In Which Harold Ford Has His Buttocks Handed to Him.
Oh, this is rich.
Harold Ford, Chair of the Republican Wing of the Democratic Party (that is, the DLC), dropped by Talking Points Cafe for what he described as an “opportunity to put aside stereotypes and identify some common ground, including a civil debate about ideas and solutions Democrats can offer in 2008 to address our country’s most pressing challenges.”
Unfortunately for Mr. Ford, he was dealing with a highly informed group of commenters, who immediately began askign uncomfortable questions like
You voted for the war and never repudiated your vote. You are against gay rights. You invoke Jesus at every opportunity. You are anti-choice.
Why in God’s name would an antiwar, pro-gay, pro-choice Jew like myself have any reason to support you?
Frankly, you are to the right of Joe Lieberman.
and
It is not usually a good idea to start out by (1) mischaracterizing and thereby (2) insulting your audience. Your job here is to sell the DLC and its positions, not deliver a top-down lecture. There is no question it is going to be a hard sell, but you have started out in the worst manner imaginable.
As to your list of 1-6, I note the absence of “restoring Constituational government”. This leads me to think that the DLC might actually be in favor of the “unitary executive” concept and the expansion of executive power. Please discuss.
and
Bush had some bipartisan support on the Military Commissions Act.
Didn’t he, Mr Ford?
Where does the DLC stand on Chris Dodd’s efforts to correct the unconstitutional abomination that you voted for?
and
Mr. Ford,
Would you tell us how much you are to be paid by Fox News or do you maintain that as a spokesman for the DLC that it is OK to keep confidential who else pays you, and how much, for giving your opinions on the air?
Would you tell us if you contacted them and asked for the position or did they contact you?
Do you expect to find common ground on which to work out different policy positions while interacting on Fox News?
Will you be on a particular program or available for any of their programs with any of their other pundits?
and
1) Abuse of power by the Executive Branch. President Bush’s administration has been in a state of violating the FISA law for probably about five years now. Do you support the idea that the President must be constrained by the law as it is written, or do Presidents have the latitude to ignore the law when they feel like it? I fear that this problem will not go away in 2008, especially if Mayor Giuliani’s campaign is successful.
2) Equal rights for all Americans. In particular I have a gay colleague who is raising two children with his partner, and I am sick and tired of seeing his family villified by the religious right for choices they make that do not hurt anybody.
3) The moral leadership of America in the 21st century. You may have noticed this - the United States is widely villified these days on the world stage. I don’t think morals are a matter of convenience for states as they interact with each other any more than they are a matter of convenience for people as they interact with each other. In particular, I would like to see the US end its policies of kidnapping suspected terrorists on foreign soil and detaining them indefinitely without legal review. And the policy of torture has to stop.
In the end (or at least as of 3:26 PM EST) Mr. Ford never even entered the conversation. In his post, he refers to discussing things “tomorrow”. I have no idea how he’s going to address any of the hundreds of comments waiting for him. In fact, I doubt he’ll address them at all, given the pedantic, lecturing tone he starts out with.
2 Responses to “In Which Harold Ford Has His Buttocks Handed to Him.”
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April 3rd, 2007 at 3:50 pm
That cracks me up.
“…Making America the Most Pro-Family Country on Earth…”
Excuse me for not paying too much attention but does this mean telling women what to do with their bodies, and making sure that every upright American woman is at home, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, or does this mean they will actually be addressing the lack of paternity leave, short maternity leaves, the lack of subsidized daycare in America, the failing healthcare system, the horrible school systems, the idiotic no child left behind act, gun violence, and the inability to raise a child on the weak American dollar?
April 3rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
The kind of democrat Harold Ford represents might as well be a republican. The DLC is the Joe Liberman wing of the party. They’ve been losing elections steadily since 1994.
So basically, it means the latter, but without the public hangings the GOP calls for.
You’ll notice he doesn’t call for a return to constitutionality either.