| First of all, the Ford-considering thing -- the NYT on-line headline is "Harold Ford Jr. Weighs a Challenge to Gillibrand" -- is not news.
Here's what Glenn Thrush of Politico had in November, under the headline "Ford vs. Gillibrand?":
Democratic sources say that former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr. -- who relocated to New York City after his unsuccessful Senate bid in 2006 -- has been talking about the possibility of running against vulnerable rookie New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
Ford's trial-balloon got him included in a December Siena poll of Democrats who might run for Gillibrand's Senate seat -- he got 7 percent.
But evidently what makes a two-month-old story NYT news now is that "influential Democrats" like Rattner, his wife Maureen White, and a few other UES multi-millionaires are "dissatisfied" with Gillibrand.
The story's reporter, Michael Barbaro, has a bright future at the newsroom-depleted NYT, given how he channels the boss and tactfully neglects to mention CK.
Ms. Gillibrand was appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson last year to fill the seat Mrs. Clinton vacated, in a selection process that was criticized as haphazard and bumbling.
snip
Some of the donors who have urged Mr. Ford to consider a run expressed alarm as Ms. Gillibrand, who as a congresswoman represented a conservative upstate district, has abandoned some of her previous positions on issues like gun control and immigration as she prepares to run statewide.
Mr. Ford, who lives in Manhattan, represented a conservative Southern state and, if he runs, may himself have to adjust some of his positions, like his opposition to gay marriage, to appeal to New York voters.
Gillibrand has indeed modified her positions on gun control and immigration to reflect her new statewide constituency.
Few Democrats would argue with that.
On the other hand, Ford became more conservative during and after losing his Tennessee Senate race in 2006.
So now he would have to flip-flop again to have any chance in a NY Senatorial primary.
How "alarming" would that be?
For Pinch and his notionally liberal multi-millionaire friends, idealogy obviously does not matter here.
It's all about revenge against the usurper Gillibrand, who had the temerity to quietly apply for the Senate job and be hired.
While CK campaigned for the job, including a maladroit upstate swing, with full-throated NYC media support.
Pinch is a special case, especially given the Rattner provenance of this story, but the owners of the two other NYC dailies (Mortimer Zuckerman and Rupert Murdoch) have also made sure that their anti-Gillibrand bias is reflected in news stories, op-eds and editorials.
But, by her assiduity as a Senator and campaigner, Gillibrand will win election this year and re-election in 2012.
No matter what the owners of money-losing newspapers do. |
