VOLuntarilyConservative

I'll be posting about the happenings (and with Harold Ford, Jr.'s crashing skills on display, there were a few) at the Duncan BBQ later on today. As in, I will post after my court appearances.

In the meantime, check out this tale of Harold Ford, Sr. - who Jr. says has nothing to do with his campaign - blowing his top at National Right to Life leadership as they attempted to hold a press conference in Memphis. (What is it about Ford's and their aversion to Memphis press conferences?)

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Today (Tuesday, October 24, 2006), at about 11 AM Central Time, a senior staff member for National Right to Life, Brian Johnston, on assignment for the National Right to Life PAC, attempted to hold a press conference outside the Ford for Senate campaign headquarters in Memphis. The purpose of the press conference was to highlight Harold Ford Jr.'s strongly pro-abortion voting record (and thus, the deceptiveness of his recent labeling of himself as "pro-life").

The idea for having such a press conference, and the location, were chosen entirely by Mr. Johnston. Mr. Johnston is representing the National Right to Life PAC, which is entirely independent of the Bob Corker campaign. Mr. Johnston was accompanied by a friend, local resident Stan Schultz, who is a past president of the Right to Life affiliate for Tennessee. Mr. Schultz brought a small home video camera to record the press conference. The local media had been advised of the press conference, its sponsorship, and its purposes, about a day earlier.

Before the press conference properly got started, Harold Ford SENIOR -- the candidate's father -- came out of the building, denounced the proceedings, and deliberately tried to block the shots of the sole TV camera present, from Fox13, the local Fox affiliate. As the tape rolled, Ford used his cell phone to call Fox13 news director Ken Jobe to complain about the presence of the Fox camera, and to insist (wrongly) that a Corker campaign operative was also taping the event (he was referring to Mr. Schultz, with his little home video camera).

You can review Fox13's report on the incident on the station's website here. The correspondent, Les Smith, was not present during the incident, and for some reason he treats the identity of Johnston and Schultz -- whom he refers to "alleged pro-life protestors" -- as an unsolved mystery. This treatment by Smith is itself a mystery, since the press conference was announced well in advance, and Brian Johnston had provided the Fox13 cameraman with his business card and with a packet of information, embrazoned with the National Right to Life logo, about Harold Ford Jr.'s pro-abortion voting record. In addition. both Johnston and Schultz had identified themselves verbally for the Fox13 cameraman.

Moreover, Johnston also gave his business card to Mr. Ford, and he told Mr. Ford that Schultz was also with Right to Life.

Fox13's Les Smith arrived at the Ford headquarters while Johnston was still on the scene, and spoke to Ford Sr., but he showed no interest in talking to Johnston.

Fox News Network's Brit Hume used a shorter clip from this local footage on his Special Report today (October 24), on the national Fox network.

The intemperate response by Harold Ford Sr. is interesting for at least two reasons. First, it demonstates how eager the Ford people are to deflect attention away from Harold Junior's strongly pro-abortion voting record. Second, although Harold Junior has publicly insisted that his father not part of his campaign, it sure looked like Harold Senior was calling the shots at the Memphis headquarters today.

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