Reaction To New Poll Showing Ford In The Lead

Below is some commentary from around the web in response to Survey USA's new poll showing Congressman Harold Ford Jr. leading Bob Corker:

Volunteer Voters: Ford's star is clearly on the rise. If one follows the trend line one can see that Corker is losing ground and that Ford has reached what Roger Abramson has said is his "ceiling."

Among Republicans "the fear" is starting to settle in. Today in anticipation of this poll I have on good authority that Corker and the RNC were on the horn buying up all the television advertising they could get their hands on.

Camp Corker is upping their buys across the board. A Harold Ford victory is no longer a dream or a hope. It has become a real possibility.

This fact has put the fear of the Almighty into the Republican powers that be. This race is far from over but one thing is clear: this Senate race will be a battle of epic proportions.

The eyes of the nation will be on Tennessee the next two months because this race is about more than just the fate of two men or a singular United States Senate seat. This race is for control of the United States Senate.

Get ready to rumble.

Volunteer Voters: Oh, I beg to differ on the amount of Camp Corker's surprise. They were definitely altering their media strategy yesterday. Calls were made and orders were made yesterday for increased buys for Corker. This was in reaction to the expected release of this poll.

Republicans are running scared and quite rightly so.

Volunteer Voters: The big news last night and this morning was the first independent poll that showed Harold Ford Jr. in the lead in the U.S, Senate Race. So I go on Blogging for Corker to see what they have to say about this interesting development. What's Moore and the gang's take?

They don't have one.

Instead they are boosting a Zogby Poll which is, if I am not mistaken, at least a week old. This is the height of shill blogging.

Natedogg, I know you saw the poll. It has Corker down by a three spot. You got nothing to say? Link to the poll and spin it.

Tell me about how the methodology is flawed. Tell me how Ford has reached his ceiling. Tell me can't possibly break through and reach the required 50% to win. Tell me how Corker has not yet begun to fight. Tell me something.

For better or for worse, you guys are the representatives for Corker in the blogosphere. You cannot ignore this poll.

CHT's Senate and Election Page: This is the second straight independent poll to show that this race is very close. One more such result and I'll move this race to the Toss-Up category, although I suspect that's really where it is right now. There was an August poll by Benenson Strategy Group (D) showing Ford ahead by 2, but since that's a partisan poll I don't want to count it for purposes of changing the designation.

I'm surprised that Ford has apparently pulled even so quickly. I also expect that when Corker begins to draw on his personal fortune once more that these numbers will move back towards Corker, just like they did during the runup to the Republican primary.

Josh's Political Blog of National and State News: In regards to national politics, we are 2 months away from mid-term elections. Things change daily, although as of today, Democrats look poised to retake the U.S. House and are close to retaking the U.S. Senate.

New Poll out today from Tennessee by Survey USA:

Harold Ford, Jr. (D): 48%
Bob Corker (R): 45%

Margin of Error is 4%... this actually shows this race is tight as a poll came out last week that had Corker up by only 1% margin over Ford, and that poll's margin of error was also 4%.

So as you can see, I will give updates weekly on the important races and include weekly predictions about what may or may not happen in November.

Thanks again for visiting!

Terry Frank: Corker better get with the program. Ford is closing and Corker is hiding out. Oh, I know he’s campaigning…but I’m talking about media appearances. Man on man…face to face.

Here’s some free advice to Corker: The Lamar Alexander tactic that worked years ago, that is, “Ford will take Bill Frist’s desk and roll it over next to Hillary Clinton,” won’t work this time.

You must energize the base at a time when the base is pretty unhappy with Republicans. By hiding out, Republicans are demoralized.

Ford is taking advantage of this by saying things like “If Corker can’t discuss issues face to face with me, if he can’t debate me, how’s he going to take on Osama?” Ouch.

Harold Ford Jr. is campaigning like Muhammad Ali. He says he’ll debate Corker any time, any place. He even offered to go to Corker’s mansion and debate him on the front lawn.

From what I’ve seen so far, the Corker strategy is probably going to be to continue to hide and then carpet bomb Ford with negative ads. But Ford has negative ads of his own on Corker.

I’m no Ford supporter, but personally, I just don’t think Corker was ready for the prime time. If Corker isn’t going to come out, then the only strategy left in the arsenal is an all out assault on Ford via paid media.

Perhaps that was the only strategy all along. It’s the only way to win at this point…but it’s not a sure thing.