This is one election I will will be sooooooooooo glad to have over with. Ford and Corker have received national attention for their race and I can't stand either one of them. We have had some great senators from TN....my favorite being Fred Thompson who decided to quit and go back to acting. (Now on Law & order). He did so much for the sick Oak Ridge workers. Lamar Alexander is good too and still there. Frist put a new spin on things but the two fighting for his spot are scarey. Only a couple days to the election and I don't think I will vote for either one. I will vote for the governor and a couple of amendments and leave this one to everyone else to deside...too bad there isnt a switch for "none of the above"!!!!!

The way it looks now Ford (sadly) will lose by a hair.

Exciting. . .and race-baiting 101 is in full session. . .

The Tennessee race is currently the closest in the country. The Democrats are running Congressman Harold Ford and the Republicans nominated Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker. Ford won his parties nomination with weak opposition, but Corker won only after a bitter three way contest where Corker portrayed himself as a moderate while his two opponents positioned themselves on the right. The result of this is that Corker only received a plurality vote while conservatives took the majority of votes in the primary. So Corker started out the general election race at a bit of a disadvantage, as his base was still split.

However, the Republicans are reuniting behind Corker and making the race. Ford himself has run what I think is one of the best, most effective Senate campaigns of this year. He has actually managed to position himself to the right of the GOP on security by criticizing the very tenability of their policies. The result of addressing the security question head on helped give Ford a decent lead in the race going in, especially with independent voters who lean Republican. It has been a very aggressive race, with both sides throwing everything and the kitchen sink at each other.

Now the race is really getting dirty, as the GOP is now using ads that can be best portrayed as race-baiting, a tactic which has been effective with rural Tennessee voters in the past. The polls have indeed shown that the race is closing up. This Senate race, like most this year, will ultimately be decided over the national political climate--but the personal nature of this race might add a few "x" factors into the equation. Tennessee hasnt elected a Democratic Senator since Al Gore in 1990, so, at least from a historic and demographic position, Ford faces an uphill battle. But then again, the national political climate hasnt been this unfavorable for Republicans in almost 30 years.