Now Harold Ford Jr. backs gay marriage

[ccharles000]

In what will likely be read as another sign of his interest in running against Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in this year's Democratic primary, ex-Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford Jr. publicly said for the first time that he was in favor of same-sex marriage.

"He supports gay marriage, in the interest of fairness and equality," Ford spokesman Davidson Goldin told The Post.

Ford backed up that statement himself this morning on the "Today Show."

Host Matt Lauer asked, "So you're now in favor of same sex marriage?"

"Civil unions and same-sex marriage, yes," Ford said.

Ford also said there's a "fiction" in language between civil unions and same-sex marriages, and that he now supports gay nuptials because it's the best way to keep equal benefits flowing.

Saying he supported civil unions when he ran for Congress in Tennessee in 1996, Ford said, "My support for fairness and equality existed long before I moved to New York."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/now_ford_comes_out_for_gay_nups_VASWuxve4ht5Y4aZM8K5dJ

[Jim Sagle]

1. Well, at least he's trainable.

Next thing you know he'll be pro-labor.

Naaaaaah. ;)

[dkf]

2. Good

[sabbat hunter]

3. seems like he is a

typical politician.
Saying what he needs to in order to get elected. In TN, if he said he supported same sex marriage, he would have lost in a landslide. Here in NY it boosts his potential candidacy.

[liberalpragmatist]

4. Why did he vote for the federal marriage amendment then?

Why did he endorse an anti-gay marriage amendment to the Tennessee Constitution?

Why did he criticize the New Jersey Supreme Court for ruling only that the state had to provide civil unions?

Look, I get it: he's a politician and ALL politicians are going to shift in the wind a bit. Gillibrand certainly has on guns and immigration.

But to go from being one of the most antigay politicians in the Democratic Party to suddenly embracing gay marriage strikes me as a little too brazen. I don't what credibility he thinks he has, but nobody is going to buy a 180 degree, Romneyesque ideological turnaround like this.

[wyldwolf]

5. the question is...

was he lying back when he was a congressman and running for Senate to get and stay elected, or is he lying now to get and stay elected.

I'm sure there are many politicians who secretly support gay marriage, or really don't care, but are officially against it.

[BootinUp]

6. If he votes the same as the positions

he takes in a campaign I don't see the big deal. He won't be representing Tennessee voters anymore.

[TexasObserver]

7. Recommend

[akbacchus_BC]

8. Charles, Harold Ford was never for Gay Marriages, just goes to

show that these assholes will say anything to get elected. Harold Ford is a sick piece of shit, whoever votes for him is a vote wasted! He hangs his mouth where the soup leaks!

[David Zephyr]

9. What a finger to the wind phony this charlatan is!

The only thing Harold Ford, Jr. is consistent about is his ambition to have a political office.

He's a joke.

[JI7]

11. but that's true of most politicians who really want to win , look at Romney

and his switch on all the issues once he decided to run for president and had to get support from other states.

and how presidential candidates campaign by moving to the center once they start the national campaign and get away from primary.

i think Byrd is the only Dem SEnator who probably really opposes same sex marriage.

[JI7]

10. just an example that many of the candidates support for issues is based

on what most voters in their state support.

i'm pretty sure Mary Landrieu and Ben Nelson are more liberal than how they usually vote.

other than Robert Byrd i think the Dem Senators are personally/privately have no problem with same sex marraige.

[hayu_lol]

12. Ford is a BLUE DOG. Has been a blue dog for years...

he is not now, has never been a REAL Democrat. He should not be running for any Dem position anywhere in the country.

Keep this guy unemployed.

[Freddie Stubbs]

15. Gillibrand was also a Blue Dog when she served in the House

[burning rain]

13. With this sort of flipping on issues, he's looking like a Democratic Mitt Romney.

What a ridiculous man.

[Jennicut]

14. Total opportunist. I don't believe a thing that comes out of his mouth.

[leftynyc]

16. This New Yorker

still wouldn't vote for him in the primary.

[mkultra]

17. This move makes him look more liberal than Gillibrand

And will fly in a forward thinking state like NY.

[liberalpragmatist]

18. Gillibrand also supports gay marriage

And didn't have an anti-gay record when she was in the House.

[ShortnFiery]

20. Too funny! Two former Blue Dogs trying to "out liberal = social justice" each other.

:rofl:

[mkultra]

21. well, hopefully, her constituents know that

I know the WH has publicly put support behind her.

[closeupready]

19. Yeah right.

:eyes: