Ford Leads Corker in Latest Poll, Bredesen Numbers Strong
NASHVILLE - After more than three months and $6 million of advertising by Bob Corker, U.S. Senate nominee Harold Ford leads heading into the final stretch of the race. A new poll sample of 1,118 likely Tennessee voters conducted Aug. 10-15 also shows Corker’s negatives have dramatically increased. The poll, conducted by Pete Brodnitz of Benenson Strategy Group for the Ford campaign, shows Democrats and independents coalescing behind Ford while Corker’s base is failing to unite. With a margin of error of +/- 2.93%, the poll shows Ford leading Corker by 2 points.
In June, internal polling showed Ford’s favorable rating at 47%. The new results show Ford’s favorable rating increasing to 55%. During the same period, Corker’s unfavorable rating increased sharply by 10 points from 16% to 26%.
“We are encouraged by the numbers to continue pursuing our aggressive strategy of staying on tv and radio with positive ads touting Harold Ford’s commitment to developing new energy sources and defeating terrorists here at home and abroad,” Ford Senior Advisor Michael Powell said.
“With national security, terrorism, immigration, the economy and healthcare foremost on voters’ minds heading into the crucial fall stretch, our polling shows that Tennesseans are convinced that better answers to these challenges exist than the ones the Republicans in Washington have offered,” Powell said. “Tennesseans are hungry for new and effective leadership in Washington, and that is what Harold Ford Jr. offers.”
In the gubernatorial contest, Governor Phil Bredesen’s favorability rating stands at a robust 77%, up 7% from June. The poll shows Bredesen leading Republican nominee Jim Bryson, a State senator from Williamson County, 66% to 19%.
As for the mood of the electorate, the poll shows that 58% of Tennesseans believe our country is on the wrong track, while 54% of Tennesseans believe our state is on the right track. Sixty percent of Tennesseans disapprove of President George W. Bush’s job performance.
