Ford pulls ahead of likely Republican candidate in Tennessee US Senate Race
ZOGBY: FORD OPENING LEAD IN US. SENATE RACE
$6 MILLION IN TELEVISION MOVES CORKER….TO SECOND PLACE
NASHVILLE — A new poll released today by Zogby Interactive shows U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. opening a lead over Republican Bob Corker, despite Corker having spent $6 million in unchallenged television advertising during the past two months.
Ford leads Corker 43.6% to 42.5% in the poll results, published today on the Wall Street
Journal website, www.wsj.com. One month ago, the same poll showed Corker with a 1-point lead, 42.4 to 41.4 percent, and two months ago, Corker’s lead was four points at 43-39.
“Voters are responding to Harold Ford Jr.’s call for a new generation of leadership to reach across party lines and get things done,” said Ford campaign senior advisor Michael Powell. “On the other hand, the more Tennessee voters see of Bob Corker’s untruthful advertising, the more they realize he is more of the same. And you can’t have change with more of the same.”
Knoxville News-Sentinel editor-in-chief Jack McElroy wrote Sunday that Corker’s latest ad was a “lie” and a “twisted manipulation of the facts.” Corker’s ads have claimed credit for effective government as mayor of Chattanooga, when, in fact, he allowed 31,000 911 calls to go unanswered; lowering taxes, when, in fact, he raised property taxes 24 percent; cutting spending, when, in fact, he raised spending in Chattanooga by 18 percent; and cutting violent crime, when, in fact, murders and rapes rose during his tenure.
The new Zogby Interactive numbers show Rep. Ford has pulled to a dead heat in matchups with Republicans Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, representing a 17-point gain on Bryant and a 10-point gain on Hilleary since Zogby Interactive began polling Tennessee in September 2005.