Posted on 10/11/2006 6:27:52 PM PDT by Tim Long
ATTEMPTING TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM HIS PRO-ABORTION RECORD, FORD DESCRIBED HIMSELF AS “PRO-LIFE” TO THE CTFP EDITORIAL BOARD
Citing His Love Of Children, Ford Adamantly Identified Himself As “Pro-Life” In An Interview With The Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial Board Yesterday. “Democratic U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., a U.S. Senate candidate, characterized himself Wednesday as ‘pro-life’ but said he supports upholding ‘the law of the land’ regarding a woman’s right to an abortion. Explaining what he meant by being ‘pro-life,’ Rep. Ford said: ‘I love children. I love making sure that they get child care. I love making sure they get a good school to go to.’” (Michael Davis “Ford ‘Pro-Life ,’ But He Backs ‘Law Of The Land,’” Chattanooga Times Free Press, July 6, 2006)
And When Directly Questioned About A Woman’s Right To An Abortion Ford Refused To Answer. Question: “On the question whether you personally support a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion your answer, ‘Why does that matter?’ and you seem not to say yes or no on that specific question. Why not? . . . That’s gonna be crucial in an election because it is crucial to a lot of voters. Why are you avoiding saying yes and no on that specific direct question?” Ford: “Like any American I would hope that we would reduce the number of abortions in the country. I said to you, I asked you the question, ‘If we eliminated Roe v. Wade would that stop abortion?’” Question: “Yes or no on constitutional right?” Ford: “There is no constitutional right to an abortion.” Question: “Constitutional guarantee. Constitutional guarantee to an abortion, yes or no, do you support that? Ford: But there is no constitutional guarantee to abortion. Roe v. Wade is a privacy right and under that . . .” Question: “Do you support a woman’s right to abortion? Ford: “You can ask me all day and all night and I assume your question is motivated by the fact that you want to see a reduction in the number of abortions. I’m not going to have this phony, false debate with you about what I personally believe here or what I personally believe there.” (Harold Ford, Jr., Chattanooga Times Free Press Editorial Board Interview, http://www.tfponline.com/media/video/editorialboard/HaroldFordJr.mp3, July 5, 2006)
BUT THE MEMPHIS CONGRESSMAN HAS ALREADY CALLED HIMSELF “PRO-CHOICE” AND HIS PRO-ABORTION RECORD IS CLEAR
In His First Congressional Campaign, Ford Called Himself “Pro-Choice.” “[A]s it relates to abortion, I’m pro-choice. I’m not pro-abortion. A woman has a right to choose not to have an abortion as much as she has the right to choose to have one.” (Harold Ford, Jr. As Quoted In The Ninth U.S. House District Debate, The Commercial Appeal, October 29, 1996)
Touting His Abortion Record In May, Ford Said His Pro-Choice “Record Is Clear.” MSNBC’s CHRIS MATTHEWS: “So putting that together, you are for a woman’s right to choose then?” FORD: “I have been and my record is clear on that. But at the same time, I’m like most Americans. I don’t believe that anyone is in support of abortions. What we believe is that a woman should have the right to choose. The law of the land states that.” (Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., MSNBC’s “Hardball,” May 10, 2006)
And Ford Opposes A Constitutional Amendment To Ban Abortion. MSNBC’S CHRIS MATTHEWS: “So you’re not for a Constitutional change that would -- a Constitutional amendment which would outlaw abortion?” FORD: “No.” (Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., MSNBC’s “Hardball,” May 10, 2006)
The National Right To Life Committee Has Never Given Harold Ford, Jr. Higher Than 25% For His Votes On Life Issues In The U.S. House Of Representatives. (National Right To Life Committee Website, www.nrlc.org, Accessed May 31, 2006)
NARAL Pro-Choice America Gave Ford 100% For His Votes In 2004 And 2001 And 60% For His Votes In 2005. (NARAL Pro-Choice America Website, www.prochoiceamerica.org, Accessed May 27, 2006)
Planned Parenthood Of America Gave Ford 78% For His Votes From 1997-2003. (Project Vote Smart Website, www.vote-smart.org, Accessed August 23, 2005, Votes Between 1995-2003)
Is this the same guy who says he's an attorney but never took the bar exam?
All liberals do that when they are talking to conservative voters, and they pull it off by saying they are personally pro life (i.e., they don't believe people should have an abortion) but they believe a woman has a right to choose. It is the old Clinton triangulation. Kerry tried the same thing. It is the old liberal trick of lying or misleading the public about what they really stand for.
is this being for life after you are against it???
He took it and failed.
And the crappy thing is that the "swing voters" will believe his lies! Damn Van Hilleary for not pulling out thus giving Corker the nomination.
Hillary Clinton is trying the same thing. She thinks we should reduce abortions, etc. and thus she is trying to sound like she is pro life, yet she votes pro choice 100%, even partial abortion (she would saw the head of an 8 month old baby in a partial birth abortion).
Could you elaborate?
There are a lot of idiots out there.
The good people of Tennessee must understand that Jr. doesn't take a leak without first checking with daddy. The mouth is moving, but it is Pop's voice you hear.
The Republican Primary was a three-way race between Bryant, Corker, and Van Hilleary. The Conservative vote was split between Bryant and Van Hilleary, allowing Corker to win.
A lot of us think Bryant would have made a much better candidate in the General Election than Corker.
Oh. I wanted Van Hilleary to win. I still think Corker isn't a horrible choice, at least compared to plenty of Republicans being run this year (Kean, Topinka, Chafee, Schwarzennegger, Poizner, etc.)
He's hiding from his record. The only reason the race is competitive is that he has such a lousy opponent.
I hope that Van Hilleary never holds public office again and that if he ever runs for anything, he loses the primary by a landslide.
This guy seems to be a John F'n Kerry in the making. Kerry served in VietNam, you know.
Bryant was a true conservative running for the seat. Van Hilleary joined the race, giving two fairly conservative choices. Either would likely have been fine, but Bryant seemed to be out ahead. Corker, a RINO, entered the race and spent tons of his own money to pull ahead and win. If Van Hilleary had dropped out and left only one conservative, Bryant would have won hands down.
Aside from the fact that the majority of the votes that were for VH would have gone to Bryant, many of the votes for Corker were because they believed his line that he had the best chance against Ford. (Bryant did better in polls against Ford.) And we have open primaries, since it was close, some Democrats crossed over to vote for someone they thought Ford could beat.
'Fancy' is an understatement for this guy. His could give a whole new definition to 'slick'. He should try to get on Hillary!'s ticket and put the slick back in the Clinton name.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.