Ford:I think if I switched parties the Republicans might anoint me senator

[Radical Activist]

How very true Harold. Why don't you go ahead and switch parties so we can run a real Democrat for Senator from Tennessee instead of an overly-ambitious conservative who votes like a Republican instead of representing the needs and views of his Congressional district.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/06/15/senate.ford.ap/index.html

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- Just a day after Rep. Harold Ford Jr. announced he was running for the Senate, the FBI arrested his lawmaker uncle back home in Tennessee on corruption charges.

Ford has spent much of his career trying to distinguish himself from his powerful -- and occasionally scandalous -- Memphis political family. Now many wonder how the congressman, a rising star among the Democrats, will deal with this latest embarrassment.

[SteppingRazor]

1. Hey, if we can actually get a Dem in Frist's Senate seat...

I don't care if it's freakin' Zell Miller himself. It'd be a big step toward a Democratic majority, and the DINOs are outnumbered by legitimate moderates. I'd rather they be outnumbered by legitimate progressives, but, hey... the point is, a Democratic majority. If it means a few DINOs, so be it, in my terribly humble opinion.

[Radical Activist]

3. Maybe running so many DINO's is why we don't have a Dem majority.

It might work in one election now and then, but when you never stand up for progressive ideals year after year then you're guaranteed to lose the election of ideas.

The sad thing about Tennessee is that the moderate Democratic establishment is afraid to use populist economic issues in the state where that has the most appeal among the electorate. Even the Republicans try to run as economic populists, but Democrats are too chickenshit because they're convinced the only way to win is to be more conservative.

[SteppingRazor]

4. Admittedly, I'm pretty ignorant of Tennessean politics...

So, if you think we actually have a chance to get a progressive Democrat elected in what is generally considered GOP territory, then by all means, I am 100% on your side. But if it's an impossibility, I'll settle on Ford to get us closer to a majority. All that matters is us getting 51 Senators to their 49, and the last two years of the Bush administration, if not a turnaround, will at least come to a sudden screeching halt .

[tnlefty]

5. I hear ya, and it truly is a shame, and people wonder why the

Green party is growing, why so many don't even bother to vote anymore, etc.

What the hell is overcomeable? "Now we have one more layer to overcome, and I think it's overcomeable."

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Ford is a 'rising star'??

Coulda fooled me. :shrug:

[Cha]

6. It doesn't sound like he would

have any qualms..

"I don't have anything to be ashamed of. There's nothing not positive about my candidacy and about me," Ford said earlier this month. "I think if I switched parties, the Republicans might anoint me senator."

It's not like you vote Democratic Principles, harold ford Jr.

[Larkspur]

7. What a political opportunist and power-lusting man, Ford is!

He's a scumbag!