Down to the wire

Killing time right now, so might as well do a down-to-the-wire post on the Tennessee Senate race. By the way, my vote has yet to be miscounted by Diebolt. Will brave it Tuesday in the rain and crowds.

As to Harold Junior, his charisma is bubbling right now but I get the feeling some voters might have become a tad skeptical of the conservative hologram Junior projects. Although extremely slick and convincing, he still trails in the polls. I admit to having voted for him in the past but only when up against throw-away candidates. That's certainly not the case this time.

The problem all along has been finding issue distinction between him and Corker. Take immigration for example. Ford is making a late push with TV and radio ads attacking Corker's decade-old run-in with the INS. Here's Junior's ad, and note how he specifically uses the un-PC term "illegals" to appeal directly to the Bubba crowd (real Bubbas, not Clinton):

His voting record seems to back it up. So, what about Corker? Here's his immigration ad. Sounds good. too. But in the real world neither is likely to accomplish Jack Squat on the issue. Amnesty? It's unclear how Ford would go, while Corker says he's against it. But let's face it, he owns a construction business, there are likely to be pressures on him to keep status quo. A toss up, but going to Corker only because of his amnesty pledge.

Aside from the conservative issues, what about Supreme Court Judges, Health Care and taxes? Allen Colmes recently asked Junior whether he'd vote with the Democrat caucus on some of these things and he waffled. That's good, since the last thing we need is a rubber stamp for Reid. But he's certainly more likely to go with Reid than would Corker.

I figure this Senate thing is part of a long-term DNC plan to get the presidency back. To do it they'll need the south and west, and Ford is just conservative enough to help. The 2008 campaign might be a little early since it's doubtful even Dean would be stupid enough to run a woman and black man (not racist, just reality). That sets him up for 2012 based on what happens in 08. Whichever the case, he'll probably need to continue posturing for awhile. In other words, if victorious on Tuesday it's unlikely Ford will morph into a Pelosi liberal by Wednesday morning.

But all things being equal if one is looking for a conservative why not just vote for Chattanooga Bob? He's got the edge in real-world experience, isn't a DC insider, doesn't come from a political machine family, and showed his mettle well when Ford crashed his Memphis party. That pretty much settles it for me.

Finally, I just had to post the following. It's a screen capture from the Ford campaign site under the category of improving education. Can you find the problem?








Yes, it's a "gotcha", but had to get it in before the gotcha season ends Tuesday.

UPDATE 11/06/06

How could I have forgotten about this, which should easily represent the tie-breaker for any undecided voters inhabiting "the Belt", as we like to call it down here. (Just kidding. We actually just call it 'the Mid South').