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What a curiously incurious Morning Joe bunch! Joe Scarborough says Solyndra "is just not a story I have focused on" and John Heilemann similarly admits to not having "drilled down" on the matter. Meanwhile, Harold Ford, Jr. assures us that when it comes to any potential Solyndra scandal, "there's no there, there" and that no one "has done anything illicit here at all." A blasé Joe Scarborough grudgingly introduced "this Solyndra thing," citing those pesky "conservatives on Twitter" who keep raising it. The show deigned to devote under two minutes to the story, with nary a mention of the facts...

This space never has had anything negative to blog about Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. until today. His statement about Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was so grating the television set was turned off. Ford said that Palin was going to run for President and that she was "formidable." That was when this space wondered if Ford was being paid by a Republican operative. Sarah Palin has so many errors and mistakes that will be tossed back at her in the middle of a presidential campaign it would be embarrassing. Ford saying she was "formidable" just gives hope to her...

Back in January, Harold Ford, Jr. proclaimed to Chris Matthews no fewer than four times: "I am a New Yorker" [see amusing video after the jump]. But that profession of Big Apple-hood apparently didn't cut it with NBC. Even as Ford was discussing today his reasons for not entering the New York Dem senatorial primary against Kirsten Gillibrand, Meet The Press displayed the graphic seen here, labelling Ford "(D-TN)."

Former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. said Tuesday that Democrats are “scared” heading into this fall’s election and that he decided not to run for the Senate from New York because he feared his party would lose the seat after a tough primary. “The fall is going to be a tough, tough fall for whatever Democrat emerges,” Ford said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” his first since announcing Monday night that he is not running. “It would have been a tough brutal fight.” snip Ford also indicated that Republican Sen. Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts made a Republican win...

My editors had too much sense to use that headline, which has been used for many a Mort Zuckerman profile, but ... that's why it's nice to have a blog. My story today is on the politics and the personal questions around a potential Mort Zuckerman bid for Senate:

WHEN it was reported two months ago that I was thinking seriously about running for the United States Senate from New York, Democratic Party insiders started their own campaign to bully me out of the race — just as they had done with Representatives Carolyn Maloney, Steve Israel and others. But as I traveled around New York, I began to understand why the party bosses felt the need to use such heavy-handed tactics: They’re nervous. New Yorkers are clamoring for change. Our political system — so bogged down in partisan fighting — is sapping the morale of New Yorkers and...

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford announced Monday evening that he will not challenge incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) in the upcoming Democratic primary. Just six weeks ago, the former Tennessee Congressman was putting together his campaign team and warning top Democrats that he couldn't be bullied. Evidently he could be.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Harold Ford, a former representative from Tennessee, will not challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the New York Democratic primary, The New York Times reported on Monday. In an opinion piece it said would be published in the Times on Tuesday, the newspaper quoted Ford as writing: "If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary -- a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened." "I refuse to do anything that would help Republicans win a Senate seat in New York, and give the Senate majority to the Republicans,"...

Of all the Democrats who sighed with relief at the news that New York Gov. David Paterson won't run for a full term in office this year, perhaps none was louder than that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. While his exit clears the Democratic primary field for Attorney General Andrew Cuomo -- saving him both money for the general election and a potentially bloody, intraparty battle -- Gillibrand is assured she won't be running her first Senate campaign with a politically anemic governor at the top of the ticket. Paterson was scheduled to announce his decision to leave the race this...

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand boxed out Harold Ford on his own turf Thursday night, reeling in the coveted endorsement of the New York County Democratic Party. The committee chose to pass over Ford, a Manhattanite who is mulling a challenge against Gillibrand, to endorse the incumbent from upstate. "In just a short period of time ... Gillibrand has proven herself to be a smart, hardworking advocate for the people of New York," said Assemblyman Keith Wright (D-Harlem), the county chair. Ford had met with Wright last month and recently had urged him and other county leaders to hold off on any...

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...

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...

Potential Senate hopeful Harold Ford Jr. compared Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to a boss-controlled "parakeet."

SCOTT BROWN’S victory last week in the Massachusetts Senate race, following the Republican gubernatorial triumphs in New Jersey and Virginia, marked the third time in three months that the Democratic Party has lost the support and trust of independent voters. The message these voters sent was clear. With one out of five Americans unemployed or underemployed, President Obama and the Democratic Party need to shift attention away from health care and toward a bold effort to create jobs, improve the economy and rein in the size of government. Here are four simple steps we must take immediately to put us,...

Here is video of Don Imus today talking with Frank Rich of the New York Times, where Imus called Democrat Harold Ford Jr. a "gutless weasel." Imus said Ford had once been a friend of his program, but after Imus "got in some trouble," Imus indicated he feels Ford "abandoned" him. Ford's name came up because he is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in New York, and Frank Rich had asked if Ford had even been to all the burroughs of New York. . . . (VIDEO)

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,"...

Despite talk about a possible run for the U.S. Senate seat in New York, former Memphis Congressman Harold E. Ford Jr. still lists a condo on South Front Street as his home. He shows the Downtown address as his primary residency on records with the Shelby County Election Commission. And he last cast a ballot in Shelby County during the November 2008 presidential election. "He voted at an early-voting site for the November 2008 general election," Shelby County Election Administrator Richard Holden confirmed Tuesday. Holden said election records indicate that Ford has listed 415 S. Front, Unit 12, as his...

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that Harold Ford Jr. has every right to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand because "this is a democracy." "Do people have a right to run? The answer is yes," said Cuomo, when asked about the possibility of the Tennessee transplant taking on the poll-challenged upstater in a Democratic primary. "Debate can be a good thing . . . This is a democracy, the last time I checked," said Cuomo, who himself is feeling mounting pressure from black leaders such as former Mayor David Dinkins, Rep. Charles Rangel and Gov. Paterson's dad, Basil, not to challenge...

Developing NYT LEAD WED.... Harold Ford Jr. is serious about challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination, against wishes of party leaders... Developing... ***'If I am elected senator from New York, Harry Reid will not instruct me how to vote'***... An insider says 'There has been no decision' about a run...

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...

This is what happens when you try to please everybody. In other words, this is what happens when politicians get distilled down to their most basic essence. Kirsten Gillibrand was a perfectly legitimate — if somewhat obscure — member of Congress. She represented her district in upstate New York ably, bucking her party’s left-wing leadership when their policies ran afoul of her more sensible constituents. Her honorable independence from party leaders earned her appreciation from voters back home and applause from groups that don’t normally like Democrats.

If Harold Ford Jr. runs for Senate in New York, he just might face questions about comments reportedly made by his father describing his hometown of Memphis as a "Christian city" during a 2006 diatribe against a Jewish House candidate. The "Christian city" comment wasn't major news in Tennessee at the time, but it's likely to resonate in New York, home to the country's biggest and most politically active Jewish populations. Ford Jr. wasn't in the crowd at the time, but the comment was published in the alt weekly Memphis Flyer. Ford Sr. — speaking at a rally for Ford...

Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid reached out to Mayor Bloomberg today to urge him not to get behind former congressman Harold Ford Jr., if the Tennessee transplant decides to take on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in a primary, sources told The Post. The conversation came the same day that Bloomberg's 2009 campaign manager Bradley Tusk and his pollster, Doug Schoen, had lunch with Ford, sources said. Reid placed the call after reports that Bloomberg was open to backing Ford - who's seriously weighing a challenge to Gillibrand - against the junior senator, who was appointed to her post last year...

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....

According to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, if Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford loses Tuesday, you can blame it on white conservatives. On Sunday morning, as he appeared in a segment hosted by Alex Witt, Matthews chided whites for an unwillingness to vote for black politicians, contending that "blacks vote for whites," but "whites don't vote for blacks." Matthews added that in states with large black populations, fear leads whites to become conservative Republicans. Matthews: "The larger the black population, where the whites are afraid historically, and in Deep South states, they tend to become very conservative Republican out of fear, whatever,...

On Tuesday night former Representative Harold Ford, now chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, said that Democrats would win in 2008 “because the country needs a change”. That got me wondering just what changes the Democrats would have in mind for us if they won. Since the Bush policies led us out of the Clinton recession of 2000 and also the post 9/11 crash, and resulted in seven years of growth, prosperity and record-breaking, continuous low unemployment, would the Democrat changes reverse this record? Or how about the trillion dollar tax increase that the Chairman of the Democrat-controlled Ways and...

We ended the last century with America's economic might at its zenith, with Americans at their most optimistic, and with nearly all who endeavored to make the most of their opportunities and talents getting ahead in life. John F. Kennedy's declaration that a rising tide will lift all boats was alive and well. Middle-class Americans generate little or no national savings. We've had four straight years of rising productivity and falling incomes. Many Americans are earning less, while the costs of a middle-class life have soared: In the last five years, college costs are up 50 percent, health care up...

"They'll find their way back to the middle. And if they don't, they won't win." So says a blunt Harold Ford Jr., chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, of his party's current crop of presidential candidates. The question is just how many would-be Democratic presidents recognize the wisdom of his words. Mr. Ford is in a feisty mood throughout our chat, as well he might be given the shelling his group has recently endured at the keyboards of the far left. Skip back 15 years, and the DLC stood as the proud architect of Bill Clinton's "New Democrat" campaign victory....

The much ballyhooed debate on "Meet the Press" between former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and Markos Moulitsas, publisher of the liberal Daily Kos website, was instructive for what it revealed about both the divisions in the Democratic Party and the underlying disingenuousness of both factions. Ford was defending the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), an organization that holds itself out as centrist, urges the Democratic Party to move in that direction, and proudly claims former President Bill Clinton as its most honored member. Moulitsas was there to represent the more leftist wing of the party, which has used his website to...

ONE woman's not enough for 37-year-old bachelor Harold Ford Jr.. The former Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Tennessee was holed up at Blue Ribbon Sushi on Sullivan Street with three blondes on Wednesday night. "They all stayed until 2 a.m. singing and dancing, and he was pretty tipsy," one onlooker snickered.

Congressman Harold Ford rips free republic on Sean Hannity show. Congressman says "FR posts nasty things about blacks, hispanics, and women"

Markos Moulitsas to Debate Harold Ford Jr. on ‘Meet the Press’ By Noel Sheppard | August 11, 2007 - 19:33 ET After the press spent last weekend gushing over liberal bloggers with nothing but glowing coverage of the YearlyKos convention in Chicago, the media's fascination with the Netroots continued with reckless abandon this weekend. On Saturday, the Washington Post published an op-ed by Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, to be followed by a debate on Sunday's "Meet the Press" between the head Kossack and the chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, Harold Ford, Jr. Are media recognizing the power of...

The Honorable Harold Ford, Jr. Chairman Democratic Leadership Council 600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20003 Dear Rep. Ford, I appeared with you on the O’Reilly Factor on July 31, 2007, in my capacity as spokesman for FreeRepublic.com to discuss politics on the Internet. The host, Bill O’Reilly, falsely accused FreeRepublic.com of having the following comments on its site: "Homosexuals are dogs," "I hate blacks," "Hillary Clinton should be assassinated," and "A stray bullet should kill her." To be blunt, those comments were made up by the O’Reilly Factor. The O’Reilly Factor was not able to provide documentation...

<p>I taped a segment on the O'Reilly Factor for airing tonight to defend Free Republic against charges that it is a hate site. The segment will air in the 'D block' around 8:35 p.m. EDT and rerun at 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. EDT.</p>

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe’s communications director said Monday he is temporarily leaving the governor’s office to work on New York Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Zac Wright — who was communications director for former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., and is a former press secretary for the Tennessee Democratic Party — said he is taking a leave of absence beginning June 20 to work as communications director for Clinton’s South Carolina primary campaign. Wright has served as Beebe’s communications director since the inauguration in January. He said he accepted the job with Clinton and told Beebe about...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. has joined FOX News to provide political commentary and analysis on international events and the 2008 election, the cable network announced Wednesday. Ford, a Democrat, served in the U.S. House representing Memphis for 10 years. He lost a close U.S. Senate race to Republican Bob Corker in November. Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of FOX News, said Ford’s “wealth of experience and insight will be key to FOX as we endeavor to stay on top of fast-moving events around the world and here in our own country. “The upcoming presidential...

The Rockefellers and Iran: Jay Rockefeller’s Reversal and the Iranian-American LobbyBy Fedora In 1979, Rockefeller representatives launched an unsuccessful operation to lobby the Carter administration in support of the Shah of Iran, who was seeking safe haven in the wake of a coup by Islamic revolutionaries. Codenamed Project Alpha, the operation was spearheaded by Chase Manhattan Bank Chairman David Rockefeller and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, with support from oil lobby lawyer John McCloy. Although Project Alpha won the support of National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, it met opposition from Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and failed to win...

Prosecutors eye Rolex to show a pattern of payoffs. Just when it seemed John Ford's legal troubles couldn't get worse, enter a $40,000 wristwatch of questionable origin. Federal prosecutors alleged Wednesday that Ford received the watch -- a diamond-studded Rolex Masterpiece -- in 2004 from prominent Memphis developer Rusty Hyneman. Ford once asserted he got the watch free of charge after using his influence to try to reduce state pollution fines levied against Hyneman, prosecutors said. Neither Hyneman nor Ford has been charged in connection with the watch transaction, yet prosecutors plan to use it as evidence that Ford, who...

Interviewing Rick Davis, chairman of John McCain's presidential exploratory committee, on MSNBC at about 11:45 AM today, NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell [NB file photo] demanded to know why McCain had hired Terry Nelson as his campaign manager. She described Nelson as "the man who was behind that dreadful commercial against Harold Ford. This is John McCain, the victim of these kinds of attacks in the South Carolina primary and other primaries back in 2000." "Dreadful"? How about "funny and on the mark"? Who declared the ad "dreadful" other than the DNC and the MSM? Could Andrea be taking her...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Former state Sen. John Ford, already awaiting trial in a public corruption case, has been indicted on new charges over consulting deals he had with state contractors while serving in the Legislature, federal prosecutors announced Monday. Ford, a Memphis Democrat, resigned from the Legislature after he was indicted on charges of taking bribes in 2004's Tennessee Waltz undercover corruption investigation. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, and no trial date has been set. The latest charges claim that Ford was serving as a consultant to two contractors with TennCare, the state's expanded Medicaid program,...

Some big name Democrats want to oust DNC Chairman Howard Dean, arguing that his stubborn commitment to the 50-state strategy and his stinginess with funds for House races cost the Democrats several pickup opportunities. The candidate being floated to replace Dean? Harold Ford. Says James Carville, one of the anti-Deaniacs, "Suppose Harold Ford became chairman of the DNC? How much more money do you think we could raise? Just think of the difference it could make in one day. Now probably Harold Ford wants to stay in Tennessee. I just appointed myself his campaign manager."

NASHVILLE -- In his race for U.S. Senate, Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D) has been outspent by millions, and his image has been battered by a barrage of negative ads, including the now-infamous spot with a blonde floozy that has been pulled off the air. Several polls show him trailing...But being an underdog has its own righteous appeal, and the campaign used that status yesterday not only to rally voters but as evidence that God had looked with favor upon the Democratic campaign. The fact that they are still in the race despite the odds, Ford told an African...

John Kerry hasn't tucked tail and run this fast since his third Purple Heart in Vietnam. Then he wanted to get out of the free fire of the Viet Cong; now he wants out of the free fire of truth and analysis. Nonetheless, the world should take note of John Kerry, because this week he has given us all an indisputable truth. Liberals must lie, deceive, distort and – for lack of better terms – shuck and jive when it comes to their actual beliefs. They must do so constantly to attempt to trick mainstream Americans as to what they...

In the hotly contested contest for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker has jumped into a double-digit lead over Rep. Harold Ford Jr., according to a Zogby poll. The race had been a statistical tie in a number of recent polls, but Corker’s 10-point lead in the new Zogby survey follows several gaffes by Ford, including an attempt to confront Corker at a press conference and an attack on the religious values of Republicans. As Of Monday, Corker led by 53 percent to Ford's 43 percent in the...

Is this for real? I just heard on the news that Clinton was in Tennessee today campaigning for Harold Ford. Please tell me TN. hasn't gone over to the dark side and gives this slime a high enough approval rating that Ford felt safe bringing him in to campaign for him? That's the only reason Ford would have brought him in if Ford's polls showed enough Tennesseans like Clinton that the risk to bring him in to campaign was minimal. I really can't believe the people of TN. would fall for this corrupt and amoral trash Bill Clinton while Bush...

At the recent annual meeting of News Corporation, parent of Fox News, I informed chairman Rupert Murdoch that Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that he made a financial contribution to Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford.

Dems love God more than Republicans, says candidate Harold Ford Jr. says there are differences 'when it comes to our faith' -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: October 30, 2006 5:00 p.m. Eastern Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn. (CNN.com) In a key race that could determine control of the Senate, Democrat Harold Ford Jr. appealed to Tennessee's traditional-values voters in a campaign speech, declaring his party has the upper hand when it comes to faith in God. "Republicans fear the Lord, Democrats fear and love the Lord," the congressman told an audience in Paris, Tenn., Saturday. The video can be seen here at HotAir.com...

HAROLD FORD, JR.: My friend Lincoln Davis who chairs our campaign says there are, there’s one big difference between us and misfortunate Republicans when it comes to our faith: he said that Republicans fear the Lord; he said Democrats fear AND love the Lord Wow! What a statement! I don't doubt that many Democrats fear And love the lord, but what would make this man come to the conclusion that Republicans only fear the lord? That is what he said. He noted there was a difference between Republican and Democrat faith in God and that the difference was the lack...