Memphis Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. doesn’t just work a room, he wrings everything out of it that can be squeezed. Many politicians on the stump spend just enough time with people to exchange a couple of pleasantries, talk about how important issues will be in the campaign, and get a name for fundraising purposes.
Not Ford, who is busily fashioning his campaign to run for the U.S. Senate seat being relinquished by Sen. Bill Frist, who is not running for reelection.
"He just loves talking to people," said Ford aide Camellia Meehan, whose family lives in Knoxville.
When a person wants Ford to explain an issue, it’s done with detail, not platitudes.
Even those who plan to support other contenders respond to Ford as much like a celebrity as a political candidate. Perhaps his frequent appearances on national TV are giving Ford a certain star power.
Every bit of personal charm Ford possesses will be put to use to separate him from the legal travails of his uncle, former State Sen. John Ford. When asked about his uncle, Ford doesn’t flinch. He recognizes that the subject is out there, but he thinks voters will make judgments on what he says and does, not on his family relations.
Ford has a boatload of work to do considering the results of Tennessee’s U.S. Senate elections since the 1994 Bill Clinton-inspired Democrat electoral debacle, which turned the Senate into a Republican bastion.
What makes Ford interesting as a candidate is a pragmatic, let’s-solve-problems-and-not-be-eaten-up-with-party-power struggles approach he appears to be taking. He recognizes that alignment with the Howard Dean-Nancy Pelosi Democratic Party positioning will not help him win national office from Tennessee.
The players on the Republican side of the field are watching Ford, but they must first deal with each other. Each has formidable strengths of his own.
Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker leads in raising money. Former congressman Van Hilleary narrowly lost to Phil Bredesen when they ran against each other for governor in 2002. Former congressman Ed Bryant has strong conservative credentials in a state where that doesn’t hurt.
Who’s going to pull out from the pack? Corker by October had racked up nearly $4 million in fundraising. Eventually his opponents are going to try to staple him to former governor and income tax champion Don Sundquist, the man the Tennessee Republican Party would just as soon forget.
Corker served as finance commissioner for the first two years of Sundquist’s sdministration before leaving to earn high regard as Chattanooga’s mayor. He was gone well before Sundquist folded on his previously stated opposition to an income tax. But that doesn’t mean the relationships won’t be used by Corker’s adversaries.
Hilleary and Bryant. Do they pound each other into oatmeal to attempt to lay claim to the mantle of conservative champion? Do they spend their time hammering Corker, recognizing that only one can benefit from bringing him down? Or does Corker run up such a fundraising and political advantage that the others give up the effort?
Who knows?
A Ford vs. Any of Them race will ramp up political interest like nobody’s business. Whatever happens, it won’t be a typical Tennessee election. Not with these players, and not with a Democrat like Ford in the mix.
George Korda is political analyst for WATE-TV. He hosts "State Your Case" Saturday mornings from 6-8 and "State Your Case, Sunday" from noon to 2 p.m. on WNOX, AM&FM, Newstalk 99. He is president of Korda Communications, a public relations and communications consulting firm.
Source: Knox News
