This morning I watched Harold Ford and Bob Corker on This Week with George Stephanopoulos [video].
Stephanopoulos traveled to Tennessee to interview the two contenders for the Frist senate seat.
Harold Ford was his usual articulate self. He spent most of the national media spot talking about the issues. His digs at Corker were brief and barely noticeable. Ford has turned the attacks on his family into a strength. He responds by stressing his love for his family and urging his opponent to focus on the issues, not his family. To the charge that his family is a political machine, Ford asks if his opponent makes the same charge about the Bush family.
I won't call Bob Corker articulate. Moreover, there is something about the Corker accent - or maybe it's merely the Corker voice - that makes me cringe like I'm enduring scratches on a chalkboard. Now that I think about it, this is most assuredly why the Corker rescue team has just issued a slick new ad in which Fred Thompson talks and Corker keeps his mouth shut.
Aside from all that, Bob Corker devoted an inordinate amount of the national media time to the task of bashing Ford. For a man who is trying to make the leap from small town mayor to U.S. Senator, this was a huge mistake. It made Corker appear to be a small man.
Stephanopoulos treated his national audience to the 'Bob Corker has a 30 room mansion, owns six SUVs and took three pay raises while mayor' ad.
Corker did not deny owning six SUVs, nor did he deny that he lives in a 30 room mansion. He did, however, protest that while he was mayor, he really had no choice about taking all those pay raises. Heh.
The wannabe senator denied the charge that his net worth increased while he was mayor.
Bob Corker did not deny that he was responsible for freezing the pay of the Chattanooga police and fire fighters.
Related post: Corker's Hometown Police Endorse Ford
Update: R. Neal has a nice summary of the Ford and Corker interviews on Inside Tennessee.
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