Just a day after our blog exposed the NRSC lying about Congressman Ford and his record, they have more bad news to deal with. (1)A new Zogby poll (a legit telephone poll) shows the Tennessee U.S. Senate race is tight--very tight. In fact, in each matchup between Ford and the prospective Republican candidates, the race in within the margin of error.
Zogby reports, "The race for the U.S. Senate from Tennessee, seen as a key battle in the fight for control of Congress’ upper chamber, is shaping up to be one of the tightest in the nation, a new Zogby International telephone survey shows.
The seat is open because of the pending retirement of Majority Leader Bill Frist, who is contemplating a run for the White House in 2008. The Zogby poll was conducted via telephone with 502 likely voters statewide on June 12, 2006, and carries a margin of error of +/– 4.5 percentage points.
In prospective tests pitting Democrat Harold Ford Jr., a popular Democratic congressman, against three Republican rivals, Ford is running competitive races. Ford is dead even in a head-to-head race with former Congressman Ed Bryant, with each taking 42% of the vote in a potential match-up. Against former Congressman Van Hilleary, Ford trails by a narrow two-point margin, 43% to 41%. Former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker leads Ford by the largest margin, 46% to 42%."
"Ford is the best known among the four candidates competing to replace Frist, the survey shows. Just 17% do not know enough to form an opinion of him. His overall favorability rating is at 51%, compared to 31% who have an unfavorable opinion of him.
As for the Republicans, the poll shows that the more voters know about them, the more they like them. Hilleary leads the way with a favorable rating of 54%, an 18% unfavorable rating, and 27% who said they do not know him enough to judge. Corker is viewed favorably by 52%, unfavorably by 18%, and is unknown to 30%. Bryant has a favorable rating from 44%, unfavorable rating of 12%, and is unknown by 43%.Ford leads by large margins in the western part of Tennessee, which includes his Memphis district. In central and heavily-Republican eastern Tennessee, Ford trails all of the Republican competitors by double–digits.
A key concern for both sides in this race may be turnout and support among members of their own parties. While Ford remains at roughly 80% Democratic support in all three match-ups, Corker does best with his own party, at 84% support among GOP voters. Ford leads all three Republican hopefuls by approximately two-to-one margins among independents, with roughly one-quarter of this group still undecided on the race."
The Republicans are running scared folks! Who would have ever thought a Democrat in this flaming red state would be dead even with his Republican counterparts only five months out from the general election? No one!
Harold Ford Jr. and his uplifting message is resonating with the voters of Tennessee.
They are ready for a new generation of leadership and at the same time, ready to say goodbye to the deciet and failure of the Republicans.
Go Ford!
160 Days
Days of Congressional Inaction on Ethics
Above is the number of days that have passed since Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to bribing Congressman.
It is also the number of days in which Congress has failed to pass an ethics reform bill that would limit private travel, ski and golf junkets, and would call for a full disclosure of expenses by lobbyists on members of Congress.
It is time for Congress to step up and pass an ethics reform bill that would do all of the above. In addition, it is time to end the pork barrel spending system as we know it and establish an independent ethics commission that would review ethics complaints against members of Congress.
I am proud Congressman Harold Ford Jr. is fighting for that reform!
Read Congressman Ford's call for reform of the House rules here!
