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September 9, 2006
The New Bob Corker Attack Ad Makes Me Throw Up In My Mouth A Little
Bob Corker has unleashed an incredibly hostile attack ad on Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. this week. I've been trying to find a link to it, but can't find video of it on the web. If you haven't seen it yet, consider yourself lucky. It is one of the more tasteless campaign ads I've seen.
The main points of attack are that Ford voted against the Patriot Act, and is thus soft on national security; and that Ford voted for a 16% reduction in defense spending, and is thus soft on national security.
What happened to Bob Corker? Or has he always been this smug, self-righteous, and hostile? I never had much of an opinion about Corker when he was mayor -- although I did see him throw a couple of hissy-fits at Stone Cup Coffeehouse, yelling at 17 year-old's who didn't toast his bagel just right -- but seeing someone with no political experience, except being mayor of a small southern town, toeing the Neo-Conservative line so closely and attacking his political rival with such ruthlessness... it just makes me think Corker is probably not US Senate material.
Did Harold Ford vote against the Patriot Act?
Short answer: he voted against making the provisions of the Patriot Act permanent, not againt the provisions themselves.
Here is a short rundown of his Homeland Security voting history from www.ontheissues.org:
-Voted NO on illegal wiretaps. (Jan 2006)
-Voted NO on continuing intelligence gathering without civil oversight. (Apr 2006)
-Voted YES on federalizing rules for driver licenses to hinder terrorists. (Feb 2005)
-Voted YES on supporting new position of Director of National Intelligence. (Dec 2004)
-Voted YES on emergency $78B for war in Iraq & Afghanistan. (Apr 2003)
-Voted YES on permitting commercial airline pilots to carry guns. (Jul 2002)
-Voted YES on $266 billion Defense Appropriations bill. (Jul 1999)
-Voted YES on deploying SDI. (Mar 1999)
-Voted YES to federalize aviation security. (Nov 2001)
-Voted NO on declaring Iraq part of War on Terror with no exit date. (Jun 2006)
-Voted YES on approving removal of Saddam & valiant service of US troops. (Mar 2004)
-Voted YES on authorizing military force in Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Did Harold Ford vote to reduce defense spending?
Ford voted for most military spending bills that crossed his desk in Washington, and voted for nearly all homeland security & military spending bills that came before the House after 9/11. I'm sure Ford voted against military spending a few times in 10 years. Once is all it takes for Corker to claim that someone is anti-military. Recent media interviews with Corker reveal that parties that disagree with any aspect of his platform are viewed as "Part of The Ford Camp" by his campaign.
Bob Corker is the only Republican Senate candidate that has refused to debate his Democratic rival on Meet The Press; and along with the fact that Corker still refuses to make parts of his tax returns public, well, it does give you the impression that he is hiding something. I personally don't trust someone who is afraid to debate his rival in front of a national audience while he is running for a seat in the US Senate.
Now, as I am writing this, Corker's attack ad is airing on WTVC. I'm not ready for two more months of this! I'll have to end this post here, so I can go vomit in the commode, instead of my mouth...
| By Joshua Daniels | 6:37 PM