Congressman Ford Faces Hurdles As Black Senate Candidate in Southern State
/Roll Call's Cillizza reports
Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-09) "faces a daunting record of failure for
black candidates seeking Senate seats in the South." Recent examples
include '02 TX nominee Ron Kirk (D), '90/'96 NC nominee Harvey Gantt
(D), and '04 GA nominee Denise Majette (D). "Both Kirk and Gantt became
national figures during their respective races -- raising millions of
dollars" from Dems across the country -- "but ultimately came up well
short of victory due to an inability to convince a significant number
of white voters to cast a ballot for them." Joint Cntr for Political
and Econ. Studies analyst David Bositis said that "there is still
racially polarized voting in the South," but added that because TN is a
border state Ford may run into less of a roadblock than Gantt and Kirk
did. Ever since his '96 election at age 26, "Ford has been seen as
perhaps the best chance for a black candidate to break the streak of
statewide defeats in the South. Prior to the overwhelming victory" of
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), "Ford was the odds-on bet to be the first
black male" Dem elected to the Senate. He "initially contemplated" an
'00 run against Sen. Bill Frist (R) "but ultimately backed away from
what was seen as a long-shot candidacy." [more]
