Fri
Oct 20 2006
03:32 pm

Saturday:More on this Story from WVLT. This was absolutely a smart idea. All weekend, media outlets across the state have been talking about this toe to toe with the short man; CNN even had the confrontation video on their front page for most of the day. There were all talking about THIS instead of what Corker's press conference was about.

WMCTV Complete Story on YouTube

WMCTV moved the video!

UPDATE: WMCTV moved the video here....


wmctv.com:
News reporters were surprised when Ford's tour bus pulled up at the event and, apparently staff at Wilson Air were surprised as well, as they tried to steer media inside the property for the Corker news conference.

Corker instead, opted to come out and talk with Ford directly while the cameras were rolling. What followed was a tense confrontation between the two, caught on tape!

VolunteerVoters has more with links to more press on the confrontation.

In closing...as Corker whines for his microphone, lets re-listen to an interview Ford gave G Reynolds earlier this year. Then rewatch the video. You have Bobby "This is my press conference" Corker whining about "family matters" which is a stark contrast to Ford sharing informed ideas and thought on Iraq, energy and politics.

Number9's picture

Not a good idea from Junior.

Not a good idea from Junior. He looked and sounded desperate. I would expect Corker bloggers will use this. Why would he breach campaign etiquette when he is ahead? This makes me wonder if the Zogby/WSJ poll was correct.

I thought Corker was going to use the, "I paid for this microphone" bit from Ronald Reagan. Corker handled the situation better than Harold Ford. I guess it is time to go to Volunteer Voters to get the play by play.

JustJohnny's picture

All about headlines....

.....and tonights/tomorrows will be a little better for ford because of this. The alternative: 'Corker calls out Ford on Family Connections'

Andy Axel's picture

Right on, JJ.

Corker thought that Ford would buckle in the face of his Swift Boat surrogate attacks.

He's not backing down, he's not hiding, he's confronting the issues and he's confronting his opponent.

I like it.

____________________________

Forget patriotism. Instapundit.com is the last refuge of scoundrels.

JustJohnny's picture

reminds me of....

...the time he jumped the aisle going after mean Jean.....I like to know there is a fire in the man, personally. I wanted to vote for someone who would stand up against what he feels is wrong --and it looks like I did!

Bbeanster's picture

In politics you use what you

In politics you use what you got.
If you got deep pockets and powerful friends, you buy the most media and consultants out there and you pound your opponent 90 ways from Sunday.
If you are 20 years younger, a foot taller and infinitely better looking than your opponent and quicker of mind and of tongue to boot, you get all the face time on camera with him that you can, even if you have to think outside the box to do it.
What Junior did was change the subject, and he looked good doing it. His audacity threw the media (and his opponent) off message. Anybody see Corker's actual press conference? I don't think so.
And how could you not notice that Corker looked like one of the Seven Dwarfs standing next to HFJ? Grumpy, I'd say. Or maybe Dopey.

joanie's picture

Hang up

Betty seems preocuppied with Corker's short stature. What is that about?

Bbeanster's picture

If you mean preoccupied

you may be right.

Every time I've met the little feller, he's seized my hand and CRUSHED it. I told him to cut it out in '94, and I told him that again this year (twice). Seems like he's overcompensating for being so sawed off.

JaHu's picture

I have nothin against the

I have nothin against the "little fellers", but I do have to say, Betty, I haven't laughed so hard about a post in a while. Thanks!

Hayduke's picture

"Too tall" Betty has always

"Too tall" Betty has always had it out for the shrimps Wink

 57% of the taller presidential candidates have won.  Look at the modern era where voters were more likely to see the shortcomings and then factor in the lengths Bush's handlers took to hide his height and I'd say it's worth calling attention to in a close race.

Stacey's picture

Dean Scream

I hope that this is not Ford's Dean Scream, he's so much smarter, so much better, I wish he had not played into the hands of the right wing media. Stacey

JustJohnny's picture

More video

Just posted more video, with comments from Corkie and Ford. Thanks to WVLT for following the story.

For you demo-naysayers, what we are talking about today is better than what we would have been talking about had this not happened. Who wants to let Corkie have the weekend news cycle all to himself? Ford prevented that by doing this.

Robby's picture

Corker has put this race in

Corker has put this race in the gutter. Attack ads about the Ford family. Strippers on TV saying, "Call me, Harold".

I dont blame Harold for going there wanting to talk issues with Corker.

Doug's picture

Anyone have a link to that

Anyone have a link to that video?

Doug's picture

To the video of the girl

To the video of the girl saying "call me, Harold."

Rachel's picture

Doug,Here ya

Doug,

Here ya go:

http://guerillawomentn.blogspot.com/2006/10/gop-aims-sleazy-blonde-bimbo-ad-at.html

The spouse says he saw it on tee vee last night, but it wasn't supposed to run until today, so I'm not sure whether he saw it there or here on the net.

Hayduke's picture

playing the height card

My guess is that Ford is playing the height card. Face to face, no matched-height lectern steps.

Moderate Matt's picture

This may backfire, but at

This may backfire, but at least it makes for good conversation.

It does put Corker off message and changes the headlines for the day. It was also uneventful enough to be gone by tomorrow. If people miss the newscasts at 6pm (which is typical on fridays) they may never know this happened.

moderatetrueview's picture

Catch 22 For Corkey

Saw the news clip and it was great. Corkey backed down and ran as soon as Ford tried to start discussing issues. "This is my press conference." Ha, much like these are my toys and you can't play. If he was serious about winning over the voters he would sit and spar, debate. Truth is he has run from Ford everytime they have asked to debate. Corker refuse to talk about the issues because he is obsessed with the Ford family rather than his opponent. Is this hidden envy?

Fact is that Corker has no platform to run on and has no ideas so he is trying to scare the public and smear his opponnet. This was a great move on Fords part because it took Corker off his message while showing the public that he isn't man enough to take on his opponnet mano y mano. Corker looked like the smaller man in more ways than one.

It was a political catch 22 for Corker, Get out and look a fool or stay inside and be a coward. Great move Ford Camp!

I love the press release saying the Ford Crashed the press conference. What a cry baby. DEBATE THE MAN! Give us some issues to judge you on!!!! If Corker wanted to deliver the Ford camp a devistating blow he would have stood his ground and debated! It would have made news rotations state wide the entire weekend. Instead he turned and ran away with his tail between his legs. Don't complain when you lose this race. Ford gave you every opportunity to show the public what you got and what your're about and you failed to seize the moment every time.

Rachel's picture

It's hard for me to see how

It's hard for me to see how this is a loser for Ford.  He didn't actually butt in and interupt Corker talking to reporters (at least as far as I can tell from the video); he just got himself some nifty footage with Corker and tied Iraq tighter around Corker's neck.

And somehow "this is my press conference" sounded a lot more petulant than "I paid for the microphone."  It's all in the delivery.

Number9's picture

I see I am in the minority

I see I am in the minority with my perception of this event. AC sums it up the same way I see it. Big mistake. What Ford did is show that the "ethics" scam issue is kryptonite to him. Corker has found a way to bring Ford's family into the debate and it is cloaked in acceptability. Expect Corker to be all "ethics" all the time.

Ford's body language could not have been worse. This was not a "senatorial" move. His half apology showed uncertainty. I call this move by Ford "reverse punked". How bad will the fallout be? If it cost Ford 2% it could be fatal.

Any bets on whether Ingram will use outtakes of this in upcoming ads?

JustJohnny's picture

nope.....

....but I bet Ford does!

R. Neal's picture

Pretty smart move by Ford if

Pretty smart move by Ford if you ask me. Ford won the parking lot face off hands down. When Corker chose to cut and run, Ford looked pretty good.

My only criticism would be that maybe Ford should have just gone back on message instead of trying to defend/deflect questions about being there in the first place. At least he kept telling the reporters to please, go on in and cover the press conference.

As for showing up there, this was a good example of why Ford is doing so well. He shows up. Which is about 90% of success.

Eleanor A's picture

I think it's Ford getting up

I think it's Ford getting up in Corker's face and threatening him. Not a bad idea. Corker's already going to use Ford's family and smear 'em every way he can, so what's Ford got to lose? Makes him look tougher, which is a good thing when you're running as a Democrat.

Also, as several folks have pointed out, this move dominated the news cycle. Ford's gotta get the focus off Corker's sleaze machine, and I think this was a great start.

Johnny Ringo's picture

As for showing up there,

As for showing up there, this was a good example of why Ford is doing so well. He shows up.

Sorry, but I can't agree with you here. Crashing an opponent's press conference, fundraiser, rally, etc. is a really classless thing to do. I've been really on the fence about this race, but I think Corker just got my vote.

Bbeanster's picture

You were on the

You were on the fence?
C'mon, J Ringo. Make a show of clutching your pearls at this breach of etiquitte if you like, but don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining. The R in your last name stands for Republican, and you were never voting for anybody but little Bob.

Eleanor A's picture

(Go Betty!! ;)

(Go Betty!! ;)

spintrep's picture

a lttle sheep sheering

sorry folks, but in my estimation, the ambush on Corkers news conference didn't look that hot. At least not by this one and only news release I watched.

And I doubt it did much for those on the fence, and that's the main audience you'r usually after, or at least careful not to alienate.

comments like "not senatorial" rung true and sounded really bad to me.

It seemed poorly planned and scripted, even somewhat desperate at times. (So Corker is shorter... this wasn't necessarily the best set dressing for the choreography.)

In the news story, it looked bad from the point he is being asked to leave private property. (Pushy politicians, playing by their own rules.) He looked like he was in a foreign country (arriving by bus no less,) rather than appearing to be at his strong homebase in the big M.

Figuring a better ambush shouldn't have been that hard.
Was Corker just flying in and out? Still better to have picked a better time and place.

... Ford starts in with a hurried paced question about Iraq, then jumps right to the complaint about the family thing - like he was unprepared or off balance. "I thought you agreed after the first debate.. " whatever. argumentative and too late. Came off more like an aggressive reporter (not a universally loved figure outside blog circles like this.)

The "defense of family" would have been a good card to play to justify an ambush, but he didn't pull it off here. After leading with the Iraq thing, he lost that strong clarity of purpose in crashing the event.

Had he presented the family thing and stood his ground **demanding a retraction of some kind within the first moments** he might have held the ground to force Corker to continue the exchange - or walk off looking the coward - all for the camera to clearly show.

This would have provided an opportunity to allow Jr to look strong had he played it right, but I say it's played out now.

I hope he finds another opportunity to defended his family effectively in debate or interview, but I don't think it's that strong an issue with the voter. (I think it has more to do with his personal honor - and he should let it go in the context of this race. I hear he is still talking about it.) Spending too much capital worrying about defending negatives seems unproductive. He's so dynamic when going positive with his variety of ideas and strong messages.

Corker looked predictably dull, and the clip from the actual news conference reinforced that, with his easily forgettable whatever he said... maybe Ford should have saved this ambush and found better effect by staging his own news conference - with a more exciting message to play on the news that evening.

Robby's picture

I kinda think everyone has

I kinda think everyone has missed the entire point here. Its not about style or scoring points or stealing news cycles. It's not about looking senatorial, neither candidate really looked that. Ford was a tad brash and Corker was caught whining. But hey in the heat of the moment each candidate gets a pass there.

NO one has mentioned what I think to be most important line of the whole confrontation, when Ford turns and walks toward Corker and says "What about this Iraq thing?"

Seriously, Bob. What about this Iraq thing? 80 US soliders dead this month alone, we've still got 8 days to go. Its been the bloodiest month in over 2 years there. There is no end in sight and Mr. Corker nor his backers have any idea how to stop or slow the bloodshed. What about this Iraq thing? Its only the most important issue to confront our nation since the end of the Cold War and you have nothing.

Government ethics is important don't get me wrong, but Corker wasnt there to talk about some groundbreaking ethics package that revitalize the US House and US Senate and free each chamber from the hold of Special Interests. In truth, his proposal was quite lame. He was using Memphis as his background to re-talk and re-focus his attacks on Harold Sr and again attempt to imply that SR lobbies Jr although the Corker campaign has admitted no evidence exists to prove that.

What about this Iraq thing? This should be the new rallying cry for all Ford supporters. Corker went to the airport hoping to launch a broadside attack on the Ford Family thru the guise of a "Government Ethics Reform" package, Ford Jr went there looking for answer about "this Iraq thing" from an opponent that has done nothing put talk out of both sides of his mouth on this issue (see "stay the Course" video on this blog.

What about this Iraq thing?

Bbeanster's picture

What about this Iraq

What about this Iraq thing?
Amen.
This is a five-star post, and I hope someone will forward this on to the candidate.

Stacey's picture

toe to toe

You're right, no talk on the press conference, but no real positives about Ford either, Patterson helped Corker look good and tv today, nice love fest. Stacey

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