Earlier in the week, one of the blogs that is covering the 2006 Senate race ran the following headline: "Harold Ford Casts A Vote Against Civil Rights". Not only misleading, but plain out wrong--Ford supporters took exception. Within a few hours of the outrageous article being posted, a groundswell of Ford supporters came to the Congressman's aide. Here are just a few of the replies in response to the mentioned article:
You guys apparently will stop at nothing. Harold Ford Jr. is a great champion of human rights and freedom for everyone. You can't name someone who has a better record than his for fighting discrimination against his fellow man or woman. That is just a fact. As evident by your most recent attacks, you guys must be desperate to resort to this.
Now to the case itself. Congressman Ford has explained his position on this ruling via the op-ed he wrote Saturday. He made it clear he does in fact support the rights of homeowners and business owners. However, he also recognizes that areas in big cities, such as his own in Memphis are crying out to be rebuilt to bring in new businesses, which will in turn lift up the whole community. Congressman Ford said he supports the idea of lifting up places of blight, and he also said that the recent Supreme Court case went too far in their ruling. During the interview that you keep promoting, the Congressman said the key component of the ruling, which is stated above, is a 'positive'. That is all he said. However, this site along with others took that as a ringing endorsement for the seizure of regular people's homes--which is not the case.
In life, not all things are perfect. Just like this court ruling; it has it positives and it has its negatives. Congressman Ford has pointed out what value he saw in the court's ruling and also pointed out where the ruling went too far. Now it is time for the US Congress to do their job and sit down to come up with a policy that makes sense for everyone. The Congressman has said he is committed to working to do just that. Whether others follow his leadership in mediation--that is up to them. Posted by: Chris D. Jackson
Mr. Hobbs, I am a frequent reader but first time responder. While I agree with you at times I feel you greatly missed the mark this time. How can you accuse Harold Ford Jr. of casting a vote against civil rights? He opposed the Kelo decision and voted for a Congressional Resolution disagreeing with it (as noted in his column, even on your site). He said he sees the value in helping our urban and rural areas "crying for development." According to his own words as you listed, he voted against an Amendment that would have cut millions of dollars in grants for developing housing projects in economically depressed areas of our state. That matches up with everything he has said that you list. Is there something out there you're not telling us about or did you just miss the mark? Posted by: Zoe Whitefield
Harold Ford Jr. did not cast a vote against civil rights when he voted against a bill that would have blocked federal dollars from being used to upgrade our neighborhoods. He wanted those dollars to be available for use by people wanting to improve these neighborhoods we live in. Get real. Posted by: Shelby Moore
Like Congressman Ford said on Teddy Bart's Roundtable, local government officials, who still have to be re-elected, are the ones who will have to answer to these imminent domain requests. They are not going to allow every "Joe Contractor" to come in and take over the government housing development to put up a new strip mall. It would surely cost them not only their seat but also their respect in the community if they were to let that happen. However, when the right opportunity for local government to help a community better itself does arise, there should be federal dollars available to help them accomplish that goal. That is what Congressman Ford voted for, NOT against civil rights! Posted by: Trisha Favors
As you can see by the rapid responses above, Congressman Ford is quickly buidling an online coalition that is to be reckonedconked with. Maybe the online bloggers who like to attack Congressman Ford so much will think twice the next time.
To view the rest of the comments, please go here!
* Please make sure you keep a very close eye on this blog, it appears that their main goal is trying to tear down Congressman Ford during this campaign.
When you see an article on there like the one mentioned above, please notify us and make sure you reply with the truth!
