As much as I hate Politico’s gossip mongering, it’s nice to see their bombs dropping on as soft a target as Harold Ford, even if they’re late to the party after the Times piece. Ben Smith should have fun tearing Sir Harold apart over the next few weeks.
As John said, let’s just hope he doesn’t mention Bill Cosby.
Notorious P.A.T.
I wonder why they are picking on Ford. He seems like their type. Except for being a Democrat, of course.
jetan
Ol’ Harold is all about the common touch. His warmth and spontaneity make the President seem like James Brown on a good night.
The Sag Harbor thing is just the icing on the cake. The man’s record, position-wise, is so odious that it’s a wonder the previous administration never offered him a position. Good thing he is such a ham-fisted politician. I have a hard time believing that New York will fall for this fraud.
Elisabeth
Heh.
John couldn’t get me to click on the FDL link and you ain’t getting me to click on a Politico link.
(James Wolcott takes on Ford in a way that has to hurt.)
fraught
Ford’s a climber and obvious about it, something every New Yorker hates. It’s the looking like a climber that will kill Ford’s campaign, not the fact that he’s climbing, which every New Yorker does in one way or another. Obviously, marrying white and rich doesn’t help in NY where black women GOTV in AA areas.
Also, he’s dum. Ambitious and dum is not a good look, anywhere.
GregB
Looks like a Ford, runs like an Edsel.
-G
P.S. Doug Flutie has publicly endorsed noted GOP pin-up boy Scott Brown.
moe99
Let’s hope he doesn’t mention A-Rod.
Mike Kay
Nah Go na Do it.
If you summarize it or pull some limes fine, but nah go na click the klink.
freelancer
Is having a tpyo in your post the new meem here? wehn did I miss that emale?
Zifnab
@Notorious P.A.T.:
Asked and answered, my friend.
I’m just sad he hasn’t been attacked by angry, elderly, tea baggers yet.
SteveinSC
Uncle Tom Ford, looking for a little love in all the wrong places. And fuck Mike Allen, twice.
demkat620
Yeah, I agree why pick on Harold? He’s a dlc’er, pro life, pro gun and sweet to Joe Scarborough? Why don’t they love him?
OT but have we all told Pat Robertson to DIAF yet today? No?
Pat Robertson, DIAF.
John Cole
Obviously that will be bad politically for Ford, but I can’t help but think while reading about his day- “Why would anyone want to give that up to head to that fucking swamp (in more ways than one) in DC.”
Christ, the only thing missing from that day was a happy ending at an Asian Massage Parlor.
Stefan
From Politico:
Harold Ford arrived in New York through one of its finer entry points: Sag Harbor, an exclusive section of pricey East Hampton, where in 2003 his father and predecessor in Congress bought a spacious house for $1.8 million.
As any East Ender knows, Sag Harbor is NOT “an exclusive section of pricey East Hampton”. Sag Harbor is its own incorporated village, with parts in both the Town of Southampton and the Town of Easthampton (terms which are confusing to outsiders, since when most people say “East Hampton” they are referring to the Village of East Hampton, not the Town, which is more of an administrative grouping than it is a place).
Sag Harbor is also known for being a popular summer vacation spot for upper-middle-class African-Americans (see Colson Whitehead’s recent novel “Sag Harbor”, for example), so it is not unusual to see the Fords there.
If Politico gets such a glaring fact wrong in the first line of its article, how can we trust it to get anything right?
David in NY
I would enjoy seeing him laughed back to Tennessee.
Stefan
Just to add to my above post, I despise Harold Ford — but I perhaps despise Politico more. Ford is a symptom — Politico is the disease.
chopper
@jetan:
Old Weird Harold has a bit of a better ring.
bkny
But Ford arrived at the tail of the boom and stayed at Merrill through its absorption by Bank of America and through a controversial round of bonuses at the end of 2008. His spokesman, Davidson Goldin, refused to say whether he’d received one
oh i so hope it was a big, fat juicy one. lol.
Stefan
Just hopped on to Wikipedia — here’s how “exclusive” Sag Harbor is:
“The median income for a household in the village was $52,275, and the median income for a family was $70,536. Males had a median income of $41,181 versus $34,750 for females. The per capita income for the village was $40,566.”
For comparison’s sake, the median household income in New York State is $54,000.
Nellcote
Can’t say I blame Ford for not going to Staten Island but saying he touched down there once in a helicopter full of execs is not going to endear him to the natives.
…
Second that DIAF Pat Robertson.
Stefan
I preferred the New York Times piece, where it was extremely obvious that the reporter didn’t care for Ford at all and showed it by slipping in the knife with casual throwaway lines:
“from the cabdrivers who shuttle him around the city to the executives with whom he rubs elbows on Wall Street” — translation: rich entitled jerk.
“During a trip from New York to Palm Beach on Thursday,” — translation: takes long weekends in Palm Beach while you freeze in New York, you peasant.
“his wife, Emily, a 29-year-old fashion executive,” — translation: shallow cradle robber.
RSR
relating back to a question which I think was raise here: What does Merrill/BOA pay him to do? That’s suddenly a lot more interesting with this Politico piece which seems to indicate that Ford still professed to live in TN.
“Until the past few days, his website indicated that Ford divided his time between Memphis and the state capital, Nashville…”
Where did he vote? You show up early at 30 Rock on a regular basis, but live in TN? What does Merrill/BOA pay him to do? Does he have any business credentials?
Where’s your hometown, buddy?
West of the Cascades
Harold has no idea that Upstate actually matters, even in a Democratic race – I spent a fair bit of my life in Buffalo, Ithaca and Utica (and three years in Manhattan), and his Long Island/tony Manhattan carpetbaggery will make it almost impossible for him to win many primary votes against an upstate incumbent north of 263rd Street. Coupled with his transparent douchebaggery in flipping positions on core progressive issues (which won’t get him much traction among Democratic primary voters in NYC), he’d have to have more hubris than Dick Cheney or Lane Kiffin to think he has any prayer of winning the primary.
But he just might have …
West of the Cascades
Third the DIAF Pat Robertson. Die in an Earthquake, too. How much money is that uber-rich hypocrite sending to help the Haitians?
Mike Kay
@West of the Cascades:
Mayor Koch ran for Governor in 1982, and Cuomo clobbered him upstate. Hezzhonor didn’t think upstate mattered, and Mario slaughtered him in every county.
Mike Kay
@Stefan:
Actually, translation Barbie trophy wife
newyorksocialdiary.com/i/partypictures/12_12_07/AlvinAiley/Harold-Ford-and-his-fianc.jpg
This is gonna go over like gangbusters in Brookyn, Queens, and the Bronx.
Mike Kay
@Nellcote:
(Thurston Howell, III acent) Ya know Lovely and I once had our yacht refueled in Staten Island. (Thurston Howell, III acent/)
MikeJ
Bigger question: Tennessee doesn’t have a state income tax. Where does he file his taxes?
Mike Kay
@Stefan:
Sag Harbor isn’t a bedroom community, it’s a summer home/ weekend country community. Therefore those census numbers are inaccurate. When Harold files his taxes, he doesn’t list his weekend summer home or his weekend winter home as his residence.
Ya see, after being in the concrete jungle all week, the uppercrust go to Sag Harbor, the Hamptons, and Connecticut to escape the miserable summer heat for the weekends. It is exclusive if for no other reason, few people have enough money to pay two mortgages. I mean, it’s not even a summer home, it’s a weekend, summer home.
Kris
We hate you Harold. You have no base with AA’s.
Kris
@Stefan:
Sag Harbor is quite exclusive. Many well to do NY blacks have summer homes there.
John S.
Haiti is Obama’s Katrina!
No, I’m not making that up. My favorite graf:
I expect Howard Fineman and his friends in the MSM will continue to hold Obama to a standard that didn’t even exist when Bush was in office.
EDIT: Sorry, I missed that punchy already brought this up in the Haiti thread. That’ll learn me to post off topic.
WaterGirl
@MikeJ: That’s a great question. I wonder how you find out the answer. We can only hope he filed in TN. That would go over well in NY.
Kevin
What exactly makes him a Democrat? He is anti-abortion, anti-health care reform, pro every tax cut possible, pro war, pro gun, anti gay marriage…
Seriously, on what position is he any different then a Republican? I can see this being necessary in his home state, but to move to New York and run this way just seems pointless. Just switch parties.
eric
you all miss how this is good news for the GOP. You will see how the dems do not have a big tent and are not really racially tolerant by the vitriol that is thrown Ford’s way. It will be a way of creating a he-said/she-said dynamic with the GOP’s tea baggers. The position will go that the Dems are going further to the left and purging dems far more egregiously than the GOP. When ford fails to enter the race blaming the politics of personal destruction and ideological purity it will soften the perception of the right wing crazies taken over the GOP. Once again, all is good for the GOP.
eric
eastriver
Puppets. Don’t forget the puppets. Don’t just cut their strings like they’re, er, well, puppets.
Stefan
Sag Harbor isn’t a bedroom community, it’s a summer home/ weekend country community.
For Harold Ford it’s a weekend/summer home place. For most people who live there, though, it is a bedroom community. I know plenty of people who live and work there year-round and own local businesses. Like many places in the country, there’s a divide between the old guard farmers/fishermen/small business people who’ve lived there for generations and are now getting priced out, and the flood of nouveau riche.
It just irks me to see Sag Harbor, which is a lovely town, described as “an exclusive section…of East Hampton.” It’s not, and describing it that way shows that the Politico writer has no idea what he’s talking about, and is doing the usual lazy journalist thing of repeating unverified conventional wisdom for the sake of his narrative.
All that said, Harold Ford’s a wanker.
MikeJ
@Kevin: His moronic policy positions weren’t even necessary in his district. TN9 is urban Memphis. He just always had his sights set on the Senate and didn’t care about representing his actual constituents.
Stefan
It is exclusive if for no other reason, few people have enough money to pay two mortgages.
If that’s the criteria, then pretty much any place that people own second homes is “exclusive.”
Zifnab
@John S.: Epic. Less than 24-hours after an unexpected natural disaster in a foreign country, and the Obama Administration has already failed.
I am sure this will do absolutely terrible things to his poll numbers. /laugh
If this is what the Republicans want to campaign on in 2010, I’m honestly not sure what anyone has to worry about.
Cat Lady
OT, but Lloyd Blankfein’s testimony today was pure gold.
Shorter Blankfein: “mistakes were made” and we should all be grateful to Goldman Sachs that the consequences weren’t worse.
abscam
@demkat620: Oh, and can we also tell NPR to DIAF for even reporting Pat Robertson’s ravings as news??? I had to unplug, yet again, before punching my radio…in the neck.
scav
OT: Mas Mas thanks to Emo Pantload (fka Studly) from my good right ear and useless left flap for reminding me to check earlier threads for content.
Slightly less OT: I’ve no doubt Pat R. is an authority upon the devil, provided mirrors reflect in his presence.
Mike Kay
@John Cole:
Maybe it’s a daddy issue.
His father was a congressman, so he wants to be a senator.
Really, it’s no different than Shrub giving up the easy life of being the figure head of the Texas Rangers to enter into the politics to impress Poppy. And I shouldn’t single anyone out, but this goes around, as history documents, JFK didn’t have any interest in politics, but entered into the arena to help his dad overcome the loss of Joe, Jr.
Plus, how long can Harold live as a socialite? At some point BofA will fire him as his political contacts fade away.
Dee Loralei
@RSR:
My mom says the local paper said he voted in “the last election” in Memphis. I don’t know if it was our recent Mayoral election or is the paper meant the last Presidential election. If it was the mayorality, it was prolly because someone in his very extended family was in the race.
But I don’t really know, nor do I particularly care.
valdivia
@Stefan:
@Stefan:
Double Amen.
maus
@John Cole:
I guess what drives most people to become politicians.
Serving the public interest? Hell no, I was thinking Narcissitic Personality Disorder.
Nellcote
Don’t get on Wolcott’s bad side!
The Grand Panjandrum
Shorter HF: I can see Staten Island from my helicopter.
Mike Kay
@maus:
This and also competition.
Right now, Harold is no different than a kept-lover, lounging around, yentling it up at the beauty salon. He really doesn’t have anything to do, and trades on twinkling his blue eyes. In short, he’s ashley dupree. But as a senator, well, then he’s important — not simply some hostess of wall street..
Mike Kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
LOL!
geg6
Bwahahahahaha! Ol’ Harold is about to find out how they play in New York. This is going to be fun. There is no DINO I detest quite as much as this himbo. I really don’t think his tony weekends in Sag Harbor or happy hours with Graydon Carter swilling Grey Goose while he rakes in his payola from the Masters of the Universe have prepared him for what’s about to come down on him like a ton of bricks. Which, hopefully, will be being flug at his head by the denizens of Upstate and Harlem.
geg6
Flung, goddam it. I meant flung.
The Grand Panjandrum
OT: Beck asks Palin who her favorite founding father is, Palin says her “favorite” founder is “all of them” before eventually citing Washington. Watch the video at the link.
Midnight Marauder
@Stefan:
I, too, was a big fan of the NYT piece, and moreover, the interview that this little excerpt came from:
Literally, this man could not have given a worse answer.
Violet
@The Grand Panjandrum:
LOL!
This whole Harold Ford thing is hilarious to watch. He seems to have no clue how entitled and connected he really is. Doesn’t everybody get driven to work in a Towne Car?
Demo Woman
@The Grand Panjandrum: You know she just wanted to say Jesus.
geg6
Midnight Marauder: LOL! I saw that earlier. What an idiot! Don’t name a team or a player. Name your favorite owner. That really resonates with your working men and women in Queens. Damn, he’s stupid. Oh, and can I just say how much I adore James Wolcott?
Mike Kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
The “all of them” reply is what she used when Katie Couric asked her what newspapers she reads. That is the oddest stock answer.
“What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” — “All of them”
“What’s your favorite sexual postion?” — “all of them”
“What’s your favorite tee vee show?” — “all of them”
“who did you vote for in the 1996 election?” — “all of them”
“what’s you’re favorite passage in the bible?” — “all of them”
Mike Kay
@Demo Woman:
LOL!
BINGO! We have a winner!
Mike Kay
@The Grand Panjandrum:
Just watched the clip.
What stikes me is the jealous hostility of Beck.
He interrupts her and says “bull crap” and then interrupts her again and says “so you can think of any”
MEOW!!
Keith G
@Stefan: Stefan, I always enjoy your drop-ins here, as I did when Drum was at Monthly. Good stuff sir.
maus
@Stefan:
Are you saying Ford’s coming about this humbly and with any sort of grace in appealing to anyone that’s not also a rich banker? He’s presenting himself exactly as that article described.
mvr
He can’t think that he can take a bank bonus and keep it secret, can he?
Stefan
Thanks very much, Keith G. That’s extremely kind of you to say.
asiangrrlMN
I just read the Times piece in its entirety, and good god this man should just shut up and look purty. Sheesh. And, yeah, I’m not going to click on the link, either.
Yutsano
@asiangrrlMN: To quote a wise white dog, Brian Griffin:
“Why are the pretty ones so dumb?”
Hi dear.