Free Republic

Patrick Kennedy's exit opens a door for Buddy Cianci, who could join Jim Traficant in the felon caucus. * * * But if Kennedy is a rare breed of one kind -- the melancholy politician -- then his departure may clear the way for another type of odd duck entirely, and one that’s much more fun. Buddy Cianci, the former mayor of Providence -- former because of the small matter of a federal felony conviction -- is thinking about running for Kennedy's seat, presumably as an independent. * * * If he is a candidate, Cianci will join a rarefied...

The Politician’s Wife Claims No Baggage By LAURA M. HOLSON February 10, 2010 SINCE early January, when Harold E. Ford Jr. announced he was considering a bid for a Senate seat from New York, his wife, Emily Ford, has been hounded. Her friends call almost daily to ask if she has read the latest gossip about the couple. Mr. Ford can’t seem to stop talking about his wife, either, recently telling a columnist that he walks her favorite Chihuahua, Fabby. Emily Ford [Pic in URL] steels herself for a rough ride as Harold E. WELL PREPARED? Emily Ford was a...

Terrence O’Brien got his start in Chicago Democratic politics like so many of his peers and the generations that came before him, dutifully ringing doorbells to solicit votes for his state senator on the far North Side. He rose to coordinating other precinct captains for such candidates as a young Cook County state’s attorney and mayoral hopeful named Richard M. Daley. After serving some 20 years as an elected leader of the obscure-but-jobs-rich Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Mr. O’Brien decided last year that the time was ripe to seek higher office, to run for county board president. So he lined...

Over my dead body! A defiant Gov. Paterson vowed today that he'd leave office early early only if he's hauled off "in a box." "Let me let you know this: The only way I'm not going to be governor next year is at the ballot box, and the only way I'll be leaving office before is in a box," Paterson said during a news conference. "Actually, the more frustrated I get, the more I know I am going to be running" in November, he added.

Like Jay-Z and Lady Gaga, Harold Ford, Jr. has a tour rider. The former Tennessee congressman, who is now trying to carpetbag his way to a Senate seat in New York, banks about $20,000 when he gives speeches booked by the Greater Talent Network agency. According to the below contract for an appearance Wednesday at a Missouri college, Ford demands that when his limo driver picks him up, the chauffeur must be carrying a sign reading "H.F.." Presumably, if the Democrat's name was spelled out, hordes of fans/groupies would be alerted to his impending arrival and swarm him (something that...

Amid churning doubts over his political future, New York Gov. David Paterson has told one of his closest advisers that he will officially announce his campaign for governor next week. William Lynch, a Harlem lobbyist and political aide, said Mr. Paterson will give a "major statement on why he's running" and will travel around the state to make clear his intentions. "He's running," Mr. Lynch said.

O.K., I know it's not Murtha's seat; that was just for clarification. That said: Those who filed to run for Murtha’s seat in PA’s 12th District before his death are: Dems: Former Naval Officer Ryan Bucchianeri and Attorney Ron Mackell Republicans: Activist Dave Battaglia, Businessman Tim Burns and Army Vet & ’08 nominee William T. “Bill” Russell

Paterson denies With everyone in town scrambling to match a New York Times story that doesn't (yet) exist, the governor talks to the Associated Press: New York Gov. David Paterson is lashing back at what he calls an orchestrated, scandalous assault on his character that includes unsubstantiated accusations about womanizing and drug use that he flatly denies. The Democratic governor tells The Associated Press that the media and New York politics have hit new lows, but it won't stop him from serving in office or seeking election to a full term in the fall. He cited as fabricated one published...

Illinois Senate Race Worries Democrats Anew BY MONICA DAVEY February 3, 2010 CHICAGO — Alexi Giannoulias, the treasurer of Illinois and a basketball-playing friend of President Obama’s, won the Democratic primary here on Tuesday for the Senate seat once held by Mr. Obama. But his victory was hardly the free throw some had expected, setting off a new round of worrying among Democrats that the reliably Democratic seat might be picked off by Republicans in November. With four others on the ballot, Mr. Giannoulias won 39 percent of the Democratic vote, or, as Republicans preferred to describe it on Wednesday,...

The return of Shrillary– CNN’s Jack Cafferty urges Hillary Clinton to challenge Obama in 2012. Freedom’s Lighthouse reported, via Free Republic:Agreed. It’s the right thing to do. Hillary must revive her campaign and challenge Barack

NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will run for governor - Daily News Andrew Cuomo is ready to run for governor. New York's state attorney general is set to take on Gov. Paterson in the Democratic primary, a source close to Cuomo told the Daily News. Cuomo spokesman Richard Bamberger declined comment, but a source close to Cuomo told The News, "He will make an announcement at the end of March. And what he will say is that he intends to run for governor. ... He thinks there are a lot of problems in the state and he thinks he can...

Many New York Democratic insiders are privately speculating that if the Democrats face a Martha Coakley loss - or near-loss - in Massachusetts to GOPer Scott Brown in tomorrow's senate election, it increases the odds of a Harold Ford Jr. candidacy. The logic, several longtime Democratic strategists and insiders said, is that if Coakley loses such a blue state - and the seat held by Ted Kennedy, one of the senate's most liberal members, for nearly 50 years - then it spells trouble for other Dem incumbents in the fall. Rep. Charles Rangel, a firm Kirsten Gillibrand backer, dismissed any...

NEW YORK — "Are you a New Yorker?" It was the evening of Jan. 11, and Chris Matthews was on MSNBC asking what many in this city wanted to know about Harold Ford Jr. "I live in New York," the former Congressman from Memphis answered. "My wife and I plan to start and raise a family there. I pay taxes there, and once you pay taxes there, you feel like a New Yorker." "But are you a New Yorker?" Matthews pressed. "I am." "You're a New Yorker?" Matthews continued. "Say, 'I am a New Yorker.'" "I am a New Yorker,"...

Mayor John Hickenlooper announced his gubernatorial bid this afternoon, saying "I love Colorado every bit as much as I love Denver." Hickenlooper said his agenda is going to be about jobs... The packed news conference on the west side of the state Capitol attracted top Democratic leaders and Denver movers and shakers. Hickenlooper talked about being mayor and the measures he has helped push. "We went to the voters every single time so we could decide what kind of city they could live in," he said. Democrat Gov. Bill Ritter, whose unexpected decision to drop his re-election bid set off...

WASHINGTON — The White House made it clear on Monday that it opposed the prospect of Harold E. Ford Jr.’s running for the United States Senate in New York, even as Mr. Ford, the former Tennessee congressman, showed no signs of being deterred. The remarks from the White House press secretary, Robert Gibbs, were the first offered by the Obama administration since Mr. Ford said last week that he was seriously considering challenging Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary. Mr. Gibbs said that the administration backed Ms. Gillibrand, who was appointed last January to fill the seat...

Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand By MICHAEL BARBARO January 5, 2010 Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him. Mr. Ford, 39, who moved to New York three years ago, has told friends that he will decide whether to run in the next 45 days. The discussions between Mr. Ford and top Democratic donors reflect the dissatisfaction of some prominent party members with Ms....

Encouraged by a group of influential New York Democrats, Harold Ford Jr., the former congressman from Tennessee, is weighing a bid to unseat Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary, according to three people who have spoken with him. Mr. Ford, 39, who moved to New York three years ago, has told friends that he will decide whether to run in the next 45 days. The discussions between Mr. Ford and top Democratic donors reflect the dissatisfaction of some prominent party members with Ms. Gillibrand, who has yet to win over key constituencies, especially in New York City....

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) is expected to endorse Joe "In The Navy" Sestak, Monday, in his bid to unseat fellow Democrat Arlen Specter as senator from Pennsylvania, according to The Hill.

ALBANY — City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., weighing his options in the wake of a surprisingly close loss in the mayoral race, is seriously considering challenging Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand in next year’s primary elections, according to people who have spoken to Mr. Thompson and his advisers. Challenging Senator Gillibrand is one of three options being mulled by Mr. Thompson and his advisers. He is also considering a run against the state comptroller, Thomas P. DiNapoli, in the primaries, or returning to the private sector for now and running again for mayor in 2013. With the primary 10 months...

The body is not even cool yet. Hell, the election hasn't even happened yet, and the Democrats are already trying to figure what went is going to go wrong. Now this is my kind of campaign. Some may remember that Clinton White House Hotelier and Barista Terry McAuliffe ran for Virginia governor this year and lost in the primary to Creigh Deeds. Deeds had 50% of the vote with McAuliffe at 26% and Brian Moran at 24%. The New York Times thinks that maybe the Virginia Democrats drew the short straw with Deeds.