Oct 11, 4:47 PM EDT
A Ford 'political machine'? Repubs say yes, but academics say no
By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Looking for an edge in the tight U.S. Senate race,
Republican Bob Corker points to what he calls the "machine-type politics" of
Democrat Harold Ford Jr.'s family in Memphis.
"A Ford machine? There isn't one," said political scientist Marcus Pohlmann.
"I think it's partly a code word to tie Junior to his less popular father
and uncle, to talk about them as a single entity."
Ford has represented Memphis in the U.S. House for 10 years and comes from
one of the most politically active families in the city's history.
His father, Harold Ford Sr., was in Washington for 22 years before him and
was Tennessee's first black member of Congress. An uncle, John Ford, was for
more than 30 years one of the best-known, and most infamous, members of the
state Senate.
John Ford resigned last year after he was indicted on federal corruption
charges and is awaiting trial. After two trials, Harold Ford Sr. was
acquitted of federal bank fraud charges in 1993.
A political organization built by Ford Sr., one of 12 siblings, was a
driving force in the growth of black political power in Memphis in the
1970s.
Fords have been elected to numerous local offices and state legislative
seats, among them Ophelia Ford whose 2005 election to replace John in the
state Senate was voided because of voting irregularities. She's back on the
ballot this year.
But to say the Ford family dominates politics in Memphis, a predominantly
black city, is inaccurate, said Pohlmann of Rhodes College.
Willie Herenton, the city's first elected black mayor now in his fourth
term, is an outspoken critic of the Fords, and a prominent Ford family
member, County Commissioner Joe Ford, lost badly when he tried to unseat
Herenton in 1999.
"You've got a much more diverse black electorate these days, and it's not
under the thumb of any political machine by any stretch of the imagination,"
Pohlmann said.
Todd Womack, a spokesman for Corker, disagreed.
"I think people know a machine when they see it," Womack said. "The Ford
political machine has been written about in newspapers all over the state
for many years."
Harold Ford Jr. should tell the voters, Womack said, "if he plans to
activate the Ford political machine in this race."
Independent polls show a tight race between Ford and Corker, a former
Chattanooga mayor, as they seek to replace Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist.
If elected, Ford would be the first black senator from the South since
Reconstruction and the first Democratic senator from Tennessee since 1990.
After his victory in the Republican primary in August, Corker said he had no
plans to talk about Ford's family while campaigning for the Nov. 7 election.
But at their first debate Oct. 7 in Memphis, Corker said politics is a
"family business" for the Fords and it's a "machine-type politics."
At a second debate Tuesday in Chattanooga, he questioned Ford Jr.'s dealings
in Congress with Harold Ford Sr., who is now a lobbyist.
"Attacking my father has no place in this campaign, Mr. Corker," Ford
responded.
"I didn't think he could stoop any lower into the gutter than he already has
in this campaign," Ford continued. "But it looks as if rock bottom hasn't
hit there yet."
Corker also has pointed out that Ford Jr.'s younger brother, Jake Ford, is
running as an independent candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant 9th District
seat after a cousin, Joe Ford Jr., was eliminated in the Democratic primary.
Having two family members in the race is an attempt "to ensure that a Ford
is in this seat," Corker said during the Memphis debate.
But Bruce Oppenheimer, a Vanderbilt political scientist, said Jake Ford's
candidacy as an independent is no indicator of political strength.
"If there was a machine, then he would have gotten the nomination, the
Democratic nomination," Oppenheimer said.
Memphis was run by a political boss, E.H. Crump, in the early 1900s, but by
the 1970s, government reforms had wiped out most political machines in U.S.
cities.
"But we do create what appears to be family dynasties in politics,"
Oppenheimer said. "(Political machine) may be a convenient term, but it's
not an accurate description ... If one wanted to talk in those terms, then I
guess one would say, 'Oh, there's a Bush political machine nationally.'"
Charles Crawford, a University of Memphis history professor, said Ford
family members elected to local offices generally have influence in small
pockets of the city, mostly in predominantly black neighborhoods.
"It's not highly organized," Crawford said. "I think of it more as a network
or an extended family."
But come election time, family members can be seemingly everywhere, and John
Ryder, a longtime Republican activist, disagreed with the academic
assessment of Ford organization.
"From the lofty realms of the ivory towers it may not look like a machine,
but down at the ground level it looks like a machine," Ryder said.
A Ford 'political machine'? Repubs say yes, but academics say no
By WOODY BAIRD
Associated Press Writer
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Looking for an edge in the tight U.S. Senate race,
Republican Bob Corker points to what he calls the "machine-type politics" of
Democrat Harold Ford Jr.'s family in Memphis.
"A Ford machine? There isn't one," said political scientist Marcus Pohlmann.
"I think it's partly a code word to tie Junior to his less popular father
and uncle, to talk about them as a single entity."
Ford has represented Memphis in the U.S. House for 10 years and comes from
one of the most politically active families in the city's history.
His father, Harold Ford Sr., was in Washington for 22 years before him and
was Tennessee's first black member of Congress. An uncle, John Ford, was for
more than 30 years one of the best-known, and most infamous, members of the
state Senate.
John Ford resigned last year after he was indicted on federal corruption
charges and is awaiting trial. After two trials, Harold Ford Sr. was
acquitted of federal bank fraud charges in 1993.
A political organization built by Ford Sr., one of 12 siblings, was a
driving force in the growth of black political power in Memphis in the
1970s.
Fords have been elected to numerous local offices and state legislative
seats, among them Ophelia Ford whose 2005 election to replace John in the
state Senate was voided because of voting irregularities. She's back on the
ballot this year.
But to say the Ford family dominates politics in Memphis, a predominantly
black city, is inaccurate, said Pohlmann of Rhodes College.
Willie Herenton, the city's first elected black mayor now in his fourth
term, is an outspoken critic of the Fords, and a prominent Ford family
member, County Commissioner Joe Ford, lost badly when he tried to unseat
Herenton in 1999.
"You've got a much more diverse black electorate these days, and it's not
under the thumb of any political machine by any stretch of the imagination,"
Pohlmann said.
Todd Womack, a spokesman for Corker, disagreed.
"I think people know a machine when they see it," Womack said. "The Ford
political machine has been written about in newspapers all over the state
for many years."
Harold Ford Jr. should tell the voters, Womack said, "if he plans to
activate the Ford political machine in this race."
Independent polls show a tight race between Ford and Corker, a former
Chattanooga mayor, as they seek to replace Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist.
If elected, Ford would be the first black senator from the South since
Reconstruction and the first Democratic senator from Tennessee since 1990.
After his victory in the Republican primary in August, Corker said he had no
plans to talk about Ford's family while campaigning for the Nov. 7 election.
But at their first debate Oct. 7 in Memphis, Corker said politics is a
"family business" for the Fords and it's a "machine-type politics."
At a second debate Tuesday in Chattanooga, he questioned Ford Jr.'s dealings
in Congress with Harold Ford Sr., who is now a lobbyist.
"Attacking my father has no place in this campaign, Mr. Corker," Ford
responded.
"I didn't think he could stoop any lower into the gutter than he already has
in this campaign," Ford continued. "But it looks as if rock bottom hasn't
hit there yet."
Corker also has pointed out that Ford Jr.'s younger brother, Jake Ford, is
running as an independent candidate for the soon-to-be-vacant 9th District
seat after a cousin, Joe Ford Jr., was eliminated in the Democratic primary.
Having two family members in the race is an attempt "to ensure that a Ford
is in this seat," Corker said during the Memphis debate.
But Bruce Oppenheimer, a Vanderbilt political scientist, said Jake Ford's
candidacy as an independent is no indicator of political strength.
"If there was a machine, then he would have gotten the nomination, the
Democratic nomination," Oppenheimer said.
Memphis was run by a political boss, E.H. Crump, in the early 1900s, but by
the 1970s, government reforms had wiped out most political machines in U.S.
cities.
"But we do create what appears to be family dynasties in politics,"
Oppenheimer said. "(Political machine) may be a convenient term, but it's
not an accurate description ... If one wanted to talk in those terms, then I
guess one would say, 'Oh, there's a Bush political machine nationally.'"
Charles Crawford, a University of Memphis history professor, said Ford
family members elected to local offices generally have influence in small
pockets of the city, mostly in predominantly black neighborhoods.
"It's not highly organized," Crawford said. "I think of it more as a network
or an extended family."
But come election time, family members can be seemingly everywhere, and John
Ryder, a longtime Republican activist, disagreed with the academic
assessment of Ford organization.
"From the lofty realms of the ivory towers it may not look like a machine,
but down at the ground level it looks like a machine," Ryder said.
posted by 
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home