Harold Ford Jr. may not be running for Senate, but he wants to make sure every New Yorker knows that the Democratic party bosses in that state stink:
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 preventing government at every level from fulfilling its duty.
The cruel twist, of course, is that the party bosses who tried to intimidate me so that I wouldn’t even think about running against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who had been appointed to the seat by Gov. David A. Paterson, are the same people responsible for putting Democratic control of the Senate at risk.
I don’t know how much I agree with his assessment, but this line jumped out at me:
Yet the party has been too slow to change. The effects of its lack of flexibility have been clear in a series of worrisome political events: Ted Kennedy’s “safe” Senate seat was lost to a Republican; Evan Bayh of Indiana and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota announced they weren’t running for re-election; Senate seats held by Democrats in Wisconsin and Delaware now seem to be in jeopardy; New York’s state government faces even more controversy and challenge.
Good morning, Senator Feingold!