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A Ford, Or An Edsel, In New York?s Future?

Post Politics, ?your one-stop shop for political news and views in Nashville and throughout the state of Tennessee,? thinks Harold Ford, Jr., can win a Senate seat in New York by in effect emulating Barack Obama ? that is, by persuading voters in New York that the political persona he presented to voters in Tennessee throughout his career up to now was a carefully crafted fraud. (HatTip to InstaPundit)

It?s true that after constructing his whole political persona around winning statewide in Tennessee, Ford has some work to do in fashioning himself as a believable New York political figure. Some say it is impossible for Ford to backtrack, massage and apologize for all his conservative positions in time to beat the appointed incumbent in 2010....

The chattering classes say that Ford is simply too conservative to win in New York and that the necessary transformation will be too difficult. But is Ford really as conservative as his record indicates or can he make the case that he was just shading his politics for his state?s body politic? New Yorkers like to think they?re better than everyone else anyway, so it should be easy for Ford to subtly make the case that he was just placating redneck Tennesseans with conservative red meat.

Is Harold Ford Jr. really such a deviously unprincipled chameleon, or are New York voters really gullible enough to believe either a) that he is, and elect him because they like that in their politicians (there?s some evidence for this), or b) that he was sneakily hiding his true self then but fearlessly revealing it now?

Well, it?s happened before.

The pundits say that Ford can?t ignore issues and just run on the basis of being a fascinating personality, but those who think that should take a long look at the 2008 election results of 2008 and think again.

And just when we were about to think it?s safe to go in the water again, there?s the fin of another Obama.

Full post as published by Discriminations on January 12, 2010 (boomark / email).