Posted on 10/24/2006 1:03:19 PM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON -- Republicans are calling it the "Memphis meltdown," and running ads saying it shows Harold Ford Jr. has "crossed the line" and become desperate. Democrats say Ford's parking lot confrontation with Bob Corker on Friday energized an electorate that's already in a fighting mood.
It's being spun across the country on national broadcasts, along with clips of an ad against Ford paid for by the Republican National Committee that Corker's campaign manager has called "tacky," and has asked to have pulled. In an increasing rancorous campaign, Ford suggested on CNN Sunday that Corker is getting help from an RNC staffer who rides with him to campaign events, and an RNC spokesman countered that the charge is "irrelevant."
In the midst of the media firestorm, Ford will appear, alone, on the cover of next week's Newsweek.
For some, the confrontation Friday morning outside Wilson Air Center on Winchester showed Ford's willingness to take risks in pointing out that Corker has only agreed to three televised debates, two of which have already occurred. But it also might have backfired.
"I know that if I were running the campaign, I certainly wouldn't have advised him to do that and probably would have discouraged him very strongly," said University of Tennessee-Knoxville political science professor Michael M. Gant. "I don't think it was a good move strategically."
Gant added that it won't be clear until the next round of polling, but he said "it wouldn't surprise me if he takes a hit."
Conversely, Rhodes College political science professor Marcus Pohlmann in Memphis said the move was "inspired." Ford is doing "the mirror opposite" of what John Kerry failed to do with George Bush over the Swift Boat ads attacking his service in Vietnam in the 2004 presidential campaign, Pohlmann said.
"Confronting (Corker) with this is kind of grandstanding, for sure, but it attracts the kind of attention and gives him the opportunity to counter it in front of a larger audience, and I think it was inspired," Pohlmann said.
The Republican National Senatorial Committee reproduced 12 commentaries or news stories on the dustup Monday under the headline "Fallout from the Memphis Meltdown."
But Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Bob Tuke said he's hearing from Democrats and independents that Ford made a smart move.
"Not surprisingly, the reaction from Democrats has been uniformly positive and the reason is that people are really ... sick and tired of the disgusting ads the RNC and that Corker's been running," said Tuke.
"People are in a fighting mood and, because of that, Democrats and people who are leaning Ford's way were really energized and pleased to see it."
Corker's campaign again called attention Monday to an RNC-sponsored ad that refers to Ford's attendance at a Playboy party and to campaign contributions Ford received from Southern California pornographers -- by way of asking, again, that it be pulled. An RNC spokesman has said the party has no reason to drop the ad. Ford has never addressed whether he attended a Playboy event at the 2005 Super Bowl. He returned the tainted campaign donations when he learned of them.
Ford's suggestion that an RNC staffer is riding in Corker's campaign car with the candidate during an interview Sunday with CNN brought denunciations from RNC spokesman Danny Diaz on Monday. Diaz said staffer Camille Anderson helps organize press conferences and "makes sure the trains run on time," and said the Democratic Party has the same kind of staff in Tennessee.
But Pohlmann, the Rhodes College professor, said rules against coordinating campaigns with the national party give the practice "an appearance of a problem" and, if true, "should kick off an investigation."
Yes, it did. Now Republicans will really start stepping up to the fight.
Corker's campaign again called attention Monday to an RNC-sponsored ad that refers to Ford's attendance at a Playboy party and to campaign contributions Ford received from Southern California pornographers -- by way of asking, again, that it be pulled.Genius. Corker and the GOP are good-cop, bad-copping Ford, and calling attention to their ads as they do so.
Whenever I think NewsWeak simply cannot get more biased, it proves me wrong.
I'm too lazy to look this up - did Ford give up his House seat to run for Senate?
Yes, one week from the election, its Ford on the cover. Of course, Time did have the rear end of a Republican elephant on the cover this week.
That RNC ad is inspired.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=cWkrwENN5CQ
Cool! (...since we're the ones with the guns)
Hopefully the RNC staffer thing won't be a big deal.
This is the first I heard of the Ford confrontation.
It looks like he got the same bad advice Gore was given in the 2000 campaign when he stalked around Bush during the debate. It totally backfired when Bush stopped and gestured his way, and made a joke of it. The same thing will happen with Ford.
He's not running for reelection, but the Ford Family intends to keep their seat in the family. Here's an earlier story about brother Jake: Jake Ford's always worked off-stage -- But he's been 'in' politics for ages
Junior won't even talk to the Democrat nominee, Steve Cohen.
You need to read about the race for his old seat. His GED toting brother lost the Democratic primary to a Jewish white guy, and is now running as an independant with help from daddy Ford. Fancy Ford will not support his own parties nominee for his seat, and instead is running around confronting Corker in parking lots. The Tenn press is picking up on this guys arrogance and even the politically correct press are getting tired of the Ford family antics. BTW, his uncle was indicted recently as well, so the family has a long history of corruption and this will haunt him more than the parking lot incident. Even his playing the race card when they bring up his families history is beginning to wear thin to most of the Tenn voters.
go to this irl for much more funny commentary on Fancy Ford and his family................
http://www.news2wkrn.com/vv/2006/10/the_real_meltdown.html
Now why does this not surprise me. The dimwits always report exactly opposite... Ford was fried by Corker bigtime for all to see.
harold "whitey" fraud jr. is losing now that his true liberal voting record is being shown to the voters ( under 20 lifetime ACU rating).
Do you perhaps have a link to the RNC ad about Ford? THanks
So who will be on the cover the following week--the Democrat running for Senate in Missouri, or the one running in Virginia?
Post #9 for link.
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