Almost Done

The election is upon us. We should be free of political advertising by bed time tomorrow. Hallelujah! But first...
I am a native Tennessean. Born here, lived all my life here except for the four years as a kid, and three as an adult, that bishops exiled us to Kentucky. The majority of my life has been spent in Memphis, or the Memphis metropolitan area. I know all about the Fords. I don't think much of many of them. But I have had the privilege of being in the presence of Harold Ford, Jr. on multiple occasions, and I think a great deal of him. I have seen him in a worship service honor the 90th birthday of Dr. Cecil Humphreys, one of the pillars of Memphis State University/University of Memphis. I watched him express to an elderly man the genuine appreciation of the community for work done largely before Harold was born. And he knew his material in acknowledging Dr. Humphreys' accomplishments. No notes, no script. I have seen the Congressman in my daughters' schools, not for photo ops, but to talk to the kids and tell them that they could do great things if they stayed in school and studied hard. How do I know several of those occasions weren't photo ops? Only one aide accompanied Harold, to move him along to keep his schedule. You see, he liked talking to the children so much that he would have stayed all day on his own. I have seen him in the dining rooms of retirement homes run by our church-related ministry to the aging, responding to every question seriously and graciously. I have seen his work to respond to VA problems, Medicare issues and Social Security concerns. I have friends who have called on him when they needed someone to put in a word with the Small Business Administration, and gotten the help they needed.
Corker's advertising has been shameful. Harold Ford, Jr. is not John Ford. Nor is he his father. He is his own man who has served the Ninth District honorably and well. Desperate to find some way to label Harold liberal, they ran an ad that told how he had outdone Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton...in junkets. Did Corker bother to mention that the vast majority of Congressional junkets are privately funded? No, he just wanted to link Harold's name to the northeastern senators. Harold is no liberal. His values are far more conservative than mine. Worst of all, Corker has told the voters of Tennessee that Harold is after white women. After all, he attended a function at the Playboy Mansion. How proud the citizens of Chattanooga must be: the best thing that their former mayor has to recommend him is that his mom, his wife and his daughters think well of him, and his opponent is a black man that, Corker says, chases white women.
Harold Ford, Jr. is a young, single man. I would think that an interest in women would make him a thoroughly acceptable candidate to the buffoons who continue to fight this absurd battle over the rights of non-traditional couples to marry. Friends, be very careful in your condemnations. As the pathetic plight of Rev. Haggard reminds us AGAIN, that judging others thing will come around to bite you every time. I would think that a bachelor might be a refreshing change from all of those hypocrites who condemned Bill Clinton's (absolutely condemnable) behavior, all the while carrying on their own affairs not of state. I will personally guarantee that Harold will not cheat on his wife!
Bob Corker has even criticized Harold Ford, Jr. for being articulate and intelligent. This aspect of the campaign smacks of the 1940s when Rep. Claude Pepper (later Senator Pepper) was attacked by his opponent in rural areas of Florida. The charge: "Claude Pepper is a heterosexual!" There is no more space in our state for an educated man with some polish about him to be attacked for kowing something. Must we always expect to be near the bottom in our educational performance? Mr. Corker would, from the images in his advertising, say yes! "Being glad that Mississippi is still in the union to keep us off the bottom" is no more an education policy than Bush's "YEE-HAW" is a foreign policy.
The truth of the matter is that there is no reason whatsoever to vote for Mr. Corker. He is, pure and simple, more of the same crap from the same party that has sought to destroy our nation for the last six years. Bush does not deserve, and we cannot afford, one more day of a compliant Congress.
Surely in 2006 we Tennesseans have grown enough to be able to evaluate these two men on their merits. I cannot comprehend that we will defeat the better candidate, and encourage the performance of the President, because that better candidate's shell is just a shade too dark. God help us!