Ford To Voters: There's A Place For You

U.S. Senate nominee Harold Ford Jr. today offered a new generation of leadership to Republicans unhappy with the rancor of the Republican primary. He issued the following statement:

“If you were turned off by the bitterness of the Republican primary, there's a home for you.

“If all the lies in all the ads in the Republican primary left you wondering if anyone is listening to you anymore, there's a place for you.

“If you wonder if America can do great things again, if you wonder if we have leaders who will bring people together across party lines to get things done, there's a new generation of leadership for you.”

Meanwhile in Nashville, Republican party leaders spread jam on croissants in an attempt to cover over a bitter primary in which Bob Corker not only emerged the nominee, but one with a crack in his character, according to Tennessee newspapers and several non-partisan watchdog groups.

The Nashville Tennessean has said the Corker “character problem” is directly related to his deliberate attempt to mislead voters in the Republican primary with a $6 million television campaign. The Knoxville News-Sentinel called one of his ads an outright "lie."

These are not partisan attacks. These newspapers and the nonpartisan groups from the National Taxpayers Union to Annenberg Political Fact Check agree: Bob Corker has a character problem. Indeed, Republicans have been even more critical of Corker, saying that the “questionable history” of his “phony” and “dishonest” politics, where “no lie is too big,” have created deep bitterness and disunity. As the General Election gets under way, we invite the press and Tennessee voters to review these collective opinions and the facts that under-gird them.

Said Michael Powell, Ford Senate Campaign Senior Advisor:

“Bob Corker starts the General Election as a negative campaigner with a character problem. Those aren't my words. A mounting body of opinion from Tennessee newspapers and independent, nonpartisan watchdog groups have come to this harsh assessment.

“Congressman Ford will offer leadership for change and solutions to the big challenges we face. He respects the voters -- of all political parties -- too much to mislead them. He believes we need a full and truthful debate that focuses on the problems voters face everyday, and hopes that Bob Corker will clean up his character problem and start telling the voters the truth."