Kirsten Gillibrand has not done much to show that she’s going to be a great, progressive Senator, but she has voted pretty well. NY could do better, but they could also do much worse.
They may get much worse if Harold Ford Jr. jumps into the race. Ford represents the worst part of the Democratic party. Unapologetically corporatist, proud of being moderate, and mind-numbingly boring.
Maybe he can’t even win, though. Back when he was running for Senate, he was on the shortlist of Dems most likely to be President. He was the golden boy. He was supposed to be Barack Obama. Now he runs the DLC and shows up on MSNBC to give crappy, John Madden-like political analysis.
Let’s hope that if there Democratic primary challengers to Gillibrand, they are actual Democrats.
Hillary Clinton ran an excellent campaign to get herself elected to the Senate. (“Listening tour”) Before she even entered the race, there was evidence of her popularity in the New York State.
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p>I don’t think there is an evidence that Harold Ford Jr. can claim similar popularity. He’s just barely a national figure. His over-enthusiastic, er, piety might not play as well in New York as it did in Tennessee.
He is very popular with bankers.
With his record and race and experience Ford would make an excellent candidate for NY Senate-as a Republican. His stance against marriage would ensure that the vocal conservative minority within the Republican establishment supports him, his stance on crime, business, and abortion would get him the Wall Street, socially moderate, Pataki wing. And since Gilibrand is so unpopular he might have a shot at unseating her. The fact that he is a bit too conservative for NY Republicans shouldn’t be a problem.
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p>Oh but he wants to run as a Democrat? In liberal NY. Well seems like that would make a more credible Onion headline than political decision. Stick to the Playboy mansion Harold.
Harold Ford Jr. has made a career of being a Democratic concern troll moderate. If he ran as a Republican, he’d have to give up his main act.