Tennessee Debate numero uno

[poughies]

For a moment, I thought I was watching a Republican primary debate, with Ford being the conservative, talking about how much he admired President Bush, and bitching about that moderate Bob Corker

I am glad that the Ford-fantasy that some of you have created has started to crumble.  Surely it must not be heartening to you Dems to hear Ford say "my record is anything but liberal!"

You know if u tap your shoes together it might come true.

[Conan]

Ford doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. I may want Corker to win.

WTF? You'd vote for Menendez and Corker? Wow.

I wouldnt vote for him. I'd vote for Ford but still think he doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. You endorsing Kean is the same thing, so dont be so hypocritical.

Unless your just saying ideologically and didnt read the rest of the conversation yet.

Why do I support Tom Kean? Because he's a Republican who supports removing Hastert, Rumsfeld and he's pro-choice and pro-enviroment. On many issues, Ford and Kean are ideological twins.

You'd endorse Corker because Ford is an apostate; I've endorsed Kean  because Menendez's tied to NJ corruption. I'd rather support two political mavericks over two corrupt political hacks.

So you support him because he is pro choice and pro environment but when he goes down there wont vote that way? Because he says what he needs to, to win like calling for Hastert and Rumseld to resign and doesnt really believe in that? He supports the president giving him a B-. You say Menendez is corrupt while he wasnt accused of being so before this election? When the elections over the allegations will to. Kean will vote with reps all the time in Washington just like he did here in NJ 93% of the time.  I can also say he is corrupt. He voted for a measure to not approve a bill that would make a company pay 40,000,000 more in taxes the day after he gets thousands in campaign contributions from them. Same thing wiht the casino industry, and again taking money from firms he sought in legislation to ban from taking money from.

[MarkWarner08]

Ford doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. I may want Corker to win.

WTF? You'd vote for Menendez and Corker? Wow.

I wouldnt vote for him. I'd vote for Ford but still think he doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. You endorsing Kean is the same thing, so dont be so hypocritical.

Unless your just saying ideologically and didnt read the rest of the conversation yet.

Why do I support Tom Kean? Because he's a Republican who supports removing Hastert, Rumsfeld and he's pro-choice and pro-enviroment. On many issues, Ford and Kean are ideological twins.

You'd endorse Corker because Ford is an apostate; I've endorsed Kean  because Menendez's tied to NJ corruption. I'd rather support two political mavericks over two corrupt political hacks.

So you support him because he is pro choice and pro environment but when he goes down there wont vote that way? Because he says what he needs to, to win like calling for Hastert and Rumseld to resign and doesnt really believe in that? He supports the president giving him a B-. You say Menendez is corrupt while he wasnt accused of being so before this election? When the elections over the allegations will to. Kean will vote with reps all the time in Washington just like he did here in NJ 93% of the time.  I can also say he is corrupt. He voted for a measure to not approve a bill that would make a company pay 40,000,000 more in taxes the day after he gets thousands in campaign contributions from them. Same thing wiht the casino industry, and again taking money from firms he sought in legislation to ban from taking money from.

I understand what your trying to say. My point is that moderate Republicans in bluish states that talk left on the environment usually vote that way. Case in point is Norm Coleman. As much as I despise Coleman on other issues, I do respect him for keeping his word on ANWR.  Tom Kean will probably vote in the same way as Susan Collins. Collins recieved a 70% rating from the LCV -- 20% higher than Mary Landrieu.

[Conan]

Ford doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. I may want Corker to win.

WTF? You'd vote for Menendez and Corker? Wow.

I wouldnt vote for him. I'd vote for Ford but still think he doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. You endorsing Kean is the same thing, so dont be so hypocritical.

Unless your just saying ideologically and didnt read the rest of the conversation yet.

Why do I support Tom Kean? Because he's a Republican who supports removing Hastert, Rumsfeld and he's pro-choice and pro-enviroment. On many issues, Ford and Kean are ideological twins.

You'd endorse Corker because Ford is an apostate; I've endorsed Kean  because Menendez's tied to NJ corruption. I'd rather support two political mavericks over two corrupt political hacks.

So you support him because he is pro choice and pro environment but when he goes down there wont vote that way? Because he says what he needs to, to win like calling for Hastert and Rumseld to resign and doesnt really believe in that? He supports the president giving him a B-. You say Menendez is corrupt while he wasnt accused of being so before this election? When the elections over the allegations will to. Kean will vote with reps all the time in Washington just like he did here in NJ 93% of the time.  I can also say he is corrupt. He voted for a measure to not approve a bill that would make a company pay 40,000,000 more in taxes the day after he gets thousands in campaign contributions from them. Same thing wiht the casino industry, and again taking money from firms he sought in legislation to ban from taking money from.

I understand what your trying to say. My point is that moderate Republicans in bluish states that talk left on the environment usually vote that way. Case in point is Norm Coleman. As much as I despise Coleman on other issues, I do respect him for keeping his word on ANWR.  Tom Kean will probably vote in the same way as Susan Collins. Collins recieved a 70% rating from the LCV -- 20% higher than Mary Landrieu.

I dont really care for Landrieu either. She helped get Alito through a filibuster just so they can get help down in LA. While they did need help, the way she said it made me extremely mad. Not approving Alito was far more important then not having to focus on both issues at the same time.

[Ben.]

Ford doesnt deserve to be a US Senator. I may want Corker to win.

I'd laugh if that wasnt such an idiotic statment...

[Ben.]

Voted YES on Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage

So that jim and pretty much every other southern Democrat then.

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If you believe abortion to be morally wrong, as do many democrats (especially in the south) why on earth would you vote to allow minors to travel out of state for abortions.

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…eh? I’m pretty sure he voted to make it a crime to harm the fetus when another crime was being committed, what is more if your militantly pro-choice (as your above statement would suggest) then if Ford did indeed reject redefining crimes against a pregnant woman as a crime against both the mother and child I would have thought you would welcome that.

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The United States of America is a Christian nation, founded on Judaeo-Christian principles. Some dispute this, but if you study the declaration of independence, the constitution and the articles of confederation the references to Christianity are substantial. Does this mean that there is not a separation of church and state? No but in reality the state is tolerant of the public display (or non display), promotion or criticism of religious observance and faith… the inclusion of the term “Under God” merely reflects both the views of the founding fathers, in terms of where the state’s ultimate authority was derived, and the overwhelming view of most Americans.

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So he’s kind of like an observant version of John Kerry, Al Gore, George Bush, Ted Kennedy, Lincoln Chafee, Mark Pryor or any other politician whose family has been heavily involved in US Politics down the years. Using your faith doesn’t “tear  down the separation” it merely shows is values and views are reflective of those of many in Tennessee, Democrat should not be afraid to use their faith when Republicans have shamelessly flaunted it for years. 

For a moment, I thought I was watching a Republican primary debate, with Ford being the conservative, talking about how much he admired President Bush, and bitching about that moderate Bob Corker

I am glad that the Ford-fantasy that some of you have created has started to crumble.  Surely it must not be heartening to you Dems to hear Ford say "my record is anything but liberal!"

Don, it must be gauling to see this race become competative Still i for one have no problem with a Conservative Democrat who is "anything but liberal" in the same way i have no problem with liberal Republicans like Chafee... to be liberal and to be a Democrat are not the same thing, sadly many would seek to establish that they are.

[MAS117]

I love Harold Ford, Jr. I think he deserves to win and that he will win. I watched the debate on CSPAN, and I thought he won by far. In fact I think that Harold Ford, Jr. is one of the best debaters I've ever seen. Ford is right, first Corker trys to call him a liberal, and now hes saying hes a rubber stamp for President Bush? Which one is it Corker?

I have no problem with Ford being a Conservative Democrat. I am one (although not as conservative as Ford at all), and statewide liberals simply can not win statewide. Faith has an important role in his life, so why know show it if that is what voters want to see?

[Adlai Stevenson]

Can someone post me a link to it?  I've checked the C-SPAN site and can't find it at all.

[poughies]

I cannot find it on C-span, checking youtube

[poughies]

nope.

[Adlai Stevenson]

Hmmm thanks anyway; how strange?  C-SPAN broadcast it so why wouldn't it be in their archive now?  O well there is still the Meet The Press debate to come now, which is on CNBC Europe over here. 

[Tender Branson]

you can go to http://www.wreg.com

scroll down to videos and there you can watch the whole (? - it looks so) debate

[poughies]

GENIUS!

why the heck didn't i think to go where they were webcasting the debate. moron I am.

[poughies]

i had to disable flip4mac and I finally got it to work on my mac, but the video is sooooo choppy and freezes every half a second.

[Tender Branson]

i had to disable flip4mac and I finally got it to work on my mac, but the video is sooooo choppy and freezes every half a second.

I had no problems watching it, it has a good quality and never froze in the entire hour. Maybe your download/streaming speed is too low or you got a firewall problem or something ...

[poughies]

nah the speed is perfectly fine, do u have a mac?

[TomC]

Surely it must not be heartening to you Dems to hear Ford say "my record is anything but liberal!"

It is heartening to finally see the word used correctly. I wish Ford (and Bredesen and Cooper and Tanner and Lincoln Davis) would be a bit more to the left on social issues, yes, but until I convince more Tennesseans to change their views on these issues, I can't really complain that the Democratic nominees are bipartisan moderates.

[Adlai Stevenson]

I'm 15 minutes into this debate and its certainly interesting.  Ford's telegenic skills are already evident but to be fair I think Corker began well and isn't a bad candidate, its just that he is continually outperformed by Ford.  You can really feel a dynamic presence in the room when he speaks. 

One thing I think this debate will do is align people towards one candidate or the other.  Recently, we've seen a lot of fluidity in the number of undecides which have been between 10%-15%.  I actually expect Corker to have a narrow lead coming out of the debate; not because he is the better candidate but because Tennessee is a Republican-leaning state and once people see the GOP nominee their will obviously be some movement towards him.  I think Ford has already been successful in getting his message and presence out towards Democrats and crucially, moderates and independents.  Therefore, he won't get a bounce from this debate, Corker, who is playing catch-up anyway, will.

[Keystone Phil]

now hes saying hes a rubber stamp for President Bush? Which one is it Corker?

While watching the debate, I turned to my friend and asked if Ford was running to the right of Corker and if Corker was running to the left of Ford. 

[Conan]

CONAN ENDORSEMENT:
HARLOLD FORD

I watched the debate and although he is wrong on pretty much 1 issue, he seems to be such an awesome candidate and doesnt quite pass over to the moderate to conservative line. He is a moderate to liberal. Hes also an awesome debater.

[auburntiger]

I am for one still surprised this race is THIS close!!! just wait til the actual voting takes place. I'm sure Corker will win by 1-2%.

I'm telling you guys, You can't win in TN as a DEM if you can only win the Western part of the state. Although Ford may clear 65% in Shelby Co., there are still alot of rural areas where people are still hostile toward black candidates simply b/c they're black. However, Corker may not be able to connect with as many of these rural white voters as much as Bush did against Kerry.

What will swing the race will be the Nashville suburbs, which have turned to the right this decade. That said, Ford has actively and wisely campaigned ALOT in middle and East TN b/c he thnks he has West TN all wrapped up. However, Corker will counter that and win on Election Night by 1-2%

NJ will stay DEM, TN will stay GOP...the end.