Raleigh Republicans don't pay a lick of attention to Joel Ford. Neither should Charlotte voters.

My state senator, Joel Ford, has been hoovering up money for his campaign for mayor of Charlotte:

Signaling what could be one of Charlotte’s most competitive mayoral primaries, Democratic Sen. Joel Ford has raised more than $200,000, a campaign official said Tuesday.

Ford’s campaign declined to disclose any donors. But the campaign official said they were from “both sides of the aisle.” Ford, a centrist Democrat, has often aligned with Republicans and moderate Democrats.

You'd think with that kind of budget, Ford could do better than this self-congratulatory Facebook Live video that stopped in midsentence (he came back later, with the image flipped, and promised he will be "a commonplace at the table" for regular folks).

I don't know much of anything, but I know to mute the telephone; look at the camera lens, not myself; and to set my computer on a stack of books so I can look into the camera and not leave my audience looking mostly at the ceiling. And I don't have nearly the chinnage he does to not be highlighting.

Oh, and he doesn't know how to stop talking. Not ever.

On the other hand, maybe Senator Ford is still- tech speakwise- on his campaign manager's leash, as WFAE in March:

Joel Ford drew controversy on Twitter late Tuesday night when he responded to users with animated GIF images, including the image of a defecating dog. Ford is a Democratic state senator who is also running for Charlotte mayor. Now, his campaign manager says Ford will be restricted in the GIFs he can use in the future. 

The defecating dog tweet was sent at 11:13 p.m. Tuesday in response to a series of criticisms from Twitter users @TheMattComer and @WhalerCane. Both users were criticizing Ford's record on LGBT issues. Matt Comer is a self-described LGBT activist and the former editor of QNotes, an LGBT-oriented newspaper. 

"Is this serious?" Comer replied. "A state senator who seeks to be my mayor responds to a legitimate criticism via Twitter w/ a GIF/meme of a defecating dog."

Ford's campaign manager, Dakota Cary, confirmed Wednesday the tweets were sent by Ford. Cary said Ford selected the GIF of the defecating dog from the "awkward" section of his "GIF keyboard."
"He used that one," Cary explained, "because he thinks that when people like that come for him on Twitter... it's easier than sitting down and typing out the same response each time." 

Asked whether Ford regretted the move and would want a do-over, Cary said yes. "None of the GIFs that we've been using have been well received, and so I think there's a disconnect between trying to use GIFs as a way to communicate with people and what they actually mean," adding, "You end up with a problem like this where what he wants to convey and what comes across (are) two different things." 

Cary said the campaign will consider creating a list of pre-approved GIFs for the candidate to use when responding to people on Twitter.

Among his proudest achievements? When he was a local party worker, he made a voter guide so cool the Republicans copied it.

He got some money for Highway 16 improvement that wasn't in the budget. He used that as a lead-in to moaning about all the things he has apparently failed to improve in what he calls one of the worst districts in the city.

Oh, this is important: there was a guy who stood naked inside his storm door. Ford says this caused "havoc and terror" in the neighborhood. Ford says he found there were no "statues on the book" so he got one passed, "and I'm very, very proud of removing the nekkid man."

It's one of a lot of things- a lot of things- that give him heartburns.

He has also learned to think outside the box, to "treat public money like it is my own", to be for more grocery stores and an MLS stadium, but at different times, or the same, it depends. He learned the Housing Authority isn't doing a very good job after his four and a half years as its chair. And he says he can go to Raleigh to speak to the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate and get "protections for people" like the bill he helped pass in March that bans Charlotte from enacting any for two more elections. He's an "octopeneur", whatever the hell that is.

That was after he picked up the Senate President Pro Tem's fake HB2 repeal bill and tried passing it on his own in December:

He got nowhere. Kinda like his campaign for mayor is going.

He says he's gonna have a picnic in Hoskins Park this Saturday, with food and a bouncy house, and he'll show us how he'll spread the pork to his district.

I plan to be there.