The Corker camp has sunk even lower as they are now using unethical push polling to lie about Congressman Ford and his family.How do I know? Simple. They called my dad.
During this call, my dad informs me that the person that worked for Corker asked him several questions like the ones below:
- "As you may know, Harold Ford Jr.'s family has a long record of being in trouble with the law. Would this make you more or less likely or no difference in voting for Harold Ford Jr.?"
- "As you may know, Harold Ford Jr.'s family has a record of committing voter fraud. Would this make you more or less likely or no difference in voting for Harold Ford Jr.?"
This is exactly the same kind of push polling that George W. Bush did to John McCain in South Carolina back in 2000. It really is the worst kind of campaigning.
It is unethical and corrupt, just like the former cabinet members that served under Corker when he was Mayor.
Bob Corker and the Republicans said they would not make Congressman Ford's family an issue in this race. But they clearly are. It is just behind the scenes.
They think since they are doing it over the telephone in private, no one knows about it, thus no one will be able to call their bluff.
But I hate to tell them, you called the wrong house yesterday! Your cover is blown! (spread the word about the Corker camp using this dirty tactic)
If you get this same call, tell the Corker campaign to honor their promise and not make Harold Ford Jr.'s family an issue in this race.
Also, tell them it is time for a change and Tennesseans deserve better than this kind of unethical behavior.
More: In the report above, I alluded to the push polls that Bush used against McCain back in 2000 in South Carolina.
Below are some excerpts from a Boston Globe article which talk about the smear campaign against McCain:
In South Carolina, Bush Republicans were facing an opponent who was popular for his straight talk and Vietnam war record. They knew that if McCain won in South Carolina, he would likely win the nomination. With few substantive differences between Bush and McCain, the campaign was bound to turn personal. The situation was ripe for a smear.
It didn't take much research to turn up a seemingly innocuous fact about the McCains: John and his wife, Cindy, have an adopted daughter named Bridget. Cindy found Bridget at Mother Theresa's orphanage in Bangladesh, brought her to the United States for medical treatment, and the family ultimately adopted her. Bridget has dark skin.
Anonymous opponents used "push polling" to suggest that McCain's Bangladeshi born daughter was his own, illegitimate black child. In push polling, a voter gets a call, ostensibly from a polling company, asking which candidate the voter supports. In this case, if the "pollster" determined that the person was a McCain supporter, he made statements designed to create doubt about the senator.
Thus, the "pollsters" asked McCain supporters if they would be more or less likely to vote for McCain if they knew he had fathered an illegitimate child who was black. In the conservative, race-conscious South, that's not a minor charge. We had no idea who made the phone calls, who paid for them, or how many calls were made. Effective and anonymous: the perfect smear campaign.
Don't let what happened to McCain happen to Ford! Stand up and fight for Congressman Ford We need him and he needs us!
It is time for a new generation of leadership!
