Ford Jr. Carries Party's Hopes in Tenn.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr., D-Tenn., takes part in a debate in Nashville in this Feb. 9, 2006 file photo. Private school-polished, charismatic and defiantly conservative on the Iraq war, gay marriage and other issues, Ford is the Democratic hope to win the open Senate seat being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and make inroads for a party on the outs in the South. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, Files) (Mark Humphrey - AP)

But James Wolfe, 35, who lives in Memphis but leans Republican, said Ford is a far cry from conservative.

"It seems like he lets his dad tell him what to do," said Wolfe, referring to Harold Ford Sr., who served in the House for 22 years.

In Tennessee, President Bush's approval ratings are down, and the governor is a Democrat, Phil Bredesen, who won a closely contested race in 2002. Bill Clinton carried the state in 1992 and 1996.

The younger Ford, who was first elected to Congress in 1996 at the age of 26, seems to have learned a lesson from Bredesen and Clinton: Accentuate the conservative.

He speaks well of Bush and backed the president's capital gains tax cuts. Ford has supported constitutional amendments protecting school prayer and banning gay marriage; the latter will be on the state ballot in November.

"It's a longer shot for Democrats in the South," said Merle Black, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. "Ford's doing what a Democrat needs to be doing in order to be competitive."

Ford comes from a powerful Memphis political family, with eight members who have served as state lawmakers, local politicians or in Congress. His father has 11 siblings, and Ford has said he has 91 first cousins.

But the family has been touched by scandal.

His father was tried and acquitted on federal bank fraud charges in 1993. His uncle, Emmitt, resigned from the state House in 1981 after a conviction on insurance fraud. Another uncle, John, resigned from the state Senate last year after being charged with taking $55,000 in bribes. He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set for October, within weeks of the election.

Ford Jr. confronts his family's reputation head-on during campaign stops, telling critics to "shut up" and asking voters to consider his record instead of his family's problems.

"When you figure out the recipe to pick a family, call me," he said at a recent Democratic Party event. "Otherwise, let us run for the Senate. When you have nothing else to talk about, you talk about those issues."

Edward Gilbert, a food services worker in Knoxville, said Ford's family woes won't be an issue in how he votes. "You don't hear very much about it anymore," he said.

Republicans will settle on a candidate in the Aug. 3 primary, with the three top candidates embroiled in a fierce fight. Ford faces no major opposition in securing his party's nod.

Bob Corker, the former Chattanooga mayor and state finance commissioner, is seen as the Republican front-runner with nearly $5.5 million in campaign cash, more than his two major opponents, former Reps. Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, combined. But Bryant and Hilleary have strong support among conservatives, and no one is willing to concede.

Ford, who has raised $5.7 million for the campaign, talks to voters about growing up in a family that required two things of him: going to church and campaigning for his political family members.

___

Associated Press writers Woody Baird in Memphis and Elizabeth A. Davis in Knoxville contributed to this report.