Harold Ford Isn't Running, But Still Hitting Gillibrand

By: Spencer Magloff
Topics: Campaign 2010

After announcing he won't seek the Democratic nomination in the 2010 New York Senate, former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. took to the airwaves to criticize the woman who would have been his primary opponent, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

Speaking on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Ford suggested that Gillibrand, who was appointed to the seat formerly held by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, didn't spend enough time with upstate voters and that she is out of touch with her constituency.

"I can assure you, voters don't know the junior senator, they can't name a single positive outcome from her, which means one simple thing: She will be labeled for the failures of Washington, the failures of Albany," he said.

"In Syracuse, my visit there yesterday, in the seven weeks that I paid for myself to get around the state, I was there more times than Kirsten Gillibrand had been there since she's been a U.S. senator," Ford continued.

Ford says he ultimately decided not to challenge Gillibrand because he believed a weakened candidate would be the result. In a New York Times op-ed posted online Tuesday, Ford said he didn't want to risk a bitter primary that could help a Republican take the seat.

"I've examined this race in every possible way," Ford wrote, "and I keep returning to the same fundamental conclusion: If I run, the likely result would be a brutal and highly negative Democratic primary - a primary where the winner emerges weakened and the Republican strengthened."

That may not have been the only consideration: In a new Marist Poll completed last night, a hypothetical showdown between the two nominees found that 50 percent of New York Democratic voters would have supported Gillibrand, while 19 percent would have backed Ford.

"Ford's short-lived challenge to Gillibrand not only did her no harm, it may have even solidified her support among Democrats," said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion.

Another reason for Ford's departure is the whisperings of a possible Senate run on the part of Mortimer B. Zuckerman, who could woo the New York business community that had been rallying behind Ford.

Zuckerman, a New York billionaire who owns the New York Daily News, backed Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign but has since altered his tone and become a critic of the White House, according to Politico. He would likely run as a Republican or independent.