Harold Ford Missed The "Get Behind Dean" Memo

Dems are rallying behind Dean, but Harold Ford of TN missed the memo.  From his appearance on Imus this morning:

June 9, 2005

Imus: "On another note here, speaking of the Democratic Party, which you are a member of, how's Howard Dean working for you?"

Rep. Harold Ford Jr.: "(Laughing) I won't have him down so many times in Tennessee on the campaign trail with me. He has made some comments as of late that really speak to a lack of understanding I think, of the country, a lack of understanding of faith and values. I'm a Democrat and I'm a God fearing one. I grew up in church. Christianity is not reserved for white males. I think perhaps Governor Dean sometimes gets a little excited at the mouth, and says things that are simply not true. It may reach a point where if he can't find a way to kind of control some of his comments, and temper his comments, it may get to the point where the party may need to look elsewhere for leadership, because he does not speak for me, and I know he does not speak for a majority of Democrats and I dare say Republicans in my home state. I know that other, even Senator Biden and others, have made some stronger comments about him. I look forward to having a chance to sit with him here in the next day or so. I think he's going to be here in Capitol Hill a little later today to meet with us. I want to ask him directly. Can he contain himself in a lot of ways, and what is his thought process in a lot of these issues because it is not representative of where the party is."

Comments

[POUNCER]

Republicans are the party of white Christians and Democrats are the party of Whoopie Goldberg.

Black Baptists and Hispanic Catholics and others Christians of other denomations and shades of color are going to have to decide -- according to Howard Dean. Are we with the white Christians or Micheal Newdow, Barbara Streisand, Shirley McClain -- and Louis Farrakhan. To choose between a coalition of white atheists, white secular Jews, white spiritualist/pagans, black radical Muslims -- versus our white brothers in Christ.

Uhm. Is this supposed to be a no-brainer?

[Brad R.]

To choose between a coalition of white atheists, white secular Jews, white spiritualist/pagans, black radical Muslims -- versus our white brothers in Christ.

POUNCER, this is just as silly as what Dean said. I'd really, REALLY, REALLY like to throw identity politics into the ashcan of history...

[Dave Schuler]

Perhaps the slight chill between Ford and Dean may have something to do with the Deaniacs having their knives out for the House Blue Dog Democrats (of which Ford is one).

[Crank]

Dean is really running an awfully high enemies-to-power ratio here. I have a visual image of Dean in the near future winding up like the Jedi after Order 66.

[Martian Anthropologist]

Dean needs to grow up a little. Who's he trying to be, Michael Moore? The guy saying everything that everyone thinks, but isn't saying?

[Bostonian]

"I think perhaps Governor Dean sometimes gets a little excited at the mouth, and says things that are simply not true."

Hmm, ya think?

[Geek, Esq.]

Ford admitted that he's a Democrat? That's unusual for him.

[Peg C.]

A Dem caller to Rush yesterday stated straight out and forcefully that most Democrats believe exactly what Dean espouses when we suppose he's off the deep end with his foot in his mouth. The guy said Rush is exactly right and Dems trying to distance themselves from Dean are basically spinning and lying.
As a former lifelong lefty Dem, I know they believe EXACTLY what Dean is spouting. This is not a joke and it is not limited to a few wacko nutjobs. The entire party is Moonbat Central. They always were but they used to hide it a lot better.

[submandave]

Junior's oppinion of Dean may be sincere, but given his recent announcement of seeking Senator Frist's seat in 2006 there is no other viable political position to take. He's never faced a challenge in Memphis (he just inherited the seat from Daddy), and especially in light of the political pain his uncle John has recently become (multiple federal charges for corruption and threatening agents), if he seriously wants to gain the support of a conservative southern state smack-dab in the Bible belt he has to distance himself from the lunatic ravings of Dean.

[David Broadus]

Problem with Harold Ford's comments is that Howard Dean DOES speak for the majority of the Democratic party--at least the activists that give the money and vote in primaries.

[victor]

The purpose of Dean's wry comments are to highlight the differences between the real agenda of the Republican party and the honest working people who voted republican out of the fear of terrorism.

[Crank]

I love the way Google Ads surrounds this post about Howard Dean with Bible-related merchandise.

[TM]

Re the Google ads - I signed up for the special "irony-enhanced" targetting. Don't laugh, click!

[D. Carter]

I got a kick out of Ford's characterization of Dean as having "gotten a little excited around the mouth"; the expression conveys the notion that Dean's mouth frequently operates independently of his mind. One can only hope so, but I still think the preponderence of evidence is on the side of those who argue that Dean does indeed believe what he says, which presupposes that he has given some "thought" to his pronouncements before he makes them. And that IS scary.

[megapotamus]

Of course, BOTH parties are majority white and majority Christian, because the nation is. My unpleasant experiences bear out the assertions above that Dean does in fact well represent the over-arching Democrat mindset. Really, how could you expect otherwise since this is the line taken by the media at large? Never forget though, that folks like us who read and comment on political matters are a tiny, tiny minority of even likely voters. Without mainstream media scrutiny Dean could ravage a herd of Vestal Goats without consequence. Maybe that's next.

[richard mcenroe]

Aside from a vague, uncomfortable image conjured up by getting "excited at the mouth," I think this is great. I think the Democratic Party should embrace Howard Dean with rock-solid commitment through at least the next two elections...

[POUNCER]

BRAD_R> POUNCER, this is just as silly as what Dean said.

Yes, exactly as silly. Louder, but no siller. Amplified without distortion.

It's a very silly thing to say, aloud.

There is a technical term of art in politics for the situation in which a prominent figure accidentally utters for the record an impolite truth. It's called a "gaffe".

It may be true (or may not) that nutbar athesist fanatics like Newdow who clutter the courts with frivolous suits pushing at the fringes of the concept "separation of church and state" tend to be found more often among the Democratic party faithful than among Republicans. But to draw the inference from that truth and utter aloud the conclusion that Democrats are the party of atheists is so unwise as to be silly. It is just as true (or untrue) that nutbar fanatics like uhm ... well, I've tried to google the name of the particular nutbar who is leading the movement to amend the constitution to put in a new preamble declaring the United States a kingdom of god. Interestingly there are a zillion hits on variations of "american theocracy" leading to liberal sites opposing the notion, and I can't find the ones leading to the advocates. But let's acknowledge there are nutbars out there, and such nutbars lean Republican. It seems to me to confuse such nutbars with more mainstream Christians is like confusing the American Socialist Workers Revolutionary committee with the American Civil Liberties Union, or PETA with the SPCA. At some point, and that point pretty far out on the fringes, it is trivially easy to identify toward which party any given nutbar leans. It it, however, silly to suggest that such nutbars define the party.

Which is why it's silly for John Kerry to suggest that Whoopie Goldberg's particular demographic and political slant represents "the heart and soul" of the electorate.

It is pretty silly for Paul Krugman to suggest that corporate shenanigans by Enron and Halliburton executives are more atrocious than the attacks on the World Trade Center or the beheading of Danny Pearl.

It IS silly, all of it.

So why shouldn't we point and mock and laugh, just as we do at other clowns?

[Tex Lovera]

Yes, there are plenty of clowns. Some, however, work in bigger circuses than others.

Right now, Dean is the biggest clown in Barnum & Bailey's center ring.

[McCarroll]

Junior Ford will not fool enough Tennesseans to get elected to the senate, no matter how he tries to distance himself from Dean. That only works among his brothers in Memphis, a place where Farrakhan can get the key to the city.

[Ardsgaine]

"Uhm. Is this supposed to be a no-brainer?"

If the Republicans want to become exclusively the Party of God, then I'll go look for another party to join.

I feel a bit like one of the famous Five Hundred: "Moonbats to the left of me! Moonbats to the right of me!"

Wanted: A party that believes in the separation of Church and State, the sanctity of individual liberty, and a strong National Defense.

[Harry Arthur]

Ardsqaine, speaking as a dedicated Christian who is a mixture of conservative/libertarian and who happens to vote republican only because I usually trust them to do the least harm, I no more want the republican party to be "the Party of God" than do you. But I do believe Christians should be full participants in our representative democracy.

Aside from the absolute, incontrovertible fact that God is neither republican nor democrat, nor American for that matter, I think most of us who tend to favor the republican party do so because we are at the very least listened to there.

I do agree with your comments about the sanctity of individual liberty to the extent that it is not a code word for unrestricted abortion. I certainly believe in a strong national defense. We might disagree some, maybe, on "separation of Church and State" which I generally believe is twisted into an attempt to exclude God from the public square, a concept totally foreign to the framers' intent with the first amendment. Otherwise, I think we could probably sit down together over a beer and agree on a lot of things and choose to disagree agreeably on others. It seems to me the republican party is much more open to that philosophy than are the democrats at least at this time in history.

You should also feel safe around those of us who consider ourselves Christians who are also conservative. Neither my Christian acquaintances nor I wish to try to impose our religious beliefs on you or anyone else. We would just like to see the first amendment applied to all religious faiths equally as it was intended when written. Please see POUNCER's comments above regarding the establishment of a theocracy - not a person I know wants to go anywhere near that totally anti-American idea. We do have serious problems with voting against judicial candidates simply because their personal religious beliefs are deemed "outside the mainstream" or suggesting that because I personally believe that certain activities are sins that I hate people, etc, etc. It seems very easy for some on the left or in the media to stereotype Christians, label us, mistate our beliefs and thereby attempt to marginalize us.

Having said all that, if that qualifies me as a "moonbat" I'm sorry you feel that way.

[Birkel]

It wouldn't surprise me terribly if Harold Ford, Jr. switched his party affiliation at some point in his political career. He seems much more conservative than most of his fellow Dem Congressmen.

But then I've always been a bit of a dreamer...

[smantix]

Ford, Jr. is electable but there is a stink in his wake.
I mean how else does a Junior REP! from Tennessee keep getting booked on tv shows, nationally syndicated radio shows and on and on. He goes out and talks like a Republicans and votes like Howard Dean. And his family pedigree raises more questions. For anyone concerned about the rise of Harold Ford, Jr., let this be your bookmark clearinghouse:
http://nashvillefiles.com/blog/archives/000885.html

[TrollSlayer]

Harry Arthur said:

>>>Aside from the absolute, incontrovertible fact that God is neither republican nor democrat<<<

You sure about that? Ecclesiastes 10:2 ~ "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of a fool to the left." Sounds kinda Republican to me... :)

[Harry Arthur]

I can always learn something...

Very nice sense of humor. :)

[McCarroll]

Ford gets booked for a lot of national attention because the liberal media loves him. It will be a different story in the senate race outside of Shelby County, where his crooked uncle (or uncles, if you count Emmett) could get reelected in a minute to anything he ran for.

[panasianbiz]

I stumbled across your blog while I was doing some online research. I hate the thought that our political parties are becoming so polarized that millions and millions of middle-of-the road Americans will be left feeling abandoned by the political process.

[Memphian]

The Ford family is supporting Harold Ford, Jr's brother for the house seat he gave up to run for the US Senate. His cousin has already lost the democrat primary in favor of Steve Cohen. Now his brother, Jake [Joke] is running as an independent as the Ford family is ignoring the democrat nominee. This is probably the end of the Ford influence in West Tennessee as many are sick of the Fords, their selfish ways and criminal members. Many feel that Harold, Jr. want make it and that his worthless brother doesn't stand a chance to replace him.

See more at:

http://lexus130.tripod.com/fordnomore.html

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