Thursday, July 22, 2010
Harold Ford Jr. Arrives to Jump-Start His Uncle's Stretch Run
The former congressman repeats Joe Ford’s talking points, but loaning his charisma out is the main thing.
Posted by Jackson Baker on Thu, Jul 22, 2010 at 4:21 AM
- JB
- Two Fords are better than one?
The jokesters had a field day: “Joe Ford Gets Endorsed by his Nephew” and suchlike. As if having Harold Ford Jr., the former Memphis congressman and current national celebrity come down to add his oomph to his uncle’s neck-and-neck race against Republican Mark Luttrell for Shelby County Mayor was nothing much.
Granted, Harold Ford Jr. lost his last political race — for a Tennessee seat in the U.S. Senate in 2006 — and granted, too, he ran up against a wall of derision and never even got started on his next try — for a New York seat in the U.S. Senate in 2010.
Granted, further, that there are a substantial number of Democrats both up yonder and down here who were put off by Ford’s decade-long flirtation with conservative positions, as well as with his sudden, unconvincing turnabout on some issues — like same-sex marriage — in a proverbial New York minute.
And granted, finally, that the princely salaries and bonuses the former congressman has received from Merrill Lynch/Bank of America as a rainmaker have aggravated many people still angry at the big banks and brokerages for their ripoff schemes and bailout rescues.
None of that changes the fact that Harold Ford Jr. is that rare thing, a combination political/media star, and, at 40, he not only is too young to be written off, he still has charisma in reserve, and his putting it at the disposal of Democratic nominee Joe Ford, the interim mayor, could turn out to be a significant factor — an animating spark, say — in a race that was already reckoned as too close to call.
It was the intangibles that counted on Wednesday, when nephew and uncle met the press together in the Forrest Room of The Peabody.
Not Harold Ford Jr.’s dutiful recitation of Joe Ford’s talking points — that the interim mayor wants to build progress and a grand new edifice to house the Med he has saved, while Luttrell wants to squander public money on a brand new jail, the better to lock more people up. And that Joe Ford stands for “progressive” causes while Luttrell is hand in glove with the Tea Party crowd and played front man in Shelby County for the likes of Sarah Palin.
Giving Joe Ford credit for some very real achievements as interim county mayor — his work on the Med’s behalf certainly being one of them — his campaign’s indictment of Luttrell is an exaggeration, to say the least.
The Sheriff did, in fact, propose building a new jail some years ago but dropped the idea. And Luttrell’s public vouching for this or that Republican cause — the McCain-Palin presidential ticket of 2008 among them — was more pro forma and club colors than anything else, not qualitatively different from the kind of party loyalty that put Joe Ford’s late primary opponent, county commissioner Deidre Malone, on the platform behind him Wednesday, amid a small host of other Democrats.
Of course, Luttrell can’t have it both ways. When he addressed a group of college Republicans at the University of Memphis last spring, he made much of his youthful response to the clarion call of conservative Republican icon Barry Goldwater. The fact that these days Luttrell expresses himself most often as a would-be unifier across party lines and privately expresses regret — no doubt sincerely — that county elections are subject to partisan elections at all does not change the fact that he is a Republican — his party’s ticket-leader, in fact — and that fact alone could disadvantage him in a county that is now predominantly Democratic (one of the few places in Tennessee where such a condition exists).
Harold Ford Jr.’s presence in Memphis this week is meant to galvanize the Democratic base around Uncle Joe, and may well do so — the former congressman’s ideological apostasies notwithstanding. Give him his due: He potentially brings some excitement into a campaign that, however commendable in some ways, has not exactly been a house afire.
* Among the sentiments shared by Harold Ford Jr. in a brief conversation with the Flyer:
—He has “not foreclosed” on the prospect of further political efforts in New York State. He “loves” being a New Yorker, and there is no prospect of his returning to Tennessee to resume a political career here.
—He does not apologize for his career in the financial sector nor for the big money he has made there. He declined to specify how much of a bonus he may have received from Merrill Lynch in late 2008 but acknowledges that nice salaries and bonuses come with the job. “I’m proud of the way I make my living," he said, and he emphasized that his Wall Street labor is real work that he takes seriously.
—He threaded a needle on the matter of other local endorsements — notably in the race for the9th Congressional seat that he himself once occupied. He would not follow the lead of his father, former congressman Harold Ford Sr., in specifically endorsing incumbent Democrat Steve Cohen over former Mayor Willie Herenton but opined that Cohen’s reelection would be “for the best.”
—He accounted for his leap from Fox News to MSNBC as an on-air political analyst because he enjoyed the additional opportunity to be a semi-regular guest on flagship NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. The ideological difference between the two cable networks —Fox tending right, MSNBC tilting left — seemed not to be a matter of much consequence with him.
Comments (22)
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JB: I can't help but think you're giving Jr. WAY too much credit in this piece. I'd tell you why, but I don't want to risk hurting your feelings (or at least not any more than I already have).
I'll just say one thing: ego is not the equivalent of charisma, name recognition is not the equivalent of influence, the way things used to be is not the equivalent of the way things are, and bygones are not always bygones.
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Tell you what, Marty, and this may (hopefully, will be) my last response to one of your comments: Quit worrying about my or any other writer/commentator's "feelings." Stop addressing us as personalities, in fact, and quit trying to to feel out our buttons to push. (Your guesswork as to what and where they are is pretty terrible.) We know you're lonely, but there's nothing much we can do about that.
Just address the subject under review, express your often quite trenchant observations, and let it go at that. (Your second paragraph is a fairly neat little exposition and a more than acceptable alternative view.)
JB: good comeback--especially the "lonely" part, but I guess you couldn't help yourself, especially since your feelings weren't hurt. I can't help but wonder, though, how much lower you would have sunk if they had been.
Ouch! Now my feelings ARE engaged, and I'm having to break my resolve. I didn't mean to aim low or to bring you low, either. The "lonely" remark was (or was meant to be) tongue-in-cheek. C'mon now! You're my pal. You know I love you!
My point: This thread should be about Harold Ford Jr. or Joe Ford or whatever else was referenced in the story -- not about you or me.
Actually, Pack, you're right -- if I'm reading your comment right as an irony. The high-count threads are Mad Max affairs in which Marty or T.V. or someone suchlike is holding forth in center ring, taunting all comers. Those are fun --especially when Smitty responds with one of his service calls.
“I’m proud of the way I make my living," he said, and he emphasized that his Wall Street labor is real work that he takes seriously. - wow !!!
JB (not to get personal, or anything): Pack reminds me: I'm still not getting NEARLY enough credit (much less any appropriate level of emolument) for goosing the MF website's popularity to its highest in months (if not longer), and certainly higher than articles by that deadbeat, Gadfly, ever used to. I'm sure whatever web site monitoring tool y'all use confirms that.
And please, don't compare my ability to rouse the rabble to TV's: he's a piker, compared to me, when it comes to bringing out the best (or worst) among the commentelligentsia. And speaking of bleaching, I like to think of myself as holey without peer in the anals of the Flyer's comment history.
Most sites would pay DEARLY for the service I'm providing, GRATIS, and that ain't right. You'll be hearing from my lawyers (you know, the ones who know the difference between what's "actionable," and what isn't). :)
Like I say, Marty, we all love you (well, some of us do). Your actual observations on a given subject are always welcome, if not your taunts ("What, me? Taunt? Why, you're so SENSITIVE ! Here, let me help you become less so!") Right.
It's just that -- well, I've had your dining-out habits explained to me. And, despite your protestations on that score, you're doing something very siimilar here. Stating your "opinions" always in such a way that they are slams or little digs or oh-so-sympathetic corrections at someone else's expense.
And we are all oh so sensitive. Tsk- tsk. Actually, we just get annoyed with you. Willing, like the waiters at La Montagne, to pay to have somebody else do your table.
I mean, you're good. Here you've got me responding to you (at least partly because I recognize the logic is what you say, digging up a crowd-wise).
But I personally regret the Kafka-esqiue transformation of my friend the Gadfly into Awersomeberg the tick.
The Tick and his friend Arthur kicked ass. Did you see the one where they stopped Chair-Face Volinchak before he could carve his name into the moon?
A wise man once wrote (earlier today): I'll just say one thing: ego is not the equivalent of charisma, name recognition is not the equivalent of influence ...
I'm hearing echoes in here! Help, am I dreaming, or is this reality? Leonardo! Can you help me?
Marty: It seems any time of day I check the board here you're carpin' your butt off about something. Now those here who know me (and Lord knows there's a shitpile of you I'm proud to call friends and clients) know I'm a reasonable man. Tell ya what I'm gonna do, ol' pal: Bring your ass in Saturday morning and I'll personally bleach it at N/C. That's right, my friend. This is no dream. Packy will assist me, and your rectum will make the abominable snowman from the old Rudolph Christmas special look as yellow as TV's teeth. Don't eat or drink anything after 5 Friday evening.
Oh, one more thing: Because I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart I won't be using our "Pink Prism Technology." It'll be the old "whip and chisel" method. But you'll probably enjoy that anyway.
Apologize for being in the financial sector? Bwhahahahah....my side just split. Junior needs to just stick with being a Bush loving Republican.
Jr. will never win dog catcher in N.Y. he is not a New Yorker and never will be, also he is not on Hillary’s level to carpet bag successfully and his record is too conservative for N.Y.. He could have won mayor of Memphis minus the white wife (not flying in N.Y. either) and then parleyed that with a story of success into the Gov. of TN position then even V.P., but as things stand now his political career is over. With no political win prospects within a few years his corporate positions will dry up, because the only reason he has these positions is due to connections that Jr. maintains on the possibility of future elected office.
Cathy is correct. If Junior had had the slightest inclination to do just a little bit of actual work, he could have been mayor, then governor, then who knows what else. But he didn't want that. Like every other slacker in the world, he wanted to skip all that hard work business and just start cashing executive paychecks.
I also don't think he's ever forgiven Obama for stealing his mojo.
Did anyone else watch WMC's pitiful substitute for a Herenton/Cohen debate last night? I think a version of Keith Olbermann's "popsicle stick puppet theater" would have been better than that. I was a bit surprised the (no-name) participants agreed to a format that, all things considered, made them seem like proxies for their respective race's candidate.
Nonetheless, the white guy did manage to strike several blows for Steve (which even the black guy seemed offended by). I'm glad the white guy finally dispensed with the "fair and even-handed" (or whatever he calls it) crap. I'm glad he finally listened to me.
And, I want to thank the (no name) commenter who dredged up the apocryphal (to be polite) story about me in a restaurant, again. I promise to do the same thing for him with that accusation about the time he...(he knows).
Oh, and Smitty: Butt out (excuse the expression). Go ream someone else's sphincter. If I want someone to "smoke my pole," which, let's face it, is what your "business" is all about, I'll get Tommy V to do it.
Would somone please instruct our stalker friend as to the difference between: (a) responding with an opinion when asked for one; (b) reportage, which, by its nature, is (or should be) fair and even-handed; and (c)"striking blows" for this or that candidate. Bruce? You wanna try? I'm sick of dealing with him.
And, seriously,those of us who've been friendly with him should be concerned about if and when medical intervention is going to be called for.
Needless to point out, but: I doubt that a Cohen "proxy" would have suggested on TV that the congressman indulged in some "shucking and jiving" on the debate question.
Jackson I would try to help. But for the life of me don't know who you are talking about. There used to be this guy name Alias, but he's gone. Then there was this guy named Gadfly, but I think he was relegated to writing obits or something.
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