Message to Harold Ford: Politics is a contact sport
As my friend Harold Ford Jr. considers running for the U.S. Senate from New York, I would offer the following advice:
We often joke about politics being a contact sport in Texas. They really mean it in New York. When Frank Sinatra sang, “If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere” about New York, he was telling the truth. New York politics are the toughest in the country. New York has produced a long line of some of the best political infighters in the country (think Chuck Schumer) and they have needed all of that skill to flourish in this particular atmosphere.
Also, it is not the business of the press to promote anyone’s candidacy. Reporters are not your good buddies and they are not going to give you a pass because they may like you personally. Don’t let your guard down like you did in the recent front page interview with the New York Times. The Times may be a liberal newspaper but their reporters play it straight when covering a politician. It is not their job to clean up your comments and make you look good.
Always remember that your name is not Kennedy or Clinton. New Yorkers embraced newly arrived Robert F. Kennedy and newly arrived Hillary Clinton but that does not necessarily carry over to other new arrivals. Bobby Kennedy and Hillary Clinton were already known commodities when they decided to run in New York. Even then, they both had to work really hard to gain the trust of their new constituents.
Recognize that you have to raise an enormous amount of money to be competitive in the world’s most expensive media market. It’s one thing to raise the money necessary to run in Tennessee and an entirely different matter to raise what’s necessary to run in New York. Under no circumstances should you go into major debt to make this race. You don’t need that hanging over your head for years to come. If you can’t raise what’s necessary, don’t run.
Be ready for attacks on your change in positions on subjects like gay rights, abortion and guns. Your new positions may be sincere and in fact reflect your real political views but don’t think you won’t have to constantly explain why you changed your mind when you moved from Tennessee to New York. People want to feel that you really believe what you say even if they don’t agree with you on issues. You must convince voters that you are honest and not an opportunist.
Be willing to commit every waking hour to the campaign. You can’t hold another job while making a race like this. Don’t even try. You will shortchange your job and your campaign.
Make sure your wife fully understands how mean and tough things can get in a race like this. Wives tend to take every nasty thing said about their husbands personally, particularly when a wife has never been through a political campaign before.
And finally, be mentally prepared for the fact that you might lose. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be afraid to take a risk and run if it’s really what you want to do. You’ve been down this road before and you know how hard it is to face rejection by the public.
I offer this advice as a friend who has both won and lost political races and who has been in some really nasty fights. But remember, those of us in the rest of the country are just amateurs. Politicians in New York are the real pros.
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