Ford's visit

As I mentioned yesterday, Harold Ford, Jr. visited Chattanooga last night. I didn't get to stay for his entire speech and missed all of the Q&A that followed, but I did get to see him a bit later in the evening for abbreviated remarks and a few questions. I wasn't impressed with what I heard.

I've spoken with a number of people today, all of whom say they're less likely to vote for Ford now than they were before he came to town. Apparently Ford needs to work on his message a bit if he expects to make a showing in East Tennessee.
A fellow progressive and friend from back in the days of the Dean meetups offers a post-mortem in his Kos Diary (follow the link for numerous comments and lively discussion):

Billed as a "friend-raising" event, Hamilton County Democrats hosted an event with Congressman Harold Ford that turned charmingly combative. Although the night was supposed to give us a premonition of Ford's coming U.S. Senate run in Tennessee, the 34-year-old cocksure Memphisean fired rocket propelled missiles into good liberal ideas.

But before getting to the battles of the night, let me sum up what Ford said.

His Three Bluest Remarks

1. Invest in children. Government creates $500 accounts for all newborns--which may grow because of family/friend investments while children grow.
2. Criticized fiscal recklessness of Bush & Co.
3. Produce innovative energy sources and wean us off of foreign oil.

His Three Purplest Remarks

1. (Echoing Dean) Democrats need a 50-state strategy, especially in the South.
2. Invest in the best protection for our troops, following on his remarks concerning Specialist Jerry Wilson in Tennessee's 278th to Rumsfeld.
3. Allow the government to negotiate lower drug prices.

The RED Remarks

1. Need more faith-based talk in Democratic Party.
2. Support the proposed amendment banning gay marriage.
3. Capitalism is the greatest system of economics in the world.
4. America is still the greatest country in the world.
5. The election was lost fair and square--even when two different persons questioned Ford on the irregularities.
6. Children should be going to church every Sunday.
7. Insulted Al Gore for the alleged "inventing the internet" remark.
8. Called Kerry as incoherent as Bush.

RED STATE Combat

In a word, Ford pulled a Lieberman--and how very disappointing it was. During a period of Q & A that Ford opened up himself, the candidate was commended as a Southern JFK, was appealed to by voters concerned with voting irregularities, and was attacked strongly and loudly by three progressive Chattanoogans.

The three strong attacks were about the lack of any liberal solutions for the problems facing the country. All three were countered by an agile Ford quickstepping into bromides and cliches. During the voting irregularities questions, Ford said he hated to be rude, but that the Democrats lost, lost, lost.

Analysis

Ford spoke too often in Code RED. He bragged as if he had created free-market capitalism himself, congratulated business people who outsource employment, ignored our palpable loss of faith in the voting system, and disrespected his own party leaders.

He is a Republican in a Democrat's suit. He's what Southerners used to call a Dixiecrat, a Blue Dog Democrat. For instance, two weeks ago Ford backed a 2006 bid for Zach Wamp (R-Tn) even though most of us Democrats want a Democratic candidate to run and win. Then Ford cited that his decision was purely political: Tennessee's Wamp is on the Appropriations Committee.

In the end, Ford lacks the grace of Clinton, the honor of Al Gore, and the logic of Howard Dean. I will have a hard time backing Ford for the U.S. Senate race, and I think a lot of other progressives will too. The night was appalling.