Ford, driven: Harold Ford Jr. goes against a Corker of a candidate in Tennessee.

Chattanooga, Tenn.

'HE'S a hugger," says a fan of Harold Ford Jr. while watching the Senate candidate work the room at the Hamilton County Democratic party's annual Estes Kefauver dinner on October 12. It's true; virtually everyone who approaches Ford for an autograph or a picture also gets an apparently heartfelt embrace. Even though he represents Memphis, 350 miles away on the other side of Tennessee, tonight Ford seems to know every Democrat in Chattanooga. And he wants them to know that he knows; during his speech, he interrupts himself dozens of times as he spots people in the crowd, so the speech goes something like, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's not enough for us to say--John Smith, always good to see you--it's not enough for us to say what Republicans in Washington are doing wrong--Bill Jones, glad to be in your presence--but what we--Professor Hall, happy you're here--would do to fix it."

The audience loves it. And there's no doubt they're pumped; before dinner, the Rev. Dr. Hunter Huckabay, who recently retired as rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, closes his invocation by saying, "Finally, we give thanks to You for the change that is surely coming. We ask this in God's name, Amen." The crowd breaks into applause, which is not the usual practice after prayer.

But despite all the warmth and optimism, this isn't Ford country. Chattanooga is in conservative East Tennessee--George W. Bush easily won Hamilton County in 2004--and Ford's Republican opponent is Bob Corker, the popular former mayor of Chattanooga. Not only do most voters lean Republican, but a lot of Democrats are pretty conservative too. "He'll lose this side of the state," says Tennessee's Democratic governor Phil Bredesen, who's at the dinner. "But the whole trick is, just don't get beaten too badly over here, and then some of the more traditionally Democratic areas [in Memphis and West Tennessee] come into play."

That's a tall order. But if any Democrat with national ambitions is going to win the voters' hearts, it's Ford. He is already doing so with statements like this: "One thing I admired about him was that he made America great. He made America great in the eyes of people around the globe. They looked up to us." You might guess that "he" is Bill Clinton, or perhaps Jimmy Carter. But no. Ford is talking about Ronald Reagan. Never mind that Ford's party, and his father, former Rep. Harold Ford Sr., reviled Reagan back in the 1980s, when young Ford was a teenager. Speaking to audiences today, Ford sings the Gipper's praises. A few minutes later, he calls for a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. And then he says he wants to get tough, or at least tougher, on illegal immigrants.

That's the kind of thing you must say if you want to get elected in Tennessee statewide rather than just in Memphis, which Ford has represented since his father, the first black congressman from Tennessee since Reconstruction, retired in 1997. And Ford is working hard to convince red-state voters that he shares their values and goals. Anyone watching television in recent weeks has seen (dozens of times) an ad that shows Ford walking down the aisle of the Memphis church where he was baptized. "Here I learned the difference between right and wrong," Ford says, stopping at a pew while organ music plays in the background. "I voted for the Patriot Act, five trillion in defense, and against amnesty for illegals."

Of course, there are questions that can be raised about some of those votes. Corker, for example, points out that Ford voted against renewing the Patriot Act before it was amended to satisfy mostly Democratic demands, and that Ford has voted to cut funding for intelligence. But the fact is, Ford doesn't have the record of a Nancy Pelosi Democrat. For the last five years, his rating from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action has been in the 70-to-80 range. That doesn't make him a raging moderate, but it does mean he has steered away from some of the extremes of the national Democratic party. He opposes partial-birth abortion (although he supported it a number of years ago). He's against gay marriage. He's for gun rights. He voted to authorize the war in Iraq.

So far, the centrist thing is working. Last summer, Ford trailed Corker by about a dozen points. Today, the race appears to be dead even. And as it has gotten closer, Democrats have looked more and more to Ford as the candidate who might put them over the top in the Senate. A few months ago, most analysts paid attention to five states in which Democrats might pick up seats: Pennsylvania, Montana, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Missouri. The problem is, Democrats need six to regain control. Then Ford surged in Tennessee. Suddenly a race that once seemed hopeless for Democrats looked like the key to victory.

THE REPUBLICAN

"How ya doin', Alex?"

Bob Corker walks into the old, chilly Roane County Courthouse in Kingston, a small (pop. 5,264) town in East Tennessee, virtually in the shadow of the Oak Ridge nuclear reactor. About 40 people have gathered to hear him speak--all of them supporters except one, Alex Bissell, a young man working for the state Democratic party whose job is to take a small video camera to all of Corker's public appearances in hopes of catching some gaffe or misstep that could make the difference in the race. "Tracking" is a common practice on the campaign trail these days, a fact brought to the public's attention with Sen. George Allen's infamous "macaca" blunder.

Corker could teach Allen a few things. He greets Alex with a smile at the beginning of the event, and at the end he introduces him to the crowd. "We always have with us Harold Ford's man Alex, who records everything I do," Corker tells the group. "I want you to know Alex is a good guy. He's developing a warm heart. I actually see him becoming a Republican." The crowd laughs, Alex grimaces a little bit, and everyone moves on.

Corker talks about the basics of his platform: his support for President Bush's tax cuts, for spending restraint, for national security. He says he has always been a problem solver, from the time he started his own construction company through his years as mayor of Chattanooga. But he also spends a lot of time explaining why he is different from Ford. "When I was 26 years old, I was riding around in a pickup truck making $19,977 a year," Corker says. "I had my own business, making $19,977 a year. When my opponent was 26 years old, he graduated from law school and inherited his daddy's congressional seat, making $133,600 a year. And so our view of the world and how we've been shaped has been very, very different."

It's a theme Corker hits again and again as he travels around the state. And indeed, the contrasts between Corker and Ford play havoc with some common preconceptions. In this race, the black candidate is the child of privilege, while the white candidate pulled himself up by his bootstraps. Ford moved to Washington when he was nine years old and was educated at the exclusive St. Alban's School and then the University of Pennsylvania. Corker attended Chattanooga City High School and the University of Tennessee. Corker wouldn't put it in racial terms, but he wants you to know who's the self-made--and homemade--man. At every stop, he says Ford is "more D.C. than Tennessee."

It's a pretty compelling argument for voters who are suspicious of Washington to begin with, and Corker's supporters say it is particularly important in light of where each man is getting his greatest support. According to the campaign-finance watchdogs at OpenSecrets.org, as of July, just 32 percent of Ford's campaign contributions were from Tennessee, with the rest coming from out of state. Ford raised more money from New York City than from his hometown of Memphis, and more money from Washington and Los Angeles than from Nashville. Broken down by zip code, Ford raised more money from 10021 in Manhattan--the Upper East Side--than from any zip code in Tennessee, save one in Memphis. Corker, on the other hand, received 92 percent of his contributions from Tennessee. People in Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis, Johnson City--they all contributed more money than any out-of-state source.

Ford has gotten money from Barbra Streisand and Larry David, neither of whom, it's probably safe to say, contributed because of his kind words about Ronald Reagan. Corker has received contributions from Darrell Waltrip and Peyton Manning. If you're a Republican strategist in Tennessee, that's a pretty good difference to exploit.

But Corker isn't just trying to make an issue of Ford's privilege and

his supporters in the Hollywood elite. There's also the question of--nobody will quite come out and say it directly--corruption in the Ford family. Ford's father, who served eleven terms in the House, was indicted on federal bank-fraud and conspiracy charges in 1987. His trial resulted in a hung jury; he was tried again and acquitted in 1993. Ford's uncle, state senator John Ford, is currently under indictment on federal bribery, extortion, and witness-intimidation charges. Ford's aunt Ophelia was a state senator, but was removed from office because of allegations her supporters had cheated in the special election that put her there. And Ford's brother, Jake, who is running to replace Harold in Congress, recently told reporters, "I've been arrested, I believe, maybe four times total." (Charges included marijuana possession and assaulting his father; Jake Ford was never convicted on any of them.)

That's a lot of baggage; even though Harold himself has never gotten in any such trouble, a family record like that might give some voters pause. But when Corker has raised the subject--he has referred to the Fords as a "political machine"--Ford has quite effectively deployed the "How dare you!" defense. And Corker has backed off. Instead, he has tried to suggest that there might be questionable ties between Ford and his father, who is now a lobbyist for Fannie Mae, the government-chartered financial institution that became a personal piggybank for its top executives.

"When you went on the [House] Financial Services Committee," Corker said to Ford at their debate in Chattanooga on October 10, "why was it that within 60 days your dad became the registered lobbyist for Fannie Mae to lobby you in Washington on that committee? And why was it--with all the things that have happened with Fannie Mae, all the irregularities, all the billions of dollars that have been lost--why is it that you continued while you were on that committee to talk about what a wonderful job they've been doing?"

"Attacking my father has no place in this campaign, Mr. Corker," an aggrieved-looking Ford answered. "My father is too good of a person, too decent of a person, and raised me too right to do any of the things that my opponent, who is now--I didn't think he could stoop any lower into the gutter than he already has in this campaign, but it looks as if rock bottom hasn't hit there yet." At that point, it looked as if Ford had for-gotten to answer the question. But he went on to say, "Neither my dad nor any member of my family has ever lobbied me, nor would I allow them to. Leave my family out of this, sir."

Of course, Ford has made accusations of his own against Corker. He has pointed out that a Corker company employed four illegal aliens back in 1988. He has said that Corker has not been forthcoming about his taxes. And he has often pointed out that the chairman of the finance committee for Corker's campaign is the chief executive of Pilot Oil Company, and that Big Oil might have undue influence should Corker be elected.

The truth is that no disqualifying information has emerged about either man, at least so far. After all the talk about each other's background, it seems likely that the race will come down to the fact that Ford, whatever his appeal, is a Democrat and will vote with Democrats in the Senate, and Corker, whatever his appeal, is a Republican and will vote with Republicans.

'GAYS, GUNS, GOD, AND ABORTION'

Back at the Estes Kefauver dinner in Chattanooga, there's a young congressional candidate, Brent Benedict, handing out campaign literature in what appears to be a hopeless race against Republican incumbent Zach Wamp of the Third District, which includes this city and several rural counties. Benedict is happy to talk about what Democrats have to do to win in Tennessee. "Especially in the rural districts, there are certain things that people just can't get past," he explains. "On the national level, a lot of them vote Republican because of four issues, and we know what those are: gays, guns, God, and abortion. They just can't get past them."

"How about you?"

"Well, I'm pro-life. And I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment."

"What about God and gays?"

"Well, I'm a strong Christian," Benedict continues. "I spent time as a missionary when I was younger. And I support traditional family values."

"Traditional marriage?"

"Yeah, traditional marriage."

Benedict--whom Ford points out from the podium, saying, "Anybody who's serious about giving Democrats the majority ought to support this boy"--is clearly taking cues from Ford. But right now, with the polls so close and voters still making up their minds, it seems entirely possible that, even with all of Ford's obvious political skills, the strategy won't work. If Tennessee's voters, who are already inclined to vote Republican, have the choice between a Republican who sounds like a Republican and a Democrat who kind of sounds like a Republican, there's a good chance they'll go with the real thing.

At the end of the Hamilton County dinner, Ford stays for a long time, until workers move in to stack the chairs and toss out the uneaten miniature-pecan-pie desserts. Finally, after all the hugging and autograph-signing and picture-taking, Ford is out the door, stepping into the biggest, baddest, gas-guzzlingest extended-cab Ford F150 Fx4 pickup truck you ever saw. (There are two such monsters in Ford's entourage.) It's much more Darrell Waltrip and Peyton Manning than Barbra Streisand and Larry David. At least, that's the message Ford is sending. Whether Tennessee voters buy it is another question.