१३ जानेवारी, २०१०

"If I am elected senator from New York, Harry Reid will not instruct me how to vote."

And New York will have a Senator with a Tennessee accent.

ADDED: Alex Pareene has a lot of fun with what really was an embarrassing interview:
So, just so we're clear, Harold Ford: you want to run for office in New York. You want people in New York to vote for you. Democrats in New York are the people you are trying to appeal to. And, when asked if you prefer the Giants or the Jets, your answer is that you're better friends with the Tisches than with Woody Johnson, so Giants...? That is an insane answer....
Wait, let's ask another question!
Q. Have you been to Staten Island?

A. I landed there in the helicopter, so I can say yes.
Hah. Ha ha ha. 

४५ टिप्पण्या:

Bob_R म्हणाले...

Considering their recent choices for Senator, New Yorkers can be accurately described as "easily fooled." Ford might not be a bad fit.

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

Well at least meets Reid's standards for what constitutes an acceptable African American candidate to the electorate.

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

What is it with NY and carpetbagger candidates anyway?

Larry J म्हणाले...

What is it about New Yorkers that they keep voting for people from out of state to be senators? I don't know of any other state where this happens. You'd think with New York's large population they could find someone who actually lives there to be their senator.

AllenS म्हणाले...

I'll bet he's a Yankees fan. Probably has a hat, also. I wonder if Hillary still has her Yankees hat.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

Just watch how fast Dems become "tea baggers" light, even while continuing to disparage them.

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

I'll bet he's a Yankees fan. Probably has a hat, also. I wonder if Hillary still has her Yankees hat.

I remember back when Richardson was a candidate for President and was being interviewed by Tim Russert and Russert they were taling baseball and Richardson said he was a Red Sox fan but he was also a Yankees fan. The look on Russert's face was 'You are so full of shit.'

garage mahal म्हणाले...

No, Bank of America will tell him how to vote. That 1 mil per year they are paying him can't be for sleeping at the MSNBC studios.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

"You'd think with New York's large population they could find someone who actually lives there to be their senator."

New Yorkers don't like New Yorkers either.

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

No, Bank of America will tell him how to vote. That 1 mil per year they are paying him can't be for sleeping at the MSNBC studios

Well at least you recognize that your side can be bought and paid for like cocktail hostesses. I guess that counts for something.

Joan म्हणाले...

Hoosier, wow, politicians really are stupid. Awesome story.

Henry म्हणाले...

What is it with NY and carpetbagger candidates anyway?

If Scott Brown loses in Massachusetts next week, he should just move West.

The New York Times has a Commentary going on the lack of mobility in the current economic climate. No one's chasing jobs.

Harold Ford is setting a good example.

Peano म्हणाले...

"And New York will have a Senator with a Tennessee accent."

No, Harold Ford doesn't have a Tennessee accent. This is a Tennessee accent.

DADvocate म्हणाले...

Peano - Being a Tennessee native and having lived the first 38 years of my life in Tennessee, that is a Tennessee accent. Although, her accent is more East Tennessee (hillbilly) where I grew up and Harold Ford is from Memphis (West Tennessee) where accents are closer to a Southern drawl.

On Harold Ford, my older sister, in her early sixites, is a life long Democrat and her daughter was an intern for Clinton/Gore. For the first time in her life she voted for a Republican candidate rather than vote for Ford, whom she considered completely crooked. He should be a good fit for New York.

Joaquin म्हणाले...

"He called for a major reduction in the corporate tax rate and a payroll tax holiday to encourage hiring"

*YAWN*

Roman म्हणाले...

What sort of Senator will you wind up with when the residency requirements for Little League are more stringent than for US Senate?

jayne_cobb म्हणाले...

To be fair any candidate can claim that given Reid's current odds of reelection.

Henry म्हणाले...

Roman wrote: What sort of Senator will you wind up with when the residency requirements for Little League are more stringent than for US Senate?

A better one. But then, I live in Rhode Island and one of my senators is the incompetent showhorse Sheldon Whitehouse. (The other, Jack Reed, is equally liberal, but smart and capable in a senator pothole kind of way.)

Big Mike म्हणाले...

@DADvocate, your comment reminded me of being lectured at some length to the effect that there is no such thing as "Eastern Tennessee," only East Tennessee.

Unknown म्हणाले...

As the saying goes, "Do unto others, then move to another state".

This is an old, dishonorable tradition begun by Bobby Kennedy.

WV "ditesses" Ditzes in training.

DADvocate म्हणाले...

Big Mike - Tennessee officially recognizes the three grand divisions of the state, East, Middle and West Tennessee. That's what the three stars in the state flag represent. Use the term eastern or western in reference to a region of the state will get you funny looks for sure.

Roger J. म्हणाले...

the Ford family is a legend in Memphis--along with the former Mayor King Willie Herenton--the ford family probably has more indictments and jail time than any single political family in the US--

That said, Memphis politics will probably look like Boys Town compared to the idiots that comprise the political establishment of NY State

And in fairness to Junior, he isnt as bad as the rest of his family--we just hope he doesnt regress to the mean.

Joe म्हणाले...

Tennessee is a funny state. During the civil war it neatly divided itself in two, half fighting for the north, the other half fighting for the south. My wife has many ancestors from the state and is in contact with several people there. She cracks up over how different the accents are. One friend has an accept just like that of the above video yet another lifetime resident has no accent at all and says he never tried to gain or lose one.

(I find accents intriguing. I went to college with a pair of siblings from Virginia. He had a neutral accent, she had a slight Virginian accent that she could turn up and down. Knew a girl from Texas who could do the same thing, though her normal accent was also neutral.)

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

This carpetbaggery in New York is distinctly odd. I try to envision a scenario where someone from Illinois, Iowa or Minnesota could move to Wisconsin and shortly thereafter become an elected official. I fail. Maybe you have to be from farther afield.

Still, if some crook from afar can convince the good citizens of a state that he or she can better represent them than a locally-grown crook, maybe that bodes well for the Senatorial career.

former law student म्हणाले...

Good point, madman. Would Cheeseheads vote for a FIB? They replaced Bob LaFollette with the odious Joe McCarthy, so I suppose anything is possible.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

Fuck Ford. Just fuck him. God, I hate these assholes.

I'm not going to say anything else because I'll give myself an anyurism (sp?) from my disgust for such people.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

Use the term eastern or western in reference to a region of the state will get you funny looks for sure.

No. You get a lengthy lecture. Trust me.

Christy म्हणाले...

Ford is a wonderful speaker. I walked out after hearing him at my sister's graduation all inspired and feeling good. That's enough to get him elected, isn't it?

Half a century ago the East Tennessee hillbilly (word derived from William of Orange, btw) accent and vocabulary was very close to Elizabethan English. National broadcast TV has smoothed out both the accent and the language. /lecture

AllenS म्हणाले...

I didn't realize that Bob LaFollette blew his brains out after losing to Joe McCarthy. What a wimp.

Joe म्हणाले...

Bob LaFollette blew his brains out after losing to Joe McCarthy

He didn't. He committed suicide six years later.

TMink म्हणाले...

I could listen to Harold Ford talk all day long. He is so smart, and so articulate, and really knows how to talk like a moderate.

He also knows how to vote like a progressive while doing all those things so I will never vote for him.

Trey

John Stodder म्हणाले...

This quote is a kind of trick. If Ford gets elected senator, Harry Reid won't be in a position to instruct him how to vote. He has virtually no chance of re-election and will probably be forced to retire to give the Democrats a chance at keeping the seat.

wv: likeho (Do I need to add anything?)

vbspurs म्हणाले...

Roger J wrote:

And in fairness to Junior, he isnt as bad as the rest of his family--we just hope he doesnt regress to the mean.

I read on a black woman's blog that black women HATE Ford because he married a white woman. When pressured, she couldn't give specifics on stats, etc. It seemed to be anecdotal, but it rings true.

Also, if Tennessee didn't want Harold Ford Jr to be their Senator, why would New York?

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

I read on a black woman's blog that black women HATE Ford because he married a white woman.

Which is kind of odd considering that Ford is clearly a lot more white than he is black.

Hoosier Daddy म्हणाले...

Also, if Tennessee didn't want Harold Ford Jr to be their Senator, why would New York?

Well I said a similar thing about Gore in 2000. If Tennessee didnt' think he was good enough for the Presidency, why should the rest of the country? ;-)

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

Ford is a Memphis guy. Memphis is a Mississippi River Port with a good mixture of cultures that brings out the best in men. Ford is a nice man, but the one lesson learned from 2009 is that a Moderate Democrat is a sold out Socialists as soon as the bribe gets more than moderate. The New Yorkers need to try an honest New York citizen and abandon this musical chairs of DemonRat anointed high rollers going to the Senate using their Senate seat.

Borepatch म्हणाले...

And New York will have a Senator with a Tennessee accent.

As opposed to a Senator with an Arkansas accent. Sometimes.

bagoh20 म्हणाले...

I would recommend a random candidate from an Adirondack phone book. I think it would be most satisfying and instructional.

I'm Full of Soup म्हणाले...

Trad Guy:

Wouldn't it be fun if some mega-rich person financed a bunch of randomly selected people [from the phone book] to run for the Senate?

Of course, he better do it quickly while we still have phone books.

former law student म्हणाले...

I've been to Staten Island (on the ferry) so I'm eligible to run.

vbspurs म्हणाले...

Alex Pareene has a lot of fun with what really was an embarrassing interview:

It reads like an "interview" from the Onion.

What is the secret algorithm for Democrats liking or not liking a Democratic candidate, somebody know?

I can't quite figger it out.

Hillary Clinton is okay for New York Senator, because her politics are sound, even though she's a carpetbagger and trying to form a political dynasty by following her husband into politics, but she's not okay for President because of the same.

On the other hand, Harold Ford Jr. would be a carpetbagger running for Senate too, and he's also part of a political dynasty, but despite saying he's in favour of gay marriage now, he's getting the tenth degree from liberal Democrats who prefer a Blue Dog like Gillibrand.

On the other other hand...

Political dynasty member extraordinaire Caroline Kennedy, despite her dependably left-liberal views, flawless academic credentials (Radcliffe, Columbia), is not to be tolerated by Democrats because she's inarticulate.

EXCUSE ME? Is there a rhyme or reason to what is acceptable to Democrats in their pols?

Cheers,
Victoria

vbspurs म्हणाले...

wv: electr! Why, I don't even know her.

Cedarford म्हणाले...

vbspurs - "I read on a black woman's blog that black women HATE Ford because he married a white woman. When pressured, she couldn't give specifics on stats, etc. It seemed to be anecdotal, but it rings true."

One of the great untold stories of black society.
Successful black men who date and marry "only" white, decent hispanic, or very light-skinned African American women - and the black women that hate them for that.

Obama, a serial dater of white women in his youth, was told when he expressed interest in politics that he "had to go with black" to be authentic and viable in S Chicago.
He listened.
Ford, in part, is attempting to relocate to run in NY because his blonde cheerleader wife doesn't resonate well with either blacks or whites in Tennessee.

mariner म्हणाले...

vbspurs:
I read on a black woman's blog that black women HATE Ford because he married a white woman.

There must have been some mistake.

Because that would be racist and, as we all know, black women can't be racist.

Anthony म्हणाले...

In fairness to Mr. Ford regarding Staten Island, I was born in Brooklyn, grew up on Long Island and of my 42 years, 26 of them have been spent living in Brookyn or on Long Island.

In all that time, I have been outside of a car on Staten Island 5 times, maybe 6. Once maybe twice as a kid (my uncle married someone from Staten Island), twice in law school (my 1L neighbor lived on Staten Island and I stopped by twice to see her) once in college becuase a friend and I were going to a Giants game and had to pick up a friend of his and once last summer because my kids wanted to take a ride on the ferry.

And that's it.

I have driven along the SI Expressway and the West Shore Expressway lots of times