Posted on 09/09/2006 9:38:21 AM PDT by Sybeck1
NASHVILLE -- Democratic senatorial candidate Harold Ford Jr. charged Friday that opponent Bob Corker's new statewide TV ad saying that Ford voted against reauthorizing the USA Patriot Act is a "lie."
The Memphis congressman's remarks followed a news conference at the Tennessee Vietnam Veterans Memorial here where he and about two dozen military veterans announced formation of a Veterans for Ford group.
Ford rejected claims by Republican Corker that he has a "weak record in protecting America," including the charge in a new Corker TV ad that Ford voted against renewing the Patriot Act. The anti-terrorism law originally passed following the 9/11 attacks and was renewed this year after a long congressional fight. Proposed by President Bush, it gives investigators broader authority to investigate suspected terrorists.
Ford's voting record on the law is more complex than the ad implies: He voted for the original 2001 law, which civil libertarians decried as giving government too much power. He voted against the bill last year that renewed it because, he said Friday, "I thought it was too weak; it didn't give the president enough tools."
He also voted against a House-Senate conference committee bill last December that the Senate later rejected. That December vote is cited in the footnotes to Corker's new ad.
Ford then voted in favor of a bill March 7 that made the reauthorization final, which Bush signed two days later. He was one of 66 Democrats and 214 Republicans who voted in favor of the bill.
Ford said, "He's lying on me like he did on his opponents in the (GOP) primary and I'm not going to let him. I have voted for more than $6 trillion in defense and homeland security spending. I voted not only for the Patriot Act, I voted to give the president the authority to go into Iraq. I'll put my record on defense and national security up against anybody in Congress."
The Corker campaign defended the ad as accurate, citing the two votes in 2005.
The Veterans for Ford group is headed by Navy veteran Jim Jones of Franklin, who served in the Vietnam War, Iraq War Army veteran Martha Boyd of Nashville and Marine Vietnam War veteran Bob Tuke, who is state Democratic chairman. They said the organization will be statewide and will provide campaign volunteers. About half a million Tennesseans are military veterans.
Ford cited a long list of votes he has cast in support of military and defense spending, and said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tapped him to serve on the Pentagon's Transformation Advisory Group.
Contact Nashville bureau chief Richard Locker at (615) 255-4923.
Ford comes from a family of political hacks. What did he do to find a dozen or so Vets to support him? Most likely he trolled the Nashville,VAMC for Category 7 and 8 Vets. The category 7 and 8's always do the most complaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Ford,_Jr.
Here is a brief profile of Harold Ford. I do not like the source. Harold is very slick, and; he likes Al Gore. How tough was that bar exam? How did that Michigan Law School fail you? Could it have been a quota you filled? I do not know. I do not dislike him, I just do not trust him.
Then there ought to be plenty of material for honest ads.
If you think this lie will fool the voters, then it's you who's the fool.
Ford only voted for final approval when it was obvious that it was going to pass anyhow. When his vote was actually important---to approved the House-Senate conference report---he voted against it.
This is typical of that hypocrite Harold Ford, Jr., trying to stop a bill from passing but then switching and voting for it when its passage is assured. He did the same thing with the partial-birth abortion ban, voting in favor of a sham substitute amendment that wouldn't have banned a single abortion because of its "health of the mother" exception (which included "mental health"), but then voting for final passage of the real PBA ban when the sham substitute was defeated. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/923967/posts
Well, has Corker tried to lie about Ford's vote on the PBA ban yet or is he saving for later? (When this one about the Patriot Act falls apart.)
I am not falling for Ford. Sorry.
How is it a lie to say that someone who voted against a measure on its most important vote voted against the measure? Are you being intentionally obstinate, or are you just a Harold Ford apologist?
Maybe Corker is a liar as you say, but he isn't lying about Ford voting against renewing the Patriot Act, and if he ran an ad pointing out that Ford tried to derail the PBA ban he wouldn't be lying either.
Sure, I'm obstinate, obstinately against liars. You can spin and twist all you want. To say that Ford voted against the Patriot Act when he voted for it is intentionally misleading - a lie.
Since Ford is claimingthat he voted in favor of the Patriot Act, isn't that a lie too, then, since he didn't vote in favor of it *every time* it was voted upon by the House? You seem to be saying that the Corker ad is a lie because it points out that Ford voted against the Patriot Act when in reality he "only" voted against it 2 out of the 3 times it has been voted upon by the House over the past 2 years, so you should have even more of a reason to say that Ford is lying when he says he voted for the Patriot Act. Or did Ford convince you that he would never lie by batting those "dreamy" green eyes of his?
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