Below the fold are two letters that I wrote to the Harold Ford campaign after seeing him speak at an event for Mark Warner. Ford gave one of the best speeches at the event. While Ford's politics are to the right of mine, I think it is important to get a democrat into Tennessee senate seat. With that said I find it both politically and morally impossible to support a democrat who supports the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Please contact the Ford campaign and ask him why he supports writing discrimination into the constitution.
haroldford@fordfortennessee.com
615-244-6161
615-244-6164
Thank you
From: Jason [mailto:jgruber123@hotmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 6:19 AM
To: 'haroldford@fordfortennessee.com'
Subject: RE: Regarding your campaign and the recent Mark Warner event
Congressmen Ford:
While I am sure that your campaign is very busy, I still have not heard back regarding your support for a constitutional amendment to write discrimination into the constitution-- Federal Marriage Amendment . I plan on posting this email to www.dailykos.com this weekend if I do not hear back from your campaign with some of kind of explanation (or change of course). I am anxious to support your campaign b/c it is important to have strong democrats in the Senate. I just find it impossible to reconcile your position on a constitution amendment to ban gay marriage.
Let me put this another way, are the politics and fear of gay people in Tennessee so bad that your pollsters require you to come out in support of the amendment? I find myself to be a very pragmatic democrat, so please help me understand your position. If I do a posting to the dailykos, I will make sure that I email your campaign.
Sincerely
Jason
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From: Jason [mailto:jgruber123@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 2:59 PM
To: 'haroldford@fordfortennessee.com'
Subject: Regarding your campaign and the recent Mark Warner event
Congressmen Ford:
I was in attendance this past weekend for Mark Warner's Forward Together Pac. I was impressed with your speech as well as the story you told regarding the bar with the Confederate flag. Both you and Mark Waner spoke eloquently this weekend about Democrats needing to "show up" in areas outside of traditional "blue" areas, districts and/or locations and reaching out. I could not agree with you more, as well as Mark Warner, and any other Democrats who show no fear in showing up in perceived Republican strongholds and standing up for core democratic values. That is why I am so troubled by a New York Times piece that indicated you support President George Bush on a Federal Marriage Amendment.
While I find this disclaimer unnecessary, I am not gay but some of my closest friends are and I just recently attended a gay wedding in New York City. Additionally, I am not a single issue voter, and while I sympathize with single issue voters' commitment to their respective issues, it is not a viable winning strategy for the Democratic party. With that said, I am a strong democrat who believes that the American Constitution should never be amended to discriminate.
I find myself between a rock and hard place, b/c I believe that you would be a strong democratic voice for the state of Tennessee, but I cannot financially support a Democrat (or politician) who would support writing discrimination into the Constitution. What frustrates me so much about the debate on gay marriage is that if you peal back all the political rhetoric, the people who are supposedly trying to "protect marriage", in most cases, really want to discriminate against gay people. Call it what you want, that is what the debate is about.
Mr. Ford you obviously have an obligation to the state of Tennessee, where I assume the majority are not only for FMA, but morally against homosexuality. You and I both know that gay marriage is a red herring. As a Democrat running in Tennessee your position on the Federal Marriage Amendment may be something you think you have to do, but I pray it is something you do not believe.
If for some reason writing discrimination into the constitution is something that you believe, then I hope that you have the same courage to reach out to gay people (both within your state and the Democratic party) that you showed in going into that bar with the Confederate flag. If this issue is simply to hot for you, then maybe this appeal will resonate:
"I know what you're asking today, `How long will it take?' I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth pressed to earth will rise again. How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long, because you still reap what you sow. How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." -- Martin Luther King (I am sure you know the Coretta Scott King support equal rights for gay Americans)
While you may gain near term political points in supporting a republican red herring, you will injure this country in the long run if you champion in any way the federal marriage amendment.
Sincerely