Last week, Bob Corker released an attack ad directed at Harold Ford Jr. It was a typical Rethug attack ad--black and white images, condescending voiceover, the works. And for the last few days, everyone who knows where I intern has been asking me the same question: "How is Ford going to respond?"
Today, we have an answer. The Harold Ford Jr. for U.S. Senate campaign has released a fucking brilliant new commercial that should be on TV sometime within the next 24 hours.
Go to the Harold Ford Jr. website to see the ad. Click on the picture of him in the middle of the page, the one of him sitting in the church pew. And give it a few seconds to load.
The Ford campaign has released several smart, positive ads, but this one takes the cake. Follow me for analysis:
First of all, he's in a church, talking about how it made him a better person and taught him right from wrong. He also makes the funny comment about how he was forced to go when he was young. This is going to resonate with the vast majority of people in Tennessee, especially the ones Ford is trying to appeal to--the moderates and conservatives who are wary of Bob Corker.
Second of all, he points out, quite simply, that none of what Bob the Fraud said in his ad is true. Ford voted for reauthorizing the Patriot Act, and has always voted to secure the borders. The ad points viewers to his website so they can see the proof for themselves.
Granted, I know these votes, particularly the one for the Patriot Act, will likely not sit well with many folks here on DKos.
But it will in TN. And furthermore, he very cleverly doesn't say whether he still supports these, or whether he ever did. He just points out that Corker was a liar. Which, ultimately, is what matters.
Finally, he responded to an attack ad with a positive ad. There are several things he could have attacked Bob Corker for, but he didn't take the bait. He released an ad that reflected positively upon himself, and showed that he does, in fact, represent the values of TN voters.
I can't wait to see how the Republicans respond to this one. Are they going to try and say that Ford's lying and is not really a true Christian. Yeah, that'll go over REALLY well...