Posted on 08/26/2005 3:42:57 AM PDT by GailA
GOP questions his leadership for Senate
By Lawrence Buser August 26, 2005
It didn't take long for political opponents of Congressman Harold Ford Jr. to pounce on the news that his office had sought consideration from the parole board on behalf of a notorious convicted killer.
The Web site for TeamGOP, a Republican grassroots organization based in Nashville, trumpeted Ford's miscue under the headline, "Harold Ford Jr. sends letter for hit-man."
"This is a disgraceful act for anyone, elected official or not," TeamGOP said. "This is the kind of leadership that Harold Ford wants to bring to the US Senate?"
Ford responded that Republicans were being insensitive to the victim's family.
In a letter to the parole board earlier this month, Ford asked the board to give consideration for the positive steps convicted killer Phillip Michael Britt has taken while behind bars for the past 28 years. Although his signature was on the Aug. 2 letter, Ford said this week he was unaware of the wording in the staff-written letter and said it does not accurately reflect his feelings about whether Britt should be paroled.
"I've read some of the right-wing attack blogs and I think it's insensitive (to the victim's family) for Republicans to make political capital out of this," Ford said Thursday. "I made a mistake, I've corrected it and I've apologized to the family. It's an unfortunate situation, but the reality is parole was denied."
Ford wrote a second letter on Aug. 19 informing the parole board he does not support Britt's request for parole.
He said he wished Britt had gotten the death penalty.
Britt is one of three men convicted for the rape and murder of 24-year-old Deborah Groseclose in 1977. The parole board denied Britt parole Wednesday for at least six years.
"I think he didn't have a clue about the crime Britt committed, which his staff didn't bother to research," Groseclose's sister Rebecca Easley said Thursday, adding that she appreciated Ford calling her this week to discuss the issue. "Hopefully, this is a very valuable lesson for him. I doubt that sort of thing will happen again out of his office."
Ford said his office sends out hundreds of letters a week, but that he has now established stronger safeguards to ensure that his correspondence accurately reflects his position, including form letters that might go to the parole board.
"It's never happened before and I'm going to try my hardest to see that it never happens again," he said, "whether I'm in Congress or the United State Senate."
Ford, a congressman for nine years, is running for the U.S. Senate in an election that is more than a year away. Political science professor Marcus Pohlmann of Rhodes College said he does not believe the parole-letter misstep will have any major impact on the campaign.
"If this had happened a month or two before the vote, you'd be more concerned," said Pohlmann. "These things are going to come up. I don't see it as much of a problem here in Shelby County where he is already pretty well known, but in parts of Central and East Tennessee where he's trying to establish himself for the first time with those voters, it may be somewhat of a distraction.
"It's part of the problem of sitting congressmen or senators running for office or higher office. They have a record of their own, but there's also other people speaking constantly on their behalf who might be called to task."
-- Lawrence Buser: 529-2385
He also stated he didn't personally know Charles Traughber.....duh if you believe this I've ocean front property in Arizona to sell you. Traughber is the husband of Rep Lois DeBerry the number 2 person in the House, one of the highest ranking Dem in the dem party in Memphis, you can't know one with out knowing the spouse.
Ahh, Mr. Ford, if you're in the Senate, you're in Congress.
He's practicing..because he'll be writing letters for his uncle....
He has a snowball's chance in Hell of being the next senator from TN, but it's fun watching him squirm. The whole family is corrupt.
Deborah Groseclose died a horrible death. She was beaten and stuffed in the trunk of her own car. She died from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Who will his Republican opposition be, Lamar Alexander?
He's already a senator, so don't look for him to run. LOL! Too early to tell on a Republican nomination, but we have several folks who will make an excellent senator.
"I've read some of the right-wing attack blogs and I think it's insensitive (to the victim's family) for Republicans to make political capital out of this," Ford said Thursday
Ford is an ass. His office writes a letter on behalf of a convicted murdurer, and he doesn't read it? I find that very, very hard to believe considering the number of skeletons in the Ford family closet. As for his "right-wing attack blogs" smear, we're simply tired of entire families of crooked politicians and their cronies running government for their own benefit at the expense of ours.
According to Imus, he's already got one foot in the door of the White House.
More than likely the staff is all related to Ford one way or another. This is what happens when you have kids running the government.
Who is Traughber and why is it significant that Ford denies knowing him?
Jr. is also a phoney blacl. Just as much white as black.
He is head of the parole board. His wife is a Shelby County state congresswoman. Big shot in Nashville. And Jr. does not know him???? Memphis is a small town, everyone knows everyone.
Who will his Republican opposition be, Lamar Alexander?
Hopefulley Ed Bryant.
Ford is just another variation of Rush's "How can we foo'em today?" theory. In this case, it's: "Hey let's get a Black guy who doesn't associate with Jesse Jackson and John Conyers to run. He'll be able make believe he's not a liberal because compared to them he's not."
The voters will see right through this pleasant young phony.
He will get only the predictable votes. He winns big in the west, goes down 54/46 in the middle and gets rolled in the east. Game over Alexander wins 53/47.
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