TennWatch/Volitics

Ford Family Tree

Newton (N.J.) and Vera Ford begat 15 children. Among them:

• Harold Ford, Sr., former federal representative. First Ford to enter the world of politics since the 1880s and now living in a mansion on an exclusive Florida beach. He was indicted in a federal bank fraud case, having written 388 bad checks totaling $552,447 at House bank between 1988 and 1991, but was acquitted in 1993 when a probe found "no criminal wrongdoing" on his part (even though he was one of the worst abusers). He decided not to run again in '96.
• John Ford, state Senator, currently under indictment on charges of bribery and extortion in the FBI’s Tennessee Waltz. Past brushes with the law include allegedly shooting at a trucker on I-40 (covered up by the TBI) and waving a gun at utility workers trying to fix damage from an ice storm in front of his house.
• Ophelia Ford, current state Senator whose first election was voided by the Senate when is was proven that a number of illegal votes were cast, including those of dead people. She had "won" by a margin of 13 votes.
• Emmitt Ford, former state representative, convicted of insurance fraud in 1981 and sentenced to 21 months in prison for tax evasion in 2000.
• Edmund Ford, currently chairman of the Memphis City Council.
• Dr. James Ford, now deceased. He was elected to the Memphis city council and the Shelby county commission.
• Joe Ford, currently serving on the County Commission. He was elected to the city council when brother James left to fill his seat on the county commission. Joe was appointed to the County Commission brother James died in 2001, and won "re-election" in 2002.

Harold Ford (Sr.) begat three sons:

• Harold Ford, Jr., who served as US Representative for the same district that his father served. He was raised in Washington, attended prep schools, and claimed his grandmother Vera was white during his failed run for Senate. [Note: she wasn't, but saying so sure pissed off the black community.]
• (Newton) Jake Ford, who recently tried to enter politics by running as an independent in the Steve Cohen/Mark White race for the seat brother Harold had vacated to run for Senate. His arrest record includes assault against his father in 1991, a subsequent bench warrant when he failed to appear in court, a 1993 charge of marijuana possession and a DUI in 1994. None of these cases went to trail and there is no felony record for the man.
• Sir Isaac, currently studying to be a doctor, has unsuccessfully run for Memphis City Council and Shelby County mayor. He voted in the voided victory of his aunt Ophelia because he claimed to live at the funeral home which is in the district, even though he really lives in a home he owns with his father in east Memphis. He served as campaign treasurer for brother Jake's unsuccessful run.

The Race to Watch

The year was 2004, the place was Pennsylvania and conservative Pat Toomey was within a hair's breadth of unseating incumbent RINO Arlen Specter from the Senate. Widely viewed as "the race to watch", Toomey (backed by $2 million of advertising from the Club for Growth) lost by a mere 1.7 percent margin.

Why did Toomey lose? Perhaps it was because Bush, Rick Santorum and the NRA backed a backstabber, taking the safe bet of a liberal that occasionally votes with the caucus rather than create strife in the ranks. Had they stayed out of it, there is little doubt that Toomey would have won.

All they had to do was keep their mouth shut. Just say something like "we'll let the voters decide". But no, they protected the incumbent because that is what politicians from political parties do.

The year is 2006, the place is Tennessee and the Republican party is splintered during a contentious primary. Conservatives are splitting the vote between two candidates, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, while moderates support Bob Corker. You don't need a crystal ball to see what will happen: with all his millions, Corker can take advantage of the infighting and buy the election.

Where is Bush? Where is First? Where is Alexander? In Washington, studiously avoiding the entire affair. This time it's "we'll let the voters decide".

In the end, the conservatives lose and we are stuck with a difficult to win race against a polished Democrat that convincingly denies that he is the most liberal congressman from Tennessee (eight out of nine years).

Had they backed a real conservative in the first place, we wouldn't be seeing headlines like Democrats pin their hopes on man who is no liberal and Former Virginia governor touts Ford as “independent”. Or maybe we would; the press has come out full force behind Ford.

But at least Bush and company are here now. Bush came to Memphis and raised $1.5 million at a fundraiser held in a house. This was his second time Bush has raised money for Corker in less than a month and it seems that Laura Bush will be in Knoxville for a Corker fundraiser on 11 October. With the fact that Bush's approval ratings are slightly higher in Tennessee than the rest of the country, his support won't hurt.

Last week's Zogby/Wall Street Journal poll shows Republican Bob Corker leading Democrat Harold Ford Jr. by 5 points:

HT to TeamGOP newsletter

So why is Corker shaking up his campaign office just four weeks before the election? Perhaps because it will take a campaign manager like Tom Ingram, who managed all of Lamar Alexander's gubernatorial campaigns, to stave off the Ford attacks. The most recent Mason-Dixon poll indicates that the race is a dead heat.

For now, the battle remains dirty. A Ford television ad accuses Corker of taking three pay raises as mayor of Chattanooga while "freezing the pay of Chattanooga’s police and firefighters", a charge hotly denied by both the fire chief and the president of the Chattanooga FOP. Further, review of the city budget clearly shows that the ad is false.

The same ad claims Corker is worth more than $200 million, a figure Corker denies although he has not released actual figures. Yet:

Financial disclosures filed by Corker, which do not require specifics, state that he has assets somewhere in a range of between $63.7 million to $234.5 million and liabilities between $24.7 million and $126.5 million.

The combination means a net worth could be as high as $209.8 million, a figure that Michael Powell, senior adviser to the Ford campaign, says was used in choosing a figure for the ad. The figures also mean Corker could actually have a negative net worth.

Typical that a campaign would take the high estimate and market it as fact when the available information is so inexact.

Not that Corker's ads are equally misleading. For instance, WREG reports that Corker's claim of a 50% drop in crime while mayor of Chattanooga may be overstated. According to FBI stats, the crime drop was "only" 28.7%:

Chattanooga police spokesman Tetzell Tillery said the discrepancy may stem from differences in how the local police and the F-B-I classified certain kinds of crime.

If anyone could get a 28% drop in Memphis crime, I'd nominate them for king.

As for me, on election day I'll just remember that Harold Ford earned a failing score of 21 from the American Conservative Union, that Ford has earned an "F" from the Gun Owners of America (the only no-compromise gun rights organization) and that the NRA has officially endorsed Bob Corker.

And after all, even an Arlen Specter is better than a Robert Byrd.

Name Ford's Party

 

Pesky Fly has a great idea: name Harold's party who doesn't plan to go to D.C. saying, "Democrat, Democrat, Democrat."

Pesky can't name the party but has a suggestion for the mascot (take a look) but I think he's way off base. No matter how you dress up Ford, underneath he is one thing and one thing only: a true-blue liberal.

So I will name the party and suggest the mascot: The Chameleon Party.

What's better for someone who talks like a conservative when he's on Fox News, talks like a liberal when he's surrounded by liberals, talks like a socialist when he's in south Memphis and votes like a Democrat all the time?

And the mascot? That's a Two-Face Two-Horn Chameleon.

[Picture taken by ales.kocourek]

Technorati tags: Harold Ford Jr., Tennessee Politics, Memphis Politics, Races of 2006, Liberals in Democrat Camouflage.

Ford's Fundraising Fiasco

Rep. Harold Ford Jr. was all set to hold a fundraiser at a "trendy" spot in San Francisco, but it was postponed because local politicians learned of Ford's opposition to gay marriage. The delay will give Ford time to find new sponsors for the event, now that sponsors like San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (who grabbed national headlines when he performed gay marriages) have learned that Ford voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriages.

"It came to my attention that there were a few people in San Francisco concerned about my opposition to gay marriages," Ford said Tuesday.

Gee, in San Francisco? Who would'a thunk it?

Ford has raised $3 million for his Senate campaign, with a stated goal of $12 million.