Gerald Ford

Tomorrow night marks the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington, D.C. Members of the press corps (including some Media Mob contributors who are already on their way—note low posting rate today!) will have a chance to clink glasses with the president and his cabinet and remind themselves that despite five years of war, an economy some are already calling a Depression, and a painful slog of an election season, it's all in good fun. L'chaim! To us!

This year's event will be emceed by CBS Late Late Show host Craig Ferguson, whom the W.H.C.A.'s president (and ABC News correspondent), Ann Compton, is really excited about: "Craig Ferguson is a fresh take on late night TV. As a new citizen, a first-time uncommitted voter and someone who has looked at American politics from the outside, I am looking forward to his unique take on our system."

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Late in the summer of 1976, President Gerald Ford and his inner circle huddled in Vail, Colorado, facing the grimmest general election outlook for a Republican since the L.B.J. landslide of ‘64.

An unelected president, Ford had barely secured the Republican nomination against a fierce challenge from Ronald Reagan, leaving the party’s conservative base dispirited and even more distrustful of Ford than they already had been. And the stench of Watergate—and Ford’s politically damaging pardon of Richard Nixon—stubbornly hung in the air. After eight years of Republican rule, an amorphous but potent yearning for change had taken hold.

At the Vail strategy session, the Ford team zeroed in on the chief vulnerabilities of their Democratic opponent, Jimmy Carter: His lack of experience, his lack of accomplishments and his lack of specificity on the issues. These had to be exploited mercilessly.  read more »

The most interesting thing about Gerald Ford is that he was the only President that no one ever vote  read more »

There is no slowing down Day 2.

Eliot Spitzer just announced government offices are staying open, despite the recent death of former President Ford.

"State Offices will remain open on Tuesday and the passing of President Ford will be commemorated with a state-wide moment of silence at 10:00 am."

-- Azi Paybarah

Rudy Giuliani's record may be a problem for his presidential bid, say some family members of 9/11 victims.

Gerald Ford never told NYC to drop dead.

The city still owes a lot to Ford.

George Pataki had a fast start but an undistinguished finish.

A typo in a statement from City Hall said Mike Bloomberg is leaving office not in 2009, but in 2008.

Alan Hevesi's former chief of staff is reportedly set to resign from the comptroller's office.

Carl Andrews, a close friend of convicted former Assemblyman Clarence Norman, will work in the Spitzer administration as a community liaison.

David Paterson is planning a special inauguration in Harlem next week.

Advocates of reforming the state's campaign finance laws may have trouble in the state Senate.

And the president of the teachers union was momentarily stumped when quizzed by a radio host.

-- Azi Paybarah

Gerald Ford is dead at 93.

John Edwards is about to announce a run for president, using hard-hit New Orleans as a backdrop.

The New York Post is skeptical.

Eliot Spitzer denied that his appointment of Nassau County Republican Michael Balboni to be his top homeland security official is part of any "ulterior scheme" to help Democrats take back the state Senate.

Democrats and Republicans on Long Island are scrambling to replace Balboni when he goes.

Some supporters of Rudy Giuliani are reaching out to the families of 9/11 victims about 2008, Maggie reports.

Sam Roberts writes that race was a key issue when Basil Paterson ran for lieutenant governor, but is largely a non-issue for David Paterson as he prepares to assume that office.

Democratic pledges to restore civility to Congress "carry risks," according to the Times.

George Pataki defended his record in an interview with the Sun, contending that it's impossible to be ideologically pure when you have a state to run.

Republican state Senator John Bonacic sent out a letter calling for his colleagues to toss Majority Leader Joe Bruno.

Peter King is opposed to a revised immigration bill that he says amounts to amnesty.

Joe Biden is going to fight any proposed buildup of troop levels in Iraq.

The mayor called the racially and ethnically diverse new class of police recruits "a gift to the city."

The city Conflicts of Interest Board released a letter scolding a Council staffer for inappropriate use of a business card.

Leaders in East Harlem and the South Bronx are angry over a City Hall deal that would allow fancy private schools in Manhattan to have "first dibs" on some of the renovated ballfields on Randalls Island.

Developer Bruce Ratner has installed surveillance cameras outside the properties he owns at the future location of the Atlantic Yards project.

The cost of doing business in New York State is high.

There will be no holiday clemencies from the departing governor.

And here's a handy guide to all the newly elected members of Congress.

-- Josh Benson

Alright, this is admittedly slightly off-topic, but I wanted to return to something I read not long ago, during Barack Obama's triumphant "book tour" through the vital publishing state of New Hampshire. In John Dickerson's Slate dispatch from the trail, he writes that:

It's easy to see why New Hampshire Democrats were in a frenzy over Obama. He is a winning presence in a room. He is stylish in his uniform of white shirt, no tie, and dark blazer. He carries himself with the weightless self-possession men's magazines achieve only by employing a team of stylists and wardrobe artists. Even his left-handed signature is elegant--a B and an O connected by confident slashes. If he really were a rock star, he'd have it etched into the side of his private plane.

Did you catch the key phrase in that paragraph? No, it wasn't "New Hampshire" or "frenzy" of "confident." It was left-handed.

Hear me out on this one. I admit to being a little biased, being of inclined to the sinister side myself. But here are the facts: In my lifetime (that is, since the advent of Gerald Ford), there have been six United States presidents. According to various lefty advocacy sites--there are a surprisingly large number of them--four of those six presidents have been southpaws. In the 1992 election, in fact, all three candidates were left handed. I'm not sure about the cognitive science, but I have to say, it sounds like a trend--maybe even a cabal. (And who knows how many other of our presidents were born lefty-inclined, back in the days when parents used to cruelly "cure" their children of the outre tendency?)

Much has been written about whether Obama's status as a member of minority ethnic group could keep him from the presidency. But could it be that his status as another minority--a small but influential society of like-handed individuals, living almost unnoticed among you--could cancel out the disadvantage?

Then again, maybe Republicans will attack him as just another left-winger.

--Andrew Rice

Gerald Ford, now gravely ill, appears likely to be remembered more as a punch line than as a Preside  read more »

Gerald Ford, now gravely ill, appears likely to be remembered more as a punch line than as a Preside  read more »

If you want to know who's going to win November's Presidential election, just look for the candidate  read more »

(News item: Bill Clinton, the greatest Presidential golfer since Gerald Ford, has had a hard time fi  read more »