Memphis Commercial Appeal: Harold Ford challenges Mason-Dixon poll

[DeepModem Mom]

Ford challenges poll
New numbers give Corker a solid 50-38 lead
By David Waters
November 5, 2006


A.J. Wolfe/The Commercial Appeal
Former congressman Harold Ford Sr. (left) watches his son, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, at a rally at Poplar Plaza. Earlier in the day, Harold Ford Jr. campaigned in Middle and East Tennessee.

With a new poll showing Republican Bob Corker's lead over Democrat Harold Ford Jr. surging to double digits days before Tuesday's election, both U.S. Senate campaigns scrambled Saturday to keep voters engaged and motivated.

The latest Mason-Dixon Tennessee Poll, conducted by telephone Wednesday through Friday, showed Corker leading Ford 50-38 percent among 625 likely voters. Two weeks ago, the poll -- sponsored by The Commercial Appeal, the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, MSNBC and McClatchy Newspapers -- gave Corker a 45-43 lead.

Ford changed his campaign schedule Saturday to fly from Knoxville back to Memphis to condemn the poll and encourage supporters.
"In all of these polls, the methodology has to be questioned," Ford said Saturday afternoon at a rally at the corner of Poplar and Highland. "All internal polls show this race as a dead heat."

Ford added that the polls don't reflect early votes, which totaled 867,000 statewide. In Shelby County, 142,411 people, nearly a quarter of all registered voters, cast absentee and early ballots....(T)o Ford's campaign, it was another example of a "flawed" public poll that under-represents Democrats, African-Americans and young voters, and fails to account for the deluge in early voting that shows Democratic turnout up as much as 30 percent....

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/politics/article/0,1426,MCA_1496_5119722,00.html