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From the diaries -- kos)
The Democrats have a winning issue, and they're hammering away at Republican senate candidate Bob Corker in Tennessee.
First off, go check out the ad on YouTube. It bashes Bob for letting 17% of 911 calls go unanswered while mayor of Chattanooga. In my opinion, the ad doesn't go far enough because it doesn't delve into the facts behind the story, all of which are very damaging to Corker. It seems Mayor Corker ignored repeated warnings that the 911 System was in serious trouble - and then decided to slash its funding and reduce its staff.
Yeah, responding to trouble by cutting funding rather than fixing problems may be a staple of Republican governing, but the voters have finally figured out that that crap only makes the problem worse. And you can tell that the GOP is very worried about this line of attack. How worried?
The GOP is so worried that the NRSC is stepping in, threatening to sue TV stations that run the Corker 911 ad. (Hat tip to Southern Beale at the Music Row Democrats' blog.)
Unfortunately for the idiotic National Republican Senatorial Committee under the idiotic leadership of Liddy Dole, the press that the threatened lawsuit is generating is only spreading the story of Corker's incompetence that much farther - without the Democrats having to spend a dime on ad time!
Here's a snippet from the article:
A national Republican group is threatening to sue Tennessee television stations if they don't yank an ad that slams U.S. Senate hopeful Bob Corker over unanswered 911 calls in Chattanooga.
Thirty-one thousand unanswered 911 calls last year -- and whether Corker as the former mayor should be held responsible -- have become a central issue for Democrats in this race.
The Ford campaign's response?
"This has to be embarrassing for Mr. Corker, but the way to respond effectively is not to attack the messenger or lie about the facts," Ford said in a written statement.
Really, what more needs to be said? Only this: The 911 issue is going to be bigger than Corker's illegal land deal because too many voters expect politicians to be corrupt and are willing to shrug it off - but when politicians are too incompetent to handle a basic public service like 911, that's a big deal to even the least interested citizen.
On the web: Harold Ford for Senate