senator he needs to come clean of all the rumors about him. Prove he isn't doing anything like his uncle.

[Lars39]

27. No, he's not. He is a New Democrat.

Big difference.

[AX10]

29. Let's see...

Ford opposed Bush's tax cuts and massive spending increases (check)
Ford will give us another caucus seat (check)
Ford is to the left of Zell Miller (Check)
Ford voted for and still supports Iraq War (no check!)
Ford bashes Howard Dean (no check!)

Well, he's a mixed bag and uninspiring, but he will be better than Frist.

[FreedomAngel82]

30. Hmm and let's see

where is he on Iraq and pulling out? What about talking about the downing street minutes? How about abortion? How about gay rights? How about NOT twisting and manipulating what Howard Dean says? What about church and state? He agrees with Bush on that issue. WE'RE NOT A THEOCRACY! We're a republic! That and his stance on gay rights alone is a reason for me not to vote for him. Sorry.

[Jackson4Gore]

31. Iraq

Harold thinks the initial invasion of Iraq was handeled well. However, he has said that after that the Bush admin has messed things up badly by not having a postwar plan. He has a memo to the President on his site outlining his dissapproval of his mishandling. However, he don't think we should pull out prematurel. This would only lead to chaos that would ensue for year to come.

On abortion, he is pro choice, however, like many, he is against partial birth abortion. He doesn't support gay marriage, but does fight for gays to adopt children. On church and state, you are totally taking his view out of context. You read one article that said that and you don't even know what it means, you are just repeating it. Again, I would advise you to read outside the talking points. I have read your previous posts in which you where supporting Ford, then someone posted that garbage and you believed it. I just urge you to go outside the spin and make a decesion. I posted his views here earlier, and as you can see, he is not a righty by any means.

[FreedomAngel82]

33. It's called doing your research

I at first did like Ford but then I read more about him, his voting record, etc. I want a real democrat representing me. Not Ford. Not someone who is ashamed of who they are and their past (http://www.blackcommentator.com/79/79_fr_ford.html) We should pull out of Iraq NOW. We shouldn't even be there! What has he said about the downing street minutes? Anything at all? I know he's on Conyers petition list but has he publicially said anything about them? Instead of bashing Dean and manipulating what Dean said why doesn't he bash Bush about the minutes? Hmm? And he agrees with Bush on church and state issues. I think you know where Bush stands there. Again: we are not a theocracy. We are a republic. These so called "talking points" are my opinions. If you don't like it tough shit. My decision is NO ON FORD!! I still say if he lived in my area he'd be a republican.

[Jackson4Gore]

36. You have read two sources and use their false talking points=uninformed

[FreedomAngel82]

38. LOL

How do you know what I've read? LOL. And how do you know they're false talking points? LOL! Sorry but Ford doesn't get my vote.

[Jackson4Gore]

39. Because you repeat the same things over and over

that are listed in the two articles you posted from an anti-Ford site. Neither is factual or fair in analysis. Plus when I ask you to elaborate on claims you just back off and say I dont want another Joe Lieberman kiss or that he is a Dino. The proof is in the pudding.

[FreedomAngel82]

40. *snicker*

His record proves it for himself. Just take a look at it and what he does and says. Sorry but the moment he manipulated purposley what Howard Dean said he lost my vote. As a proud Howard Dean supporter I'm voting for Rosalind Kurita and if you don't like it tough shit. Find someone else to vote for him cause it ain't going to be me.

[Jackson4Gore]

37. Nt.