Op-ed

Harold Ford Is Back in the Times

Says Dems should focus on jobs, reducing the deficit.

Former Tennessee Rep. Harold Ford is back in The New York Times, but this time avoided mention of pedicures and borough-hopping by helicopter. The conservative Democrat, who is weighing a run for Kirsten Gillibrand’s New York Senate seat, wrote a four-step plan for how his party can win back voters. First, cut taxes for businesses to create more jobs, he suggests, and then pass a more focused health-care reform bill that incorporates more input from states. Third, he says to reform immigration policy, and finally, address the deficit now instead of putting it on the back-burner until the economy looks up. "A Democratic Party refocused on revitalizing our economy, protecting the United States from terrorism and re-establishing itself as the party for the middle class is what Americans are demanding," writes Ford. "If we do this, victory at the polling booths will take care of itself."