Shut Up And Go Away Already

Harold Ford: I'm Not Running

Former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) announced tonight that he will not be running for Kirsten Gillibrand's seat in the U.S. Senate.

After traveling the state on a closely watched tour, he told friends that he could prevail but feared that an ugly campaign would leave the winner drained of cash and vulnerable to a Republican challenger at a time when the Democratic Party controls the United States Senate by a slender majority. “I’ve examined this race in every possible way, and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary — a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened,” Mr. Ford wrote in an opinion article to be published in The New York Times on Tuesday. The possibility of a Senate campaign in New York by the telegenic Mr. Ford, who has been working as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch and a political commentator on NBC since moving to New York in 2006, had riveted New York’s political world and touched off a furious behind-the-scenes effort to keep him out of the race.

Ford's decision comes less than a week after he was pretty much booed off the stage by gay activists during a speech at the NYC LGBT Center. Now we wait to see who Gillibrand's GOP challenger will be. Speculation is running high that it may be billionaire NY Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman.

VIDEO: Harold Ford At LGBT Center

Here's NY1's story on former Rep. Harold Ford's appearance at the NYC LGBT Center, in case you wanted to see all the shouting.

(Via - Towleroad)

Former Rep. Harold Ford Booed Off The Stage At NYC LGBT Center

Former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN), who is considering running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, had to cut his appearance at the NYC LGBT Center short last night when protesters in the audience repeatedly interrupted his speech. Via Gay City News:

Some in the crowd were unabashed Gillibrand partisans and carried anti-Ford messages written on the back of “Gillibrand For Senate” signs. Jeffrey LeFrancois, a community liaison for Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, a Democrat who represents Chelsea, said, “Absolutely not” when asked if he could support Ford. Gottfried has endorsed Gillibrand. Dan Choi, an Army reservist and Iraq War veteran who is facing discharge after he came out on national television, described Gillibrand as a “fierce advocate” for the gay community when he stood to ask what Ford’s position was on the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Ford said, “I’m for repeal of the policy. I’ve never been for it.” Ford also asked of Choi that “You give me the same opportunity she has had” to demonstrate her support for the gay community. Choi replied, “That would require you to fire her and to fire me.”

While some yelled out “Let him talk” or “Let him speak” when Ford was interrupted by chants or catcalls, it did seem as if the room was divided between those who opposed him but were willing to listen, and those who opposed him and wanted to shout him down. At the end of the event, Ford was briefly startled when one audience member charged the front of the room and set off a confetti-filled popper that sounded like a gunshot in the crowded room. Asked after the event if he thought he had any supporters in the room, Ford said, “I’m not sure. If I decide to run I hope to come back.”

While I'm no fan of a carpetbagger like Rep. Ford, I don't see the point of disrupting an ostensibly friendly speech on our own turf. Ford was the invited guest of the Stonewall Democrats. David Badash at New Civil Rights Movement called the protesters no better than teabaggers:

Harold Ford’s reception tonight at New York City’s LGBT Center, which hosted the Stonewall Democrats’ event at which Ford was invited to speak about his stance on issues affecting the LGBTQ community, was little short of a mob scene. Protesters, organized by “The Power,” an LGBTQ advocacy group that has worked tirelessly — albeit with tactics at times well-intentioned yet ill-advised – to further the civil rights cause for all LGBTQ Americans, turned this event into Tea Party style politics.

Protesters brandished bold signs labeling Ford, “Liar,” “Anti-gay Liar,” and “Snakeoil Harold.” But it wasn’t their brandishing of signs, it was their bellicose voices, shouting, interrupting — all of which were criticized by the Stonewall Democrats leadership, to no avail. At every opportunity, protesters shouted down Ford, who clearly wasn’t capable of withstanding the half-hour verbal abuse in a hot, stuffy, small meeting room. It was demeaning and disrespectful to Mr. Ford, it was demeaning and disrespectful to the Stonewall Democrats, it was demeaning and disrespectful to the LGBTQ community, and worse of all, it was demeaning and disrespectful to our national political debate.

(Photo credit: Clark67)

Activists To Crash Harold Ford's Speech at NYC LGBT Community Center

LGBT activist group The Power has announced plans to crash next week's speech by former Rep. Harold Ford (D-TN) at the NYC LGBT Community Center.

On Wednesday, February 24th at 6 p.m., The Power invites you to join us in confronting anti-LGBT Senate hopeful Harold Ford, Jr. when he addresses the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City at the LGBT Community Services Center at 208 West 13th Street (between 7th & 8th Avenue). Be there early and invite all your friends to stand united against his lies. SMS: If you plan to attend, please text keyword LGBT to 95495 to get important late breaking updates via SMS. Ford, a member of one of Tennessee's most corrupt political families, has a record of lying to gay people to advance his political career. As a Tennessee Congressman, Ford pursued the endorsement of National Stonewall Democrats, promising that organization that he would not support an amendment to the Constitution banning same-sex marriage. After getting the endorsement, Ford not only supported it, he gave a floor speech on behalf of the amendment and voted for it twice!

Ford says he now supports marriage equality. He continues to remain coy about his decision on whether to oppose Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the fall.

Harold Ford Vs. Stephen Colbert

Guess who wins?

Ann Coulter's Favorite Democrat

Blistering. Yowtch.

Harold Ford Pleads His Case

After charges of flip-flopping and carpetbagging rained down on him yesterday, today former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford (D) took to the op-ed pages of the New York Post to bolster his cause to unseat Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

I am pro-choice -- have always been since I entered politics almost 15 years ago. My cumulative grade with NARAL during 10 years in Congress was right at 80 percent. Any assertions to the contrary are false. I remain committed to promoting gun safety and handgun control, and I look forward to working with Mayor Bloomberg and Newark Mayor Corey Booker and their coalition to reduce handgun violence in cities across America. Despite what critics say about me, I enjoyed uninterrupted support from organized labor throughout my time in Congress. And from the moment I arrived in Congress, I supported civil unions. Like New York's senior senator, after listening to and participating in the national conversation about full equality and fairness, I support same-sex marriage.

Perhaps heralding his long-rumored return to New York politics, disgraced former Gov. Eliot Spitzer yesterday attacked Gov. David Paterson for appointing Gillibrand and criticized Democratic leadership for discouraging others to run against her.

Harold Ford Reverses On Marriage

Former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford, who announced last week that he is considering running for Kirsten Gillibrand's Senate seat in New York, was one of 34 Democrats who voted for the Federal Marriage Act. But this morning he told Matt Lauer on the Today Show that he's changed his mind.

Host Matt Lauer asked, "So you're now in favor of same sex marriage?" "Civil unions and same-sex marriage, yes," Ford said. Ford also said there's a "fiction" in language between civil unions and same-sex marriages, and that he now supports gay nuptials because it's the best way to keep equal benefits flowing. Saying he supported civil unions when he ran for Congress in Tennessee in 1996, Ford said, "My support for fairness and equality existed long before I moved to New York." Asked by host Matt Lauer if it was a "change" in position, he invoked Chuck Schumer and Bill Clinton, saying: "Maybe in the language. But I'm a believer that benefits should flow to same sex partners and if indeed the fiction of the language, the title, should be changed, much like Chuck Schumer who changed his mind on it and Bill Clinton's evolved, I'm of the opinion now that nothing is wrong with that."

In 2006 Ford unsuccessfully ran for the Senate from Tennessee, after which he moved to New York.