Monday, August 07, 2006

Writer Larry Daughtery Calls Ford A Moderate

It looks as though we have another well respected source saying that Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is a moderate.

In Sunday's Tennessean, write Larry Daughtery said the following about Ford:

"His toughness is going to get a workout. The Republican strategy is painfully plain: Scream Liberal! Liberal! Liberal! clouding over a 10-year congressional record that is, in truth, a good deal right of center."

You can add Daughtery to the following list of well respected political gurus and media sources that all say Congressman Ford is a moderate Democrat:

  • The National Journal Says Ford Has A Moderate Record And A Demonstrated Ability To Appeal To Voters Across 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 Jackson Sun Editorial Says The Republican's Attempts To Label Ford As A Liberal Are An Exaggeration And Also Says Ford is A Moderate To Conservative Democrat: "As for his "liberal" voting record, I think that's an exaggeration. I mean, liberal compared to what? Certainly, Ford is a liberal if you compare him to the hard-right zealots currently in control of the Republican Party. But Ford is hardly a Nancy Pelosi liberal. In fact, I would put him more in the mold of another congressman from West Tennessee, John Tanner, D-Union City. He is, in fact, a moderate to conservative Democrat. That could play very well in a state that has become increasingly conservative in recent years." -- Jackson Sun Editorial, 03/05/06

  • The Most Recent National Journal Rankings Puts Ford In The Ideological Center: “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

  • Non-Partisan Congressional Quarterly Publication Says Ford Is A Pro-Business Centrist Who Is Trying To Move His Party To The Center: “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

  • Ed Bryant Praised Ford For Reaching Out And Serving In A Bipartisan Fashion: “Harold has really made an effort to reach out and serve in a bipartisan fashion,'' Bryant volunteered to a group of aspiring lawyers during a recent stop in Memphis.” -- Memphis Commercial-Appeal, 11/09/98

  • Tony Snow, Former Fox News Commentator And Current Bush White House Press Secretary Praises Ford For His Ability To Reach Across Party Lines: “Guys like Evan Bayh, guys like Joe Lieberman, Harold Ford on the House side, these are people who know how to reach -- cross both sides of the aisle. They're solid men.” -- Tony Snow on The O’Reilly Factor, 11/08/04

  • The Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal.com's John Fund call Ford A Moderate Democrat “Who Votes For Republican Tax Cuts”: “The Democrats have done something very smart. In key states they are running much more moderate candidates than they used to. Bob Casey in Pennsylvania, who is pro-life, against Rick Santorum; Tennessee--Harold Ford, a Democrat who votes for Republican tax cuts.” -- Wall Street Journal, 05/29/06

  • Ford Has 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

  • Ford "Is 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

  • Ford Is Not Afraid To Side With A Republican President When He Thinks He Is Right: “[Ford] has supported President Bush’s capital gains tax cuts, a constitutional amendment protecting school prayer and has an anti-abortion voting record. He’s also spoken out strongly in support of the military's effort in Iraq and sided with “Blue Dog” Democrats on reducing the federal deficit” -- Knoxville News Sentinel, 06/13/05

  • Fox News’ Brit Hume Calls 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

  • The Associated Press: Ford A Conservative: “Harold Ford, D-Tenn., a conservative Democrat who challenged Pelosi for the party's top House job in 2002, says the problem is not the leadership, but the failure of Southern Democrats to demonstrate that they're not always in lockstep with those leaders." -- Associated Press, 04/25/05

  • Congressman Zach Wamp Ford As A “Fine Congressman And A Bridge-Builder”: “So it was nice to hear Rep. Wamp speak with pride of Harold Ford Jr. as a fine congressman and a bridge-builder.” Chattanooga Times, 12/05/98

  • Ford Is A Right Of Center Democrat: “Ford is a right-of-center Democrat who will generate considerable national attention and support.” -- The American Spectator Online, 07/15/05

  • Conservative Publications Says 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

  • Ford Embraced Moderate Ideals From His Start In Congress: "Ford has embraced moderate ideas since before even becoming a candidate for Congress: “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

I know each time they hear this, the Republicans' blood boils; but too bad.

The voters deserve to know the truth. And the truth is, Harold Ford Jr. is a moderate Democrat who will represent everyone as our next U.S. Senator!