No stop left un-pulled
Harold Ford Jr. came to Memphis today, but that wasn't the big news. The big news was that Bill Clinton came to town to campaign for him.
At a church.
This is news why, exactly?
Oh, and we must remember the words that should follow young Mr. Ford the rest of his political life (though he attributes them to Lincoln Davis): "Republicans fear the Lord. Democrats fear and love the Lord."
Must be why Democrats have abortion-on-demand as a central plank in their party's platform, right? Mr. Ford Jr., when you get that plank removed, and turn the party of Jim Webb and Barney Frank and Ted Kennedy and John Kerry into something resembling what it was thirty years ago, you might then be able to make the second half of Mr. Davis' statement into something other than a punch line.
Ever since Mr. Ford Jr. tried and failed to pull a "gotcha!" by showing up at a Bob Corker press conference and whining that the two of them just didn't get to spend enough time together ("I can never find you!"), there has been evidence of desperation in Mr. Ford Jr.'s campaign. As of today, I think he has, officially, pulled out all the stops.
Votes of this magnitude are not always between the candidate you love and the candidate you loathe--sometimes it's just a question of who the better candidate is of the two. If Bob Corker were a pro-abortion Republican, or someone who made irresponsibly divisive and questionable statements about faith, or someone who (let's face it) has historically given the appearance of being a political puppet, I might end up voting for Mr. Ford Jr., not Mr. Corker.
Before I close, there are two articles I'd like you to read, from the candidates' own websites (there's your warning): One from Mr. Ford Jr., and one from Mr. Corker.
I'm interested in hearing what you take away from both those articles.
--Mike
1 comment:
Thanks for the information.
My letter to Ms. Broach:
Dear Ms. Broach,
With regard to your article on the IRS implications of yesterday's Harold Ford Jr. campaign rally at a local church, I wanted to thank you for noting the legal concerns such a tactic raises. I'm not an attorney (nor do I play one on TV), but even the rental of space is an "indirect participation" in the campaign of a candidate for office.
Your article characterized the regulation as "obscure," when in fact it is not--it is a basic standard to which all 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are held. While it might be obscure to the general public, it is not obscure to local churches. It is a church staff's responsibility to know the law in this area, and to follow it.
Speaking of which, your story contains a false statement, which I don't doubt you would be eager to correct. The story states "In 2004, 6,500 people at Bellevue Baptist Church heard a political message from the Bush/Cheney campaign." Having been at that gathering, I can tell you it was a meeting held with regard to a pending Senate vote, and in no way could be properly characterized as a "political message from the Bush/Cheney campaign." Your story's video was even edited in such a way as to imply that President Bush was at the Bellevue gathering, something else that is false.
In the interest of accuracy, I would appreciate it if you and your station would broadcast a correction to your story. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Mike Bratton
One letter might not have much of an impact. A dozen, though?
--Mike
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