Chuck Todd: Harold Ford Jr. for Commerce Secretary?

[wyldwolf]

Harold Ford Jr. for Commerce Secretary? It's something a few Democrats around town are pushing and, according to sources, the idea of appointing the former Tennessee Congressman is being given serious thought by folks high up in the Obama administration.

On paper, Ford checks a lot of boxes for a an easy-to-confirm nominee for this post: He's a pro-business Democrat (remember, this is Commerce Secretary so the job is to be a promoter of business); he's a former member of the Congressional Black Caucus (you'll recall this whole kerfuffle over control of the census under a Judd Gregg-led Commerce Dept. was started by complaints from the CBC); and he's a practiced spokesperson on TV (the Geithner rollout this week is a reminder that the administration doesn't have enough solid media savvy members of his team who can sell the administration's policies.).

There is one, potential, gigantic problem: Ford's current place of employment -- Merrill Lynch. Given the current views of Wall Street, Ford's nomination could come under immediate fire and he'd have to disclose exactly what his job was with ML etc. and whether he was one of the 700 million dollar bonus recipients before Merrill completed its sale to Bank of America in late 2008.

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/

[FLAprogressive]

1. not only no....but FUCK NO.

although I'm sure you're creaming your shorts over this one....

[wyldwolf]

6. I'll tell Barack you've nixed the idea. LOL

[damonm]

8. OK, let's talk...

Why NOT Ford, and who's YOUR choice?

[FLAprogressive]

13. Ford leads the DLC and is a corrupt tool...

just about any Dem would be better than this buffoon.

[wyldwolf]

18. sure. I'm sure you have Barack's ear. LOL

[damonm]

35. Specifics, please.

WHY is Ford a corrupt tool (support with examples)?

and EXACTLY (with names) who would YOU appoint, and why (again, with specifics)?

[angee_is_mad]

26. bill clinton would love it

and he is probably behind this talk.

The head of the DLC to head Commerce? Give me a break. As a black woman, I can't stand his sorry ass. He would sell out his own mother to gain position.

Check out the link.
http://thadmatthews.blogspot.com/search?q=harold+ford

Sickening, just sickening!!

[damonm]

34. OK, THAT's what I'm looking for...

documented reasons beyond "he's a DLC tool".

Thank you.

Now, on to part 2 - who would YOU pick, and why?

[angee_is_mad]

48. Got some more stuff 4u

Anecodotally, harold jr. would have a hard as time winning black votes in TN now. The only way he could do it was not to run against another black person and hope that he could get a high enough percentage of black votes to make up the people who would never vote for him.

I know Barack Obama, ansd mr. ford ain't no Barack Obama.

http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=172&Itemid=46

http://www.blackcommentator.com/79/79_fr_ford.html

Now for pt. 2
Who would I pick? I'm not sure about thatyet. But I sure as hell wouldn't pick call me, harold.

[grantcart]

33. I say Fuck Yes - it gets him of my TV and puts him in a backwater job

with no ideology and no profile.


Get him off the radar and bury him in one of the most unimportant jobs in government.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. AAAACK!

No. Harold Ford is a total douche.

[Skidmore]

3. Chuck wants access.

Hell, no, Chuck! You don't need access and we sure as hell don't need the DLC wunderkind.

[Thrill]

4. Chuck Todd has NO sources. This is BS

[Sebastian Doyle]

5. Oh HELL no

That useless DLC whore has no business anywhere near this cabinet.

[damonm]

As I said upthread...

Why NOT Ford, and who's YOUR choice?

[FLAprogressive]

15. Who's yours? Harold the Clown?

[damonm]

36. Nope.

But I'M not the one complaining - YOU are.
I'm asking you for specific reasons why not Ford, and who your pick would be if you had it to make.
Complaining without offering alternatives is just too damn Republican.

Might want to take a cue from Angee_is_mad in reply #26 - she at least offers examples of reasons NOT to go Ford.

[peacebird]

7. How about Bill Gates instead. He's built a huge and profitable company from scratch.

I don't agree with some of his tactics but even I have to admit he was very good at what he did. And he created loads of high paying jobs along the way.

[Sebastian Doyle]

12. I was thinking Warren Buffet actually

Gates might not be a good pick because of the Micro$oft antitrust thing a while back. And because Vista is a huge pile of shit, so any Senator stuck with that OS on their computer probably wouldn't vote for him.

[peacebird]

20. also an excellent choice!

[camera obscura]

9. Isn't he running for Gov in TN? I thought that was almost a certain deal.

[firedupdem]

10. STFU Todd, NO WAY n/t

[mitchum]

11. Fuck that DLC errand boy

[asphalt.jungle]

14. John W. Thompson will probably get it

he's Chairman of the Board and CEO of Symantec. Silicon Valley thought he would be nominated before Judd ultimately got it.

http://www.symantec.com/about/profile/management/directors/bio.jsp?bioid=john_thompson

[Sebastian Doyle]

17. Uhh.... I don't fucking think so

In September 2002, President George W. Bush appointed Thompson to the National Infrastructure Advisory Committee (NIAC), to make recommendations regarding the security of the critical infrastructure of the United States.

If this is the guy who was supposed to take care of the infrastructure, he was doing a "heckuva job", just like Brownie.

But considering how bloated and overblown Symantec software is, that's not much of a surprise.

No more goddamn Chimp flunkies!

[fujiyama]

16. I'm going to disagree with a lot of folks here

and say this may not be a bad pick after all.

I'm not a fan of Harold Ford Jr. He's too conservative for my liking, but on issues like the census I think he'd be fairly reliable and loyal. He'd be better than any republican for the position. I'm sick of more republicans in the cabinet anyways.

I don't know anything about his district. Would another democrat win it easily? Also, as I see some are saying he's interested in running for governor. He did pretty well in his senate run, getting beat by only 3% or so - as a black democrat for a statewide office in Tennessee - that's pretty damn impressive.

[FLAprogressive]

19. he isn't a congressman anymore, thank god, and his successor is the far more liberal Steve Cohen

who I would trust over Harold the Clown any day of the week.

[fujiyama]

50. He left it when he ran for the senate right?

Now I recall the dispute with the CBC when Cohen took office.

Anyways, my hope is we'll find someone more sympathetic to working class people than Ford, but he'd still be better than Gregg. I'm glad he's not going to be the one. As long as we don't have more republicans I'll be OK, though some like Geithner don't impress me much either.

[Kaylee]

21. Ewww...no thank you. nt

[mythyc]

22. i think an emoticon expresses this aptly:

:puke:

[Danger Mouse]

23. Isn't he a bigtime DINO?

why go halfway? If you want a repuke, get a repuke. :P

[angee_is_mad]

24. HELL NAW!!!

He is just a repub in black skin with a D behind his name.

That man is so eaten up with Obama envy he is beside himself. He will NEVER,EVER, be loyal to Obama.

[Clio the Leo]

25. I like Harold but....

.... I dont think I could stand the DU uproar over it. lol

[Oak2004]

27. Why not a scientist?

NOAA is a big part of the Dept. of Commerce (note; I am a former NOAA employee, crunching numbers in the mainframe era for the magnetosphere division). I'd bet all the folks still working for NOAA would be elated to have a Commerce Secretary with a clue as to how essential science, both basic and applied, is for the advancement of commerce.

[AtomicKitten]

28. I'd rather Obama appoint a Democrat this time.

:evilgrin:

[AspenRose]

37. Ha!

Well played!

[Maven]

29. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

Did I mention NO?

[Adtrain3]

30. Not Now

I would love for Harold Ford to be Commerce Secretary, but I love having him as a coteacher at a twice monthly seminar on the Presidency at Vanderbilt.

[Ikonoklast]

31. Never say die, the DLC and their enablers.

I applaud you.

Harold Ford for NOTHING.

[Hutzpa]

32. Hey! since we throwing names out there, why not

Joe The Plumber... What(??):shrug:
he employs 250 people, no....
Thats enough experience to become
Commerce Secretary.

Harold Ford....<yuck!> :puke:

[AzDar]

38. Oh, HELL no.

Who is writing this script?:mad:

[Dappleganger]

39. *facepalm*

[SoCalDem]

40. Morning Joe's L'il Buddy?..hahahaha Wannabee Sen. Toady?

THAT Harold Ford?

:rofl:

[kath]

41. Way too many DLCers already - fuck no.

[Doctor_J]

42. Chuck Todd works for the GOP

I don't trust him

[NikolaC]

43. Oh Hell

NO! I really hope that this is just a simple rumor.

[saltpoint]

44. I'd prefer Duke Cunningham at Commerce to Harold Ford.

[Dr.Phool]

45. Well, he wanted a repuke for Commerce.

Harold Ford fit's the bill nicely.

[Fire1]

46. Didn't know that about Gregg and the CBC. Interesting. Don't

know how I missed that one. They better 'vett' Ford really well, if he had anything to do with ML.

[AllentownJake]

47. If it gets him the fuck off tv sure why the hell not

[FrenchieCat]

49. Good! Keep in hidden under the desk, same place Gregg the Flip Flopper

was going to be placed! :)

[liberalsince1968]

51. He's no more a Democrat than Gregg despite the "D" after his name.

[Glimmer of Hope]

52. Who is dumber? Chuck T or Harold Ford?

[Sebastian Doyle]

54. I don't think it's an "either/or" choice with those two

They are both weaselly dumb corporatist tools.

[IsItJustMe]

53. One word. DINO. Second word. DLC.

[kwenu]

55. He's as good as any repub. I guess.

[WonderGrunion]

56. I hate the DLC passionately

But if there is one department they could be most effective in and suited for, it's commerce. This isn't a bad suggestion. Now can you support Howard Dean for HHS?

[alwysdrunk]

57. Fuck No

And I don't even hate or dislike the DLC. I just dislike this weaselly fuck Harold Ford. Loser couldn't even a Senate seat in a race he should have had locked. Fuck him, let him stay on TV.


....Actually MSNBC needs to get rid of his sorry ass too.....such a fucking weasel.