NO FORD IN OUR FUTURE – AT 7:41 A.M. ET:  Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr., now residing in New York, has decided against challenging incumbent Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination for her Senate seat this year. 

Gillibrand was appointed by now scandal-scarred Governor David Paterson, who replaced scandal-scarred Governor Eliot Spitzer.  Gillibrand replaced scandal-scarred Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who became secretary of state in the mediocrity-scarred Obama administration.  Let's all put on a happy face.

With Ford parked in the political garage, Gillibrand has a clear field.  New York is a blue state, and she is almost a shoo-in for election, although very few people know her.  As usual, the moribund Republican Party of New York has yet to put forward a credible Senate candidate.  Rudy Giuliani has passed, apparently because his wife wants him at home.  And former Republican Governor George Pataki can't seem to decide whether to paint the bedroom or run for the Senate.  Theodore Roosevelt was considered, but is dead, although that may be an asset. 

So the GOP will probably forfeit a shot at a Senate seat.  It would be a long shot, but nowhere near as long as Scott Brown's shot in Massachusetts.  You know what happened there.

Does anyone know how to start a political party?

March 2, 2010