A Contentious Campaign in a Battleground State

One 1994 milestone was the defeat of veteran Senate Democrat Jim Sasser by political newcomer Bill Frist, who rose to become Senate majority leader. In 2000, Vice President Al Gore lost his home state in the general election, costing him the presidency.

But two years later, Tennessee elected a Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen, a pragmatic, low-key former businessman and Nashville mayor. The House delegation flipped to five Democrats and four Republicans. Bredesen is also on the ballot in November, and recent polls show him far ahead of his Republican opponent.

The governor is starring in a Ford campaign ad, and the two are barnstorming around the state. Ford credits him with creating a new Democratic brand. "He's our closer," Ford said. "We're in a position to win, and he's going to push us over the edge."

On May 25, 2005, when the brash young Democrat announced his Senate candidacy, he raised a few eyebrows. A sports junkie known on Capitol Hill for robust socializing, he still seemed a bit young. His ambitions had been obvious from his first days in Congress, and in 2002 he lost a caucus battle to become House minority leader to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), who has the job now.

Despite that setback, Ford has fashioned a reputation as a new-generation Democrat, less defined by interest-group politics and with strong opinions of how national Democrats have failed to compete seriously in the South. He is both supremely confident and dead serious. "I will run a very issue-rich, substance-rich campaign," Ford promised in a video that streamed over his new campaign Web site when he announced his Senate run.

On May 26, 2005, his uncle John Ford, a state senator, was indicted on corruption charges. It was a reminder -- though few politically aware people in this state needed one -- that Ford hailed from an illustrious Memphis clan. Fords had served in state and local government for decades, and a few had scrapes with the law.

Ford's father was one of 12 children of a funeral-home entrepreneur; Harold Ford Sr. served 11 terms in the House before his son took over the seat. The elder Ford was acquitted of bank-fraud charges in 1990. Another uncle, Emmett Ford, had resigned from the state legislature in 1981 after being convicted of insurance fraud.

When Ford ran to succeed his father, he billed himself proudly as "Junior." But his role model, as he told the Democratic National Convention in his 2000 keynote address, was former Tennessee senator and vice president Al Gore. He recalled meeting Gore (a fellow graduate of St. Albans School in Washington) in his family kitchen in Memphis.

"It was a time when, on the heels of Vietnam and Watergate, young Americans were turning away from public service. But Al Gore didn't turn away. He jumped feet first into public life," the young congressman recalled.

A Fierce Campaigner

Corker, who is 54, spent his early adult years creating a lucrative construction business. He was appointed state finance commissioner during the late 1990s and was elected Chattanooga mayor in 2001. He is credited with the impressive redevelopment of the city's riverfront.

White-haired and compact, with a rich twang, Corker has a friendly rapport with voters but has proven himself over the years to be a fierce competitor. When he ran against Frist in the 1994 GOP primary, Corker was called "pond scum" by Frist campaign manager Tom Perdue for airing an ad that suggested Frist had dodged the draft.

This year, as Corker slogged through a rough-and-tumble GOP primary with two more conservative opponents, Ford campaign insiders braced for a barrage of attacks. It has been unrelenting. Most of Corker's ads, news releases and campaign speeches are attacks on Ford, addressing such things as his House voting record and his not passing the bar exam.