Ford interrupted

You won't get much (if any) local politics here, partially because it's boring to outsiders but mostly because I'm don't know that much. But the results of yesterday's Aug 3 state-wide primaries in Tennessee might have national implications, which I foolishly pretend to know something about, so I'll touch on it. Besides, John Kerry was involved.

The title of this post revolves around the fact that Harold Ford, Jr.'s soon-to-be- vacant House seat may end up belonging to someone without the last name "Ford". Maybe. Steve Cohen, a liberal fixture of west Tennessee for many years, has won the primary. It was not without controversy.

The ninth district is basically Memphis, a cauldron of racial divisiveness. The seat has been held by a Ford family member for the past 30 years. Harold Ford, Sr. held it for 22 years then let it go after being indicted. His son Junior has held it since. Cohen is white and Jewish and some local black leaders felt one of their own should hold the Ford memorial congressional seat. Isn't somebody supervising these Dems?

Matter of fact, it got so nasty that the few remaining dem friends who still talk to me asked me to vote in the democrat primary just to help Cohen get on the ballot. They seemed to think there was a conspiracy against him, and perhaps they were right. I didn't fall for their little trick, though.

Anyhow, without digressing too much, the democrats think Ford, Jr. might be the swingman to swing the Senate their way, which is probably why Bill Clinton was cavorting around the state yesterday and why John Kerry appeared on Memphis radio stumping for a local prosecutor, but most likely to get in a plug for Junior at the end.

By the way, Kerry's radio commercial was a hoot, featuring a short brag session about his own halcyon days as a fearless prosecutor who jailed mob chieftians and crooks, etc. The candidate he endorsed lost.

Can Ford beat Corker? It might be close. Being a native east Tennesean, Corker will carry much of the conservative east. Ford will carry most of the west. Big name democrats will line up behind Ford, while both the losing republican candidates felt so strongly about it they wasted no time endorsing Corker, almost before he was declared the winner. We might even get Howard Dean down here soon, or maybe not, since Junior portrays himself as a little hawkish. Don't worry dems, it's probably an act.

At any rate, we're faced with a potential Ford family vacuum in the US Congress if Junior loses. But there's still hope. Just to prove how power drunk these people are they're running young "Jake" Ford as an independent against Cohen in the November election. A truly amazing display of party loyalty.

A Congress without a Ford sounds impossible, sort of like a White House without a Clinton or Bush! Should be fun to watch.