National parties roil Tennessee race

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NASHVILLE -- Both the Republican candidate, Bob Corker, and the Democratic candidate, Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. complain that the national parties are slinging so much "mud" here that they can barely get their points across to voters.

The stakes are huge in Tennessee. Control of the U.S. Senate may hinge on the result here.

Mr. Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, asked the Republican National Committee (RNC) to take down an ad that first aired Friday accusing Mr. Ford of taking money from pornographers, and said it hinted at interracial dating -- the ending shows a scantily clad, white blonde winking and saying, "Hey, Harold call me."

"The new RNC ad we have just seen on our local broadcast outlets is tacky, over the top and is not reflective of the kind of campaign we are running," said Tom Ingram, Corker campaign chairman, adding that the campaign asked that a radio ad be pulled two weeks ago.

After viewing the ad, Mr. Ford lost his cool and confronted Mr. Corker, ambush style, just before a press conference at a Friday campaign stop at the Memphis airport. He got in Mr. Corker's face and asked him to stop talking about his family, then asked him to talk about Iraq.

"I really just wanted to ask him about this ad," Mr. Ford said.

Just days earlier, Mr. Corker was asked about other ads that had been aired.

"As you know, we can't talk directly with the [National Republican Senatorial Committee] or the RNC, so I don't know about 'em till I see them, but if we see an ad we don't like, we'll ask for it to be pulled," he said.

Not one of the polls that have come out this month shows either candidate gaining any momentum or building a solid lead. This campaign could be the most widely watched with reporters from Britain, South Korea and Canada following both men around the state.

Most voters and political analysts say that western Tennessee will heavily support Mr. Ford, while the eastern part of the state will go to Mr. Corker, leaving the battleground, where the attack ads are the heaviest, in the state's midlands around Nashville and to the south.