This article reports on the final decision of former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. to opt out of the N.Y. senate race for Hillary Clinton’s senate seat. Ford’s decision to abandon his plans came as a result, not because of personal reasons or any real unfortunate circumstance, but because of a push by the Democratic Party leaders to make such a decision and give up his race for the seat. Ford was due to challenge senator Kirsten Gillibrand who took over Hillary Clinton’s seat when Clinton resigned for the Obama cabinet position of secretary of state in 2008.
The reason for this lack of support from the “party bosses” is mainly centered on one conclusion that Ford himself recognizes. “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,” said Ford.
This occurrence of a politician being pressured by his party leaders to opt out of a race because of unwanted consequences in an election loss is intriguing to me. Ford had put a lot of effort in the primary elections and the party leaders did not like its chances of holding the crucial seat the Ford was very much vying for. I think Ford’s fortune was a result of present day’s politics in the United States where that one seat in senate is very much essential to the party’s goals and motives. Bottom line, it would be bad for a dramatic struggle for the democratic spot at this senate seat and party leaders already have a suitable candidate in mind; current seat holder Kirsten Gillibrand. Also, I think that Ford’s decision to run for a senate seat in a state which is not his own was somewhat of a bad decision. Ford’s would-be democratic challenger senator Gillibrand, born and raised in Albany, New York was committed to enacting her “strong record and vision for New York”. It just does not feel like a politically right thing to do. Gillibrand definitely had the geographical advantage in her campaign for this New York Senate seat.
This article definitely relates to the in-class learning material, chapter 7 to be concise. The highlighted event that was debated about was a primary election in which voters were to choose a representative for their political party, in this case, the democrats for a subsequent election, in this case, an election for the N.Y. senate seat. The occurrence here illustrates a potential result of the primaries as a result of the political leaders and unforeseeable situations.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/33721.html
By Sherard Cheung
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