Sunday, August 13, 2006

Why Harold Ford Is A Threat to the Democratic Party

Check out this post on the DailyKos, making a similar argument to mine about why Harold Ford Jr. is bad for the Democratic Party, and must be stopped now!
Why Harold Ford Is A Threat to the Democratic Party

Compare to my argument
Stop Harold Ford Jr.!

6 comments:

Evil said...

Well, even over at the left wing oasis of Daily Kos and with a biased poll question, Ford still seems to get a lot of "progressive" support. Wow!!!

Riddle me this, how many pro-gay marriage Senators are there again?

Also, what percentage of black men in this country are pro-gay marriage?

Last, what does ones choice of media outlets have to do with serving ones constituents?

Anonymous said...

just skimmed it thus far, but seems to be an excellent article (esp. the horrid quotes in Atlantic). But what's there to do in so little time? Could a case be made that Corker would actually be better for Tennessee, America, Democrats?

--And, in response to Evil, in my experience with voter canvassing for Vote No on 1 in the Memphis area, we've found a surprising proportion of African Americans who are at least open to the idea of voting against a gay marriage ban. A Zogby poll from early this summer showed an unprecedented plurality of TN blacks opposing such a ban.

Anonymous said...

just skimmed it thus far, but seems to be an excellent article (esp. the horrid quotes in Atlantic). But what's there to do in so little time? Could a case be made that Corker would actually be better for Tennessee, America, Democrats?

--And, in response to Evil, in my experience with voter canvassing for Vote No on 1 in the Memphis area, we've found a surprising proportion of African Americans who are at least open to the idea of voting against a gay marriage ban. A Zogby poll from early this summer showed an unprecedented plurality of TN blacks opposing such a ban.

Evil said...

Mike, that would be a vastly different result than EVERY poll I've seen on the subject.

I don't want anyone to get me wrong, I am pro-gay marriage, I just don't think the country is and I don't think you win many votes making that a main issue. I agree with the vote no on no. 1 though. The Republicans have put that on the ballot and we must fight back.

My point on all this is the future is on our side. That may not be of much comfort to you, but I believe the twenty years from now we'll look back and laugh about how this was an issue at all.

Another thing I would suggest is that there are lots of conservatives that are pro-gay marriage. I've talked to them. They are called libertarians. They should be targeted as well.

Anonymous said...

Check out Monday's commentary at www.smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com on Tennessee's Unequal Rights Amendment.

Anonymous said...

Evil:

Right. We are targeting them as well as liberals. As I've said elsewhere (maybe it wasn't on this blog...), the "live-and-let-live" mentality seems to be pretty strong among individual voters, regardless of party affiliation, etc.

Regarding your thoughts on polls, if you have any on Tennesseans in particular, I would be interested in seeing them. Here is some more info on the Zogby poll (see my link). And granted, it's one hell of a mountain to climb, but I don't think even 60% "Yes" vs. 33% "No" is a terrible starting place, if our campaign can energize liberal/respectful/freedom-loving voters. Chances of winning? Well, even given the complicated nature of a constitutional amendment in TN (50% + 1 of the number of voters in the gubernatorial election must favor the amendment), not particularly high, but not abysmal. I don't think we're going to see another, say, Mississippi. But we are going to help establish a movement and a sentiment that will resonate in the future, if nothing else. That's why I'm doing everything I can -- door-to-door canvassing, facebook Vote No group invites (we currently have 1200+ members, 300+ of whom have joined in the last 4 days), writing on blogs, donations, a bumper sticker. I encourage you to do the same, if you feel the way you say you do.

And you're right on something else: it's the Republicans, the Religious Right that have made this the issue it is. But it is still an important issue, regarding the people who are, as we speak, denied rights due to their sexual orientation.

I don't want to keep them waiting much longer.