Posted on 10/22/2006 10:34:46 AM PDT by freespirited
Democratic congressional candidate Steve Cohen said Friday that Harold Ford Sr.'s work for his son Jake's campaign against Cohen is hurting Harold Ford Jr.'s bid for the U.S. Senate.
Cohen said Jake Ford's independent candidacy for the 9th Congressional District seat is "overreaching." He said he suspects that Ford Sr.'s heavy involvement in Jake's campaign, Ford Jr.'s failure to endorse Cohen as the Democratic nominee, and remarks Ford Sr. has made about Cohen will cost Junior votes in his Senate race.
The comments prompted a strong written statement from Ford Jr.'s campaign. It read, in part: "Now, it appears that State Senator Steve Cohen and Mayor Bob Corker are singing from the same Ford family attack hymnal. I know that Bob Corker is attacking my family because he has come up short on ideas and answers in this campaign. I didn't know that ... Cohen was suffering from the same problem."
Cohen, a Democratic state senator, held a press conference in Nashville Friday after a fund-raiser here Thursday night. In response to questions, he gave his assessment of the impact of his battle with Jake Ford and Republican Mark White on the Senate race between Democrat Harold Ford Jr. and Republican Bob Corker.
Cohen cited a speech that Ford Sr., Memphis' former congressman, gave last Saturday at a tent rally on Summer. Ford Sr. spoke on behalf of both sons on the Nov. 7 ballot.
"When you go to that poll, don't vote for no Steve Cohen. You vote for Jake Ford as your next congressman," Ford Sr. said.
Asked whether Ford Sr.'s involvement is producing a backlash against his son's candidacy for the Senate, Cohen said, "Unfortunately, I think that's true."
Cohen has endorsed Ford Jr. and said Friday he will vote for him and the Democratic ticket.
Cohen praised Ford Jr. as having "tremendous attributes. For him to come this far and to have the effort to overreach I guess, and to have his younger brother run in the 9th District, I think has hurt his campaign. I really think that if Harold Ford Jr. had run with me on a ticket, it would have been a 'dream team'...."
Cohen doesn't believe the "Ford machine" is as strong as it was. "The Ford machine used to have a lot of foot soldiers. I think a lot of the foot soldiers have not been kept part of the team. The top brass has moved away from the foot soldiers. It's hard to be in touch with your foot soldiers when you're on Fisher Island or the Hamptons." Fisher Island is an affluent enclave off of Miami Beach where Ford Sr. has a home.
The Ford Jr. campaign fired back late Friday: "State Senator Cohen and I disagree on several significant issues. He's for gay marriage; I'm not. He's for amnesty for illegals; I'm not. He's for legalizing marijuana; I'm not. He's for a cut-and-run strategy in Iraq; I'm for a new plan to partition Iraq into three regions to ensure that we leave it better than we found it."
Cohen says he supports legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. He believes partitioning Iraq should be left to the Iraqis and favors a quicker withdrawal of U.S. troops than Ford Jr.
"Now, it appears that State Senator Steve Cohen and Mayor Bob Corker are singing from the same Ford family attack hymnal. I know that Bob Corker is attacking my family because he has come up short on ideas and answers in this campaign. I didn't know that ... Cohen was suffering from the same problem.
Now, ask any pundit who has been running the best Senate campaign, and he'll tell you Ford. Beats me.
I had to go through Frayser yesterday, and saw signs support both Junior and Jake Ford in yards, supprised there wasn't a third sign supporting 'auntie' Ophelia there too. No Cohen signs where I went.
A Ford isn`t going to win a statewide office in Tennessee, not in this lifetime. Bet the final vote will be Ford 5/10 points back of the final poll. And thats` a good thing!
"NASHVILLE -- Democratic congressional candidate Steve Cohen said Friday that Harold Ford Sr.'s work for his son Jake's campaign against Cohen is hurting Harold Ford Jr.'s bid for the U.S. Senate. "
so....Harold Ford, Jr has a brother who is running for office too? State House seat? And Harold Senior is campaiging for son Jake. I didn't know Harold, Jr. had a brother running for office. My question....Has Harold, Sr. campaigned for Harold, Jr? I haven't heard of it if he has.
But then, I didn't know till recently that Harold, Sr is a DC Lobbyist. And how is Harold, Jr's aunt doing in her race?
but he looks good on tv
lmao
When your whole family is a criminal enterprise, sometimes even the MSM can't get you elected. (Unless you're a kennedy)
Jr's brother Jake is running for Harold's old congressional seat (U.S.).
And as to your second question, yes Sr. is very active in both campaigns.
No third sign for Ophelia since dead people don't read them anyway.
thanks so much for the insider Memphis ballgame. I guess I just dozed off when brother Jake entered the race....which doesn't happen often. I'm thinking this news was downplayed nationally, so Ford Crime Family wouldn't look quite so corrupt. Harold Jr. gets downright indignant if anyone dare mentions his family, as if he's separate in anyway from them. It's the Ford Family Business, for goodness sake!!
I can't believe the entire state of Tennessee will send a Ford to the United States Senate. I mean, even Al Gore held down a day job before he followed Dad to Washington. Harold Ford, Jr. entered congress in 1992, the year he got out of law school. The family business is all he's ever done, he's steeped in it, and his family is surely fair game in this election.
The latest Corker ad is funny. A woman asks,
"Has Junior ever had a job outside of politics?"
http://www.bobcorkerforsenate.com/video.tb1.aspx
I understand that Harold Sr. is living in Florida. I wonder where he will vote and how often?
or a Landriueax
"The Ford machine used to have a lot of foot soldiers. I think a lot of the foot soldiers have not been kept part of the team. The top brass has moved away from the foot soldiers. It's hard to be in touch with your foot soldiers when you're on Fisher Island or the Hamptons." Fisher Island is an affluent enclave off of Miami Beach where Ford Sr. has a home.
BUNK!!!!!!!!!!
It is Ford Jr's voting record that is hurting him.
While running for office as a moderate hasn't fooled all Tennesseans.
Jake Ford is running for JUNIOR's seat as an independant, since he lost the primary to Cohen. Make no mistake either would be bad for the USA....both are socialist.
Or a reid, etc, etc.
If Sr. is living in Fl does that mean that he has to pay for parking these days?
So Jake's pulling a "Lieberman". I wonder if there are any quotes from Jr. about Joe Lieberman's decision to run as an independent after losing a primary. That could be interesting.
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