Harold Ford: The Ultimate Political Phony

American politics is full of phonies - politicians who will adopt whatever position and fill-flop to suit their current political interests. Party primaries are usually a good illustration of this as candidates move to the left or right to secure the party base and then navigate to the center during the general elections. Being phony is not the act of choosing certain values and political stands to emphasize different audiences - that while at times is disingenuous is no more than political calculation. The candidates positions do not change, but he'll note his support for, say, parental notification for abortions to a pro-life crowd and his ultimate support for abortion 'rights' to a pro-choice gathering.

Being a phony, in contrast, is to go from being publicly pro-life to a pro-life audience and then reversing one's position entirely and embracing pro-choice principles because now said candidate requires the support of pro-choice voters. And in that we have the phony Harold Ford.

Ford comes from a legendary Tennessee political family. In his early 20s, he inherited his father's seat in the House of Representatives where he remained until his unsuccessful bid to become the state's first black senator. In other words: Ford is the child of a political machine who had an entitlement to his father's Congressional seat and whose first competitive electoral race was the senate contest - and he lost. During that contest, Ford did everything he could to pander to Tennessee's conservative and somewhat racist white voters.

First, he pronounced himself as a checklist social conservative:

Got that? Pro-life and anti-gay marriage. He loves Fox News too. But Ford did more than that: He also put dignity on hold and sought humiliation in an effort to endear himself to the state's Rednecks - many of whom to put it lightly do not, alas, care to hang out with a black man - even one without a 'Negro dialect' as Harry Reid is keen to note. Look at the shameless pandering with the Hunter cap and Confederate Flag and the - Jesus Christ! - thumbs up to Bubba!

harold ford gives the thumbs up HyJag 19672

That was then in 2006. After Ford lost he left Tennessee after realizing that the people he was seeking to impress are mostly hicks who would give him and his new white blonde wife dirty looks as they walk through town.

He took an investment banker job in Manhattan where he has been living ever since. And not content with a +$1million job at bailed out Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Ford is eying a return to public life in a run for the New York Senate seat come 2012. The seat is currently held by a former Congresswoman who was selected by the state's governor to maintain Hillary Clinton's seat until the next election. Clinton prematurely left her seat after becoming President Obama's Secretary of State, of course. That Congresswoman intends to run for election in 2012 and keep the seat on her own accord - Ford has, more or less, decided to challenge her in a Democratic primary.

And in that vain, he has now become an all-new liberal Harold Ford. Now he is pro-choice - so pro-choice that he believes that government should even fund abortions (something it does not do) - and supports gay marriage after previously voting for a constitutional amendment, no less, to define marriage as man-woman:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cAlpha Dog of the Week - Harold Ford Jr.www.colbertnation.com

This phony is so transparent that even his party criticizes him:

There are top Democrats who find Ford too slick. “He could sell a snowball in a blizzard,” said one.

An appropriate metaphor given the record snowfall in Washington this week.