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."
ah, thanks..
Tennessee ain't gonna vote for no Ford.
If Ford had been born 5 months 17 days EARLIER, he'd have been Kerry's VP candidate, not Edwards..
Why do you call Ford "whitey"?
He's a fair-skinned black person as am I. Half of my family has coloring similar to his. Of course, I'm a Louisiana native and in my home-state fair-skinned blacks are quite common.
Kate
ford... another prime example of affirmative action!!!!
"ford... another prime example of affirmative action!!!!"
How so? He got a majority vote in his district...
regards,Kate
that was before he started stating about being a lawyer!!!
oh wait...he never did pass the bar.....
and as for the majority vote in his district...maybe you are not aware of the ford family in memphis....he got all the live votes plus the majority in the garveyards as well....
ROFL @ "News Weak"
I hadn't heard that one
You load 16 ton, and whadda get, another day older and deeper in debt.
Cause he's left handed and pitched for the yankees?
The Commie Appeal endorsed JUNIOR yesterday I was told, and the other socialist Steve Cohen today.
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