NYT: Democrats' Senate Hopes May Ride on Harold Ford, Jr's Tennessee Race

[DeepModem Mom]

Democrats' Senate Hopes May Ride on Tennessee Race
By ROBIN TONER
Published: May 31, 2006


(Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times)
Democratic leaders hope Harold E. Ford Jr. can help them begin to turn the tide in the South, a Republican stronghold.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Representative Harold E. Ford Jr. freely acknowledges that he faces many challenges in his campaign for the Senate, which may ultimately determine the Democratic Party's chances of regaining a Senate majority.

Mr. Ford, 36, is a Democrat in a conservative state that has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since 1990. He is the scion of a polarizing political family with an uncle under indictment on federal corruption charges, or, as Mr. Ford dryly puts it on the campaign trail, "You may have read a few things about my family." He is an African-American in a region that has not sent an African-American to the Senate since Reconstruction.

Moreover, the South has become a Republican stronghold in recent years, the castle keep for the party's Senate majority. Democrats lost five seats in the region in 2004. Of the 22 Senate seats in the South, only 4 are now held by Democrats. Party leaders are keenly aware that until they make inroads in the South, any stable majority in the Senate will be hard to achieve. But they have hopes that Mr. Ford can begin to turn the tide.

And Mr. Ford, a five-term congressman from Memphis, rouses his audiences, white and black, with little parables of political possibility: How he was driving back to Memphis one day on the campaign trail, fired up after a meeting at a church, and decided to stop and shake hands at a bar and grill called the Little Rebel. How he looked with some trepidation at the Confederate flag outside and the parking lot filled with pickup trucks, covered with bumper stickers for President Bush and the National Rifle Association.

And how he was greeted, when he walked through the door, by a woman at the bar who gave him a huge hug. "And she said, 'Baby, we've been waiting to see you.' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/31/us/31tennessee.html?hp&ex=1149134400&en=00cc140f444da136&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Syrinx]

1. "a region that has not sent an African-American to the Senate"

What a stupid comment by the reporter. There have only been three African-American senators elected in the history of the country. Edward Brooke, Carol Moseley Braun, and Barack Obama.

[BluegrassDem]

2. He was referring to the south...

I wish Ford all the luck in the world! He would be a fine senator for the people of Tennessee.

[Syrinx]

3. I know

Why point out that the South has never elected a black Senator, when there have been only two states that have: Illinois and Massachusetts?

(I think Robin Toner is a woman, but I wouldn't swear to it.)

[BluegrassDem]

4. I guess cause the south is the last region in the U.S. you'd expect

an African-American could get elected to the Senate. The idea that any African-American could win a statewide federal office in any southern state is really big news. It would be a much bigger feat than any other victories by minority Senate candidates because of the history of the south with their attitudes toward people of color.

[Syrinx]

5. I think it reveals a prejudice and ignorance

Robin Toner probably just assumes that there have been dozens and dozens of black senators elected from the oh-so-progressive coastal regions. But there haven't been. Illinois (twice) and Massachusetts. That's it.

Oh. I meant to say that I back Ford all the way. His family has been a little shady, it seems, but he seems like a good man to me. A wee bit too conservative, but a good man.

[dsc]

16. actually if one goes by percentage of AA voters

it should be easier not harder. No state in the north has a higher percentage of AA's than MS, LA and AL.

[HawkerHurricane]

8. Five.

And the first two were from Mississippi.
(Post-Slavery, pre Jim Crow of course)
http://www.africanamericans.com/Senators.htm

[skipos]

9. But only three were popularly elected. nt

[Tiggeroshii]

15. ...since reconstruction

Yeah, I guess that is a pretty dumb thing to say.

[anniebelle]

6. Having lived in 'Red' Tennessee most of my 60+ years,

I'll have to say I've been so disappointed these last few years with Gore losing here and then that bloviating bag of shit, Frist, that my husband and I are working hard for Democrats here on Signal Mountain, close to Chattanooga. We are sitting on the buckle of the bible belt here, sandwiched between Alabama and Georgia and all the rest of these red, red states so every where I look I see those old W and Bush/Cheney signs from seems like eons ago, but I don't see Hummers running up and down the road like I did, say even a year ago, so some of those signs are evaporating, but it's still hard to convince these brain-washed (I use that term loosely -- it's hard to wash something so small) drones that pick up their bible and gun and go off looking for gays and those horrible 'librals'. Good luck to all in the next few months and let's get our boots on the ground and get these Nazi's out of power.

[tnlefty]

12. Welcome to DU, anniebelle!!!

LOL - bloviating bag of shit, Frist.

Terry Stulce is supposed to be on TALK 102.3 with Jeff Styles tomorrow morning at 10. I'll be listening to hear how he does and where he may need to make improvements!

[saltpoint]

20. Welcome to DU, anniebelle, and thanks for the hard work you're

doing for Democrats where you are.

[Nimrod2005]

7. LET'S GO TN, we really need Ford to win, for many many reasons

A minority, A Democrat, a young star, it is the South...etc.

I think I am going to be sending in some money to help...I wish I can be there to vote and work for this guy.

[skipos]

10. Support Corker in the repub primary. Ford does best against him.

Rasmussen has Ford trailing Corker by only 4%. Not bad for a state that hasn't had a democratic senator for many years (since 94 I believe).

[nasher]

11. Anyone who wants a democratic majority should help Ford win.

We need this seat!

[newyawker99]

14. Hi nasher!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[saltpoint]

19. You said it. We need it and we need it badly. Welcome to DU, nasher.

[Bake]

13. When I grew up in TN it was Dem Country

Of course that was long long ago (I'm 50). But I remember when Tennessee produced honorable Democrats like Buford Ellington, and a few years before my time, Estes Kefauver. Quite a startling contrast to asshats like Frist and wusses like Lamar Alexander.

Good luck to Rep. Ford. I'd vote for him if I still lived in TN.

Bake

[hayu_lol]

17. Ford is a blue dog dem, a DINO...

check his record and his statements. Despite all that, he may be the best that TN can produce. Doesn't say much of course.

[Bake]

18. TN today is not going to elect a "liberal" Dem

Ford probably IS about the best we can hope for there, and at least he IS a Democrat. He may not be as far left as some would like, but he's one of ours -- last time I looked, it said D after his name.

Bake

[Uncle Joe]

21. Good luck to you Congressman Ford,

I hope to be calling you Senator Ford after November.:)