Breaking: Ford won't run

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100302/ap_on_el_se/us_ford_gillibrand

Like he ever stood any chance

[useful idiot]

I don't know what the hell he was thinking. Why on earth would he even be considered? The guy lost by a slim margin in TN, if he wanted to stay active in politics why not stay in TN and wait until the governor's race or until a senate seat came open? He ruined any chance he has of going back home and running now; he'd get blasted for trying to run in NY.

[Lunar]

Apparently his financial backers all said that if Zuckerman entered they would no longer support him.

[Bo]

Good news. He never stood a chance, but it would have took a lot of money that could be used for other races.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Does this mean that Kirsten Gillibrand is basically a shoe-in for election?

[Eraserhead]

Does this mean that Kirsten Gillibrand is basically a shoe-in for election?

Not exactly. Be patient.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Does this mean that Kirsten Gillibrand is basically a shoe-in for election?

No, but she may be a shoo-in.

[perdedor]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

Gillibrand has a progressive punch score of 97.95. She is such a conservative.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Apparently his financial backers all said that if Zuckerman entered they would no longer support him.

Yes, this. 

[Eraserhead]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

Gillibrand has a progressive punch score of 97.95. She is such a conservative.

She's still such a damned nonentity though. Fu ck it. This frees me up totally to support Tasini.

[rbt48]

I'd have thought that Patteron's unpopularity and possible legal troubles would have hurt the chances of Gillibrand.

[perdedor]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

Gillibrand has a progressive punch score of 97.95. She is such a conservative.

For the sake of political expediency, perhaps. That doesn't change her past.

[xavier110]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

Gillibrand has a progressive punch score of 97.95. She is such a conservative.

Gillibrand is pathetic.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Bummer, that could have been entertaining and would have given Tasini something to work with (being the alternative to two conservatives). Oh well, I'm sure we've yet to see the last of Ford. He will be good comic relief for a very long time.

Gillibrand has a progressive punch score of 97.95. She is such a conservative.

Gillibrand is pathetic.

Tell us something we don't know already.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I actually believe that the current Gillibrand is much closer to her actual beliefs than what she said running for the House. She is a pretty prototypical latte liberal in background. And outside of nominally opposing gun control and saying some things that sort of sounded tough on immigration, she wasn't very conservative then either. In 2007 she got an 8 from the American Conservative Union. In 2008 she got a 23, however two of those votes was when she voted against the bailout both times, which lots of liberals opposed. She was basically voting the liberal position 9 times out of 10 as a freshman in a centrist district. That is hardly bad. There are people worth primarying, she is not one of them.

[Lunar]

I actually believe that the current Gillibrand is much closer to her actual beliefs than what she said running for the House. She is a pretty prototypical latte liberal in background. And outside of nominally opposing gun control and saying some things that sort of sounded tough on immigration, she wasn't very conservative then either. In 2007 she got an 8 from the American Conservative Union. In 2008 she got a 23, however two of those votes was when she voted against the bailout both times, which lots of liberals opposed. She was basically voting the liberal position 9 times out of 10 as a freshman in a centrist district. That is hardly bad. There are people worth primarying, she is not one of them.

To the extent that Harold Ford has any beliefs, his current incarnation is probably closer as well.  He comes from a politically aristocratic black family in Memphis, his natural environment was never dressing in camo in front of confederate flags (despite the pics).  I mean, after that senate race was over, he married a fashion heiress and went to work on Wall Street doing....well, political stuff...who knows what he actually gets paid for.

The biggest things Gillibrand had going for her over Harold were:
1) She was always 100% pro-choice
2) She was always the pro-ACLU pro-transparency stuff...and honestly, this #2 item is why I liked her as a Representative. She was at the forefront of publicly posting everyone she was meeting with and her schedule. She kinda abandoned that in the Senate, which was too bad, because, to me, that was pretty much her schtick.  Lately, her schtick is repealing DADT, which I highly approve of, even if it's for political convenience, we've had too much cowardice on this immensely popular repeal.
3) She never actually favored a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage.

But that's about it in terms of flip-flopping.  The only policy difference between Gillibrand and Ford was TARP stuff, estate tax stuff, taxing the rich stuff, but that's nothing to build a campaign on in a Democratic primary.  

It still amazes me that Gillibrand's most serious challenger thus far managed to flip-flop on more issues than she did!  I still maintain that Ford would have been better off running as a Republican and not changing a single previous position.

[Brittain33]

Being involved with gay marriage for so long has made me give up on believing in anyone's "real beliefs." Anyone who is reasonably intelligent and ambitious can reason himself or herself into supporting one position or its opposite based on how they choose to weight the evidence, and convince himself or herself they are being thoughtful and openminded in doing so. It's rare that someone has a burning conviction that is unswayed by considerations of what is politically possible.

[perdedor]

I actually believe that the current Gillibrand is much closer to her actual beliefs than what she said running for the House. She is a pretty prototypical latte liberal in background. And outside of nominally opposing gun control and saying some things that sort of sounded tough on immigration, she wasn't very conservative then either. In 2007 she got an 8 from the American Conservative Union. In 2008 she got a 23, however two of those votes was when she voted against the bailout both times, which lots of liberals opposed. She was basically voting the liberal position 9 times out of 10 as a freshman in a centrist district. That is hardly bad. There are people worth primarying, she is not one of them.

You forgot how she voted for retroactive immunity for the telecoms.