Jan 19, 2007  |  By: ROD MCCULLOM  | COMMENTS     

LATE LAST WEEK saw confirmation of a juicy tidbit that had been making the rounds of the Washington rumor mill: Harold Ford, Jr. was in line to become the new chair of the Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist think tank. It probably was not as interesting as the latest Wentworth Miller-Perez Hilton drama, but the news sent many gay activists and progressives to their Blackberries. The red flag was raised.

That’s because the young, black and oh-so-handsome former Tennessee congressman has one trait that deserves your immediate attention: a poor record on gay rights issues.

Maybe that’s an understatement. The distinguished gentleman from Tennessee scored only 25 on the recent Human Rights Campaign congressional scorecard. Ford’s conservative “family values” — including passing out business cards that feature the Ten Commandments on the back — gained notoriety during his recent groundbreaking campaign for Senate. That’s when the 10-year congressman publicly rebuked the New Jersey Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling.

“I do not support the decision today reached by the New Jersey Supreme Court regarding gay marriage,” Ford stated, and then went on to wave his conservative credentials. “I oppose gay marriage, and have voted twice in Congress to amend the United States Constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage. This November there’s a referendum on the Tennessee ballot to ban same-sex marriage — I am voting for it.”

In fact, Ford was only one of a “small minority” of his party, says the National Stonewall Democrats, to support the marriage amendment. So why embrace him for leadership at such a senior level?

FIRST, SOME BACKGROUND: The Democratic Leadership Council is no ordinary think tank. Moderate and conservative Democratic Party leaders founded the DLC in response to Ronald Reagan’s 1984 landslide presidential election. Their idea was to shift the party right of center to remain “viable” during the Reagan era. Back then, a little-known governor from Arkansas named Bill Clinton chaired the group; his colleague Al Gore also was a founding member.

See a pattern? Almost every former chair of the DLC has run for president or vice president. Vilsack is stepping down to devote more time to his own presidential campaign. Not that DLC bigwigs are impressed with his chances — Radar magazine broke the story of Ford’s appointment and published a memo in which he outlined policy and pledged to support the campaign of another DLC leader — Hillary Rodham Clinton. The new buzz is that Ford is being groomed as a potential vice presidential candidate.

Coming from the perspective of a black man, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Coming from the perspective of a black and gay man, it’s somewhat disturbing. Harold Ford’s politics often force us to make “the” choice: Are we black? Gay? Or, better yet, are we black and gay?

In the case of his run for Senate, that choice was simple. We supported his campaign to become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.

BLACKS, PROGRESSIVES AND many gays were outraged. Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman, who had previously claimed that the group would stop its race-baiting, feigned ignorance. Thankfully, comedian Bill Maher took care of the skeletons in Ken’s “closet” on “Larry King Live.”

After that, more choices had to be made, especially after the New Jersey ruling and the race drew to a close. Ford turned his back on the progressives, gays and many black gays, like myself, who supported him.

Harold Ford is probably a dream candidate for the Democratic Leadership Council. After all, these are the same people who created “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

But as he and the DLC leadership prepare to steer the Democratic Party into the 21st century and hope to capture the White House in 2008, they should recognize a losing message. Racism and homophobia don’t always work to win those “wedge” voters. Sometimes you end up alienating voters who look just like you.