First, the scene when I arrived was awe-inspiring for a Tennessee election. There were barricades and police set up, at least 4 different live camera crews, and a crowd that could be heard 1500 feet away. Almost all of this early crowd was for Harold Ford, the Democratic candidate for office. There had been a preplanned rally by the Ford campaign that went out on the student leader's list approximately two days before, so I would not view this as indiciative of the general philosophical leanings of the university, but rather on better management by the street team.
I was led past two barricades (with no check of the ticket), lead into the auditorium (with only a cursory check of the ticket) and then lead by a couple of hostesses to my seat (with a more through examination of the ticket). I arrived approximately 40 minutes before the debate started. As debate time approached, about 20% of the seats remained unfilled. The organizers of the debate started offering tickets to the people outside, which were mostly partisan supporters of Ford at this point (as Fenno would say, these were in Ford's "Primary" constituency).
Among the last to be let in were various staff members of each campaign. I had managed through sheer force of will and hard staring to keep the seats on either side of my open, but at the last minute a lovely woman from the Corker campaign walked down the row and took one of my seats. I was in row Q, by the way, so a fair way back, about 5 rows from the back of the auditorium. We had a conversation about the campaign, and about my home town (Johnson City), which she said she would have loved to visit, but did not have a chance to do so [and why would she? Johnson City and all of Northeast Tennessee is already firmly in her candidate's pocket]. I unfortunately did not get her name. She did manage to insinuate in her brief time with me that Ford was not to be trusted (she brought up his family, and his brother's conspicuous absense), as well as that all professors, especially polisci professors, were extremely liberal and biased against her candidate. I actually think almost all of my professors here at Vanderbilt are to the right of me, and I'm hardly Karl Marx; though, to be fair, I do attend the school of engineering and not the liberal bastion of academia, Arts and Science.
One surprise to me was how the candidates were let in early to "vamp" the audience, much as a comedian or performer might. At this, even taking into account my personal bias and the bias of the crowd, Harold Ford excelled. He has an incredible personal charisma that had most of the attention (and all of the laughs) focused on him.
Another surprise was how low-tech the debate was. The League of Women Voters sponsored the event, and when the first couple announcers came up they had difficulties with the PA system. Even during the debate these problems were not quite eliminated. The time was kept by a person in the first row holding up cards that said "30 seconds" or whatever on them.
Chris Clarke, a local newsman from Channel 5, was the moderator for the event. He was a very no-nonsense kind of guy. At one point after a question he told the candidates, "Now look here. If y'all want to change the rules and ask questions of each other, then I'll be glad to do it, but otherwise cut this nonsense out." He also had the astounding habit of getting Ford and Corker mixed up for almost the entire night (or at least their names mixed up).
Most of the questions came from audience members, and most of them were young. Harold Ford asked every young person their ages, which ranged from 17 to 22. He tried to make a point of the fact that he was young whenever possible, though even he laughed when Bob Corker said, "Well, I may not be close to your age, son, but I have two young daughters your age..." which was a masterful retort from Corker to this tactic.
The debate itself was ho-hum. I personally thought Ford did a little better, but I wasn't blown away by his debating skills. Neither was I impressed with Corker's skills. Corker tried to pivot everything to his "Tennessee life" and "Tennessee values." He's trying to make the race about character and person, while Ford is trying to make this an issue campaign.
Neither Ford nor Corker represents my values very well. I'm an extreme social liberal, while being economically moderate. These candidates are both socially conservative. Harold Ford made some references to his religion, especially in his closing statement which focused on his faith for a good 20-30 seconds. Harold Ford supported the Torture Bill, and both candidates support tightening borders (which everyone supports until their loaves of bread cost $6 and they can't get fruit).
Harold Ford was interrupted for applause probably 5-6 times during the deabte, while Corker was interrupted only once for applause and perhaps a couple more times for laughter at a sardonic point. The charisma competition is really no contest, with Ford winning hands down, though Corker does have some of the good ole' boy charm.
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