As my profile will inform you, I've been around a while, involved in Shelby County (Memphis) politics for 30 years, and I've seen a lot and done a lot.
Despite the fact that he and the DSCC conspired to eliminate his biggest primary opponent, despite the fact that he campaigned in the primary on GOP issues, despite the fact that he has ignored and hidden from his base, despite the fact that he refuses to endorse the nominee of his party to succeed him (and thanks to those of his supporters here who urged him to back Steve Cohen), despite ALL of that, I was ready to suck it up and vote for Harold Ford anyway for the US Senate.
That, sadly, has changed.
More after the jump.
His father, former congressman Harold Ford Senior, recently spoke to a group of Memphians, supposedly on behalf of Harold, more so on behalf of his other son Jake, who is running as an INDEPENDENT for the 9th congressional district.
The Memphis Flyer has provided a transcript of the former Congressman's speech here:
http://www.memphisflyer.com/...
I urge all of you to read this, so that you can understand that, no matter what happens from this point forward, I refuse to vote for Harold Ford unless he offers an apology to Steve Cohen and endorses him for Congress.
Ford Senior LIES about Steve Cohen's exemplary record, he attacks Cohen for his lottery support (I wonder how many of the folks he spoke to buy Lotto tickets) and he gay-baits.
This is REPULSIVE, and Harold Junior, who has desperately tried to avoid being tied to his family in this campaign, cannot avoid taking a stand here.
Either he apologizes and says that his father was wrong, or he risks losing all of the white support he has gained throughout this campaign.
It's up to him.