Ford, Driven

‘HE’S a hugger,” says a fan of Harold Ford Jr. while watching the Senate candidate work the room at the Hamilton County Democratic party’s annual Estes Kefauver dinner on October 12. It’s true; virtually everyone who approaches Ford for an autograph or a picture also gets an apparently heartfelt embrace. Even though he represents Memphis, 350 miles away on the other side of Tennessee, tonight Ford seems to know every Democrat in Chattanooga. And he wants them to know that he knows; during his speech, he interrupts himself dozens of times as he spots people in the crowd, so the speech goes something like, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not enough for us to say-John Smith, always good to see you-it’s not enough for us to say what Republicans in Washington are doing wrong-Bill Jones, glad to be in your presence-but what we-Professor Hall, happy you’re here-would do to fix it.” The audience loves it. And there’s no doubt they’re pumped; before dinner, the Rev. Dr. Hunter Huckabay, who recently retired as rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, closes his invocation by saying, “Finally, we give thanks to You for the change that is surely coming. We ask this in God’s name, Amen.” The crowd breaks into applause, which is not the usual practice after prayer. But despite all the warmth and optimism, this isn’t Ford country. Chattanooga is in conservative East Tennessee-George W. Bush easily won Hamilton County in 2004-and Ford’s Republican opponent is Bob Corker, the popular former mayor of Chattanooga. Not only do most voters lean Republican, but a lot of Democrats are pretty conservative too. “He’ll lose this side of the state,” says Tennessee’s Democratic governor Phil Bredesen, who’s at the dinner. “But the whole trick is, just don’t get beaten too badly over here, and then some of the more traditionally Democratic areas [in Memphis and West Tennessee] come into play.” That’s a tall order. But if any Democrat with national ambitions is going to win the voters’ hearts, it’s Ford. He is already doing so with statements like this: “One thing I admired about him was that he made America great. He made America great in the eyes of people around the globe. They looked up to us.” You might guess that “he” is Bill Clinton, or perhaps Jimmy Carter. But no. Ford is talking about Ronald Reagan. Never mind that Ford’s party, and his father, former Rep. Harold Ford Sr., reviled Reagan back in the 1980s, when young Ford was a teenager. Speaking to audiences today, Ford sings the Gipper’s praises. A few minutes later, he calls for a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. And then he says he wants to get tough, or at least tougher, on illegal immigrants.

That’s the kind of thing you must say if you want to get elected in Tennessee statewide rather than just in Memphis, which Ford has represented since his father, the first black congressman from Tennessee since Reconstruction, retired in 1997. And Ford is working hard to convince red-state voters that he shares their values and goals. Anyone watching television in recent weeks has seen (dozens of times) an ad that shows Ford walking down the aisle of the Memphis church where he was baptized. “Here I learned the difference between right and wrong,” Ford says, stopping at a pew while organ music plays in the background. “I voted for the Patriot Act, five trillion in defense, and against amnesty for illegals.”

About the Author

Byron York

Byron York is a former White House correspondent for National Review.

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‘HE’S a hugger,” says a fan of Harold Ford Jr. while watching the Senate candidate work the room at the Hamilton County Democratic party’s annual Estes Kefauver dinner on October 12. It’s true; virtually everyone who approaches Ford for an autograph or a picture also gets an apparently heartfelt embrace. Even though he represents Memphis, 350 miles away on the other side of Tennessee, tonight Ford seems to know every Democrat in Chattanooga. And he wants them to know that he knows; during his speech, he interrupts himself dozens of times as he spots people in the crowd, so the speech goes something like, “Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not enough for us to say-John Smith, always good to see you-it’s not enough for us to say what Republicans in Washington are doing wrong-Bill Jones, glad to be in your presence-but what we-Professor Hall, happy you’re here-would do to fix it.” The audience loves it. And there’s no doubt they’re pumped; before dinner, the Rev. Dr. Hunter Huckabay, who recently retired as rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, closes his invocation by saying, “Finally, we give thanks to You for the change that is surely coming. We ask this in God’s name, Amen.” The crowd breaks into applause, which is not the usual practice after prayer. But despite all the warmth and optimism, this isn’t Ford country. Chattanooga is in conservative East Tennessee-George W. Bush easily won Hamilton County in 2004-and Ford’s Republican opponent is Bob Corker, the popular former mayor of Chattanooga. Not only do most voters lean Republican, but a lot of Democrats are pretty conservative too. “He’ll lose this side of the state,” says Tennessee’s Democratic governor Phil Bredesen, who’s at the dinner. “But the whole trick is, just don’t get beaten too badly over here, and then some of the more traditionally Democratic areas [in Memphis and West Tennessee] come into play.” That’s a tall order. But if any Democrat with national ambitions is going to win the voters’ hearts, it’s Ford. He is already doing so with statements like this: “One thing I admired about him was that he made America great. He made America great in the eyes of people around the globe. They looked up to us.” You might guess that “he” is Bill Clinton, or perhaps Jimmy Carter. But no. Ford is talking about Ronald Reagan. Never mind that Ford’s party, and his father, former Rep. Harold Ford Sr., reviled Reagan back in the 1980s, when young Ford was a teenager. Speaking to audiences today, Ford sings the Gipper’s praises. A few minutes later, he calls for a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. And then he says he wants to get tough, or at least tougher, on illegal immigrants.

That’s the kind of thing you must say if you want to get elected in Tennessee statewide rather than just in Memphis, which Ford has represented since his father, the first black congressman from Tennessee since Reconstruction, retired in 1997. And Ford is working hard to convince red-state voters that he shares their values and goals. Anyone watching television in recent weeks has seen (dozens of times) an ad that shows Ford walking down the aisle of the Memphis church where he was baptized. “Here I learned the difference between right and wrong,” Ford says, stopping at a pew while organ music plays in the background. “I voted for the Patriot Act, five trillion in defense, and against amnesty for illegals.”