After being named Stephen Colbert's "Alpha Dog of the Week" for brazenly changing his positions as he considers a Senate race in New York, former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. sat down with the comic and addressed insinuations that he's a carpet-bagger and a flip-flopper.

Ford insisted that his shift from being a supporter of civil unions to being a supporter of gay marriage came from an evolution in his thinking—not a strategy to appeal to liberal New Yorkers. He also insisted that when he referred to himself as pro-life, he was really referring to his positions on education, healthcare, and veterans benefits—not abortion. "If you are for politicians who are static in their thinking, I'm not your guy," said Ford, who added that he's your guy "if you're for someone who is going to be independent about it, and confront new evidence, and allow that evidence to influence him or her."

Colbert didn't take it easy on the New York newcomer, who says he has lived in the state for three years, though voting records show he cast a ballot in Tennessee in 2008. "Evidently six minutes at my interview table counts as New York state residency," quipped the host. Alluding to a gaffe-packed interview in which Ford revealed he had only visited Staten Island by helicopter, Colbert asked the potential candidate if there "are there other places in New York that you designate as helicopter only?" Colbert also reminded Ford to watch his words: "You're saying these things in the media capital of the world—New York City, gotcha-town. And you're saying come and gotcha me."