Guys, this is going to blow you away: Van Hilleary has launched some new television ads and in one of the ads he lies about Congressman Ford and his record! Are you surprised? Well, you shouldn't me. Van has proven himself to be a durable liar.
Van's Lie: (Transcript of ad) "Seen those fancy TV ads for Bob Corker and Harold Ford?
Sound good, don't they? You'd almost believe they're conservative. But the truth is Mayor Bob Corker raised taxes. And Harold Ford's record? More liberal than any of our congressmen."
Once again Van is trying to play the tired old "Harold Ford Jr. is a liberal" card. However, that is not going to work.
In the ad, Hilleary references the National Journal as evidence to attack Congressman Ford as "the most liberal member of the Tennessee delegation". However, that is nothing close to what the National Journal has actually said about Ford.
The National Journal's real analysis of Congressman Ford is below:
- The National Journal's most recent Congressional ratings list Harold Ford Jr. in the center on the ideological spectrum: “These are the members at the ideological center of the Senate and the House, according to National Journal's 2005 vote ratings. The members with composite scores closest to 50 are at the exact center of each chamber.—Harold Ford Jr.” (National Journal, 02/24/06)
- The National Journal praises Congressman Ford's moderate record & his uncanny ability to transcend racial lines: “Ford, who is black, has compiled a moderate record and demonstrated an ability to appeal to votes across racial lines – the latter of which will be key in a state whose population is less than 17 percent black” (National Journal’s Congress Daily, 08/05/05).
The National Journal is not alone in their belief that Harold Ford Jr. is a moderate. Below are more well respected sources that speak of Congressman Ford's middle of the road approach:
- "Moderate credentials": “[Ford] he can spend the next eight months doing what he has spent his entire House career doing: emphasizing his moderate credentials. Ford consistently votes with the GOP on matters such as gay marriage and guns; in 2004 he even supported a measure that would strip Washington, D.C. of many of its gun-control provisions.” (The New Republic, 12/16/05)
- “A moderate whose appeal crosses racial lines”: “Ford seeks to be the first African American since Reconstruction to win a Senate seat in the old Confederacy. He is a moderate whose appeal crosses racial lines.” (Seattle Post Intelligencer, 03/18/06)
- The non-partisan Congressional Quarterly publication calls Ford a "centrist": “But in his ideas and voting record, Ford is much more clearly revealed to be a centrist. He is one of the few black members of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of his party’s most fiscally conservative members, and also the pro-business New Democrat Coalition. He cast himself as a moderate alternative to California’s Nancy Pelosi when he ran for House minority leader in 2002, and has made it clear he would like his Senate campaign to be something of a referendum on pushing the party toward the center.” (CQ Weekly, 08/15/05)
- Conservative magazine: Ford Shys Away From Liberalism: Ford deviates from liberal script. The ultra-conservative online magazine Human Events Online admits that Ford “takes a walk from the left on certain issues: He favors prayer in school, an anti-flag-burning amendment to the Constitution, the balanced budget amendment, cutting the capital gains taxes and repealing the death tax. The Tennessee lawmaker also supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq.” (Human Events Online, 4/5/06)
- Conservative political commentator and TV host Brit Hume labels Ford a “moderate”: “Tennessee Democratic Congressman Harold Ford announced today that he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by Majority Leader Bill Frist next year. Frist is retiring and is expected to run for president. Ford, whose father was also a congressman, is a moderate Democrat who has served five terms in the House.” (Fox News, 05/25/05)
- Even before being a member of Congress, Ford said he had no problem embracing moderate or Republican ideas: “Ford Jr. said he wants to find new ways to solve old problems. ‘I’m a Democrat, but I have no problem examining moderate Republican ideas.’” (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 12/10/95)
Once again Van Hilleary has been caught lying red handed.
In all honesty, I do not think I have ever saw a politican that lied so much. Seriously!
I can see exactly why Tennesseans made him the first Republican in almost a decade in 2002, to lose a statewide election.
I am confident that will afford him the same fate in 2006.
