Welcome to our world! Ford is a consumate politician and is very adept at talking out of both sides of his mouth. What stoked the Gateway Man's interest was a campaign ad showing Ford talking some terrorist smack on an airplane:
Junior has done an amazingly good job of keeping a low profile down here while representing the ninth district. He hardly makes news other than his role in the national spotlight. Matter of fact, he's probably made more waves on the left supporting the Iraq war and President Bush than anything else. I think many west Tennesseans figure if Junior is anything near a chip off the big block he'll vote on the liberal side of nearly every issue if elected. I'm not entirely convinced, since the real goal is probably an office higher than the Senate, which means he might have to win a few more Senate races here if he wins this one. Fool me once, and all.
His only real baggage remains the colorful family members God stuck him with, one of which is currently under indictment in the Tennessee Waltz sting and who damn near ran over me on interstate 40 one day years ago. But he might get a pass on that if Corker plays the guilt by association card too hard. Everybody has that crazy aunt in the basement, right?
Remove the family boat anchor and we're left with the issues and personalities. On the issues, the Ford machine has worked long and hard to project a tough-on-terrorism persona for Junior (he's been to Iraq four times)--he's no Al Sharpton sock puppet. With the appeaser/enabler tag removed the whole thing might come down to a battle of charm, and Ford holds an edge in that department, at least from what I've seen.
And that might already be showing. We'll see if this trend survives through the debates. If it does, Corker's in trouble. He'll need to hit Junior's voting inconsistencies hard and hope the middle and west still aren't ready for a Ford, no matter how charming.
MORE 9/12/06
HuffPo is headlining that Corker has reportedly turned down an offer to debate Ford on "Meet the Press". Why would they need to debate on national TV when their contest is being decided in Tennessee? Doesn't matter, Junior will tar Corker for backing down. He's a smart candidate being handled by a clever political machine.
Meanwhile JR is now beginning to show his strategy regards Iraq. After being tarred by his own party for supporting Bush he's now critizing Corker for wanting to "stay the course", subtly arousing images of Vietnam. Said Ford:
“The major difference between Bob Corker and me is that he supports President Bush even when he’s wrong..."He provided a plan, which features removing Rummy and dividing Iraq into ethnic federations like Bosnia/Kosovo. The problem is Baghdad cannot be easily divided as such. Even Saddam himself was worried that southern Iraq might become an annex of Iran one day. We also still have troops in the Balkans with no sign of their return. But let's give him credit for a plan. Most democrats just hit and run.
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