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Friday, 09/15/06
Ford campaign ad filmed in church
Corker turned off by setting that one political expert says is unusual choice
By BONNA de la CRUZStaff Writer
With a stained-glass window behind him, candidate Harold Ford Jr. strolls through the Memphis church where he was baptized to tell voters this is the place where he learned right from wrong.
Using a church sanctuary as the backdrop in his newest campaign commercial, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate has picked an unusual setting. One expert on religion and politics said it was the first political ad he'd heard of actually filmed inside a sanctuary.
Not everyone is saying hallelujah. Those turned off by it include Ford's opponent, Republican Bob Corker, and a national religious liberty group.
Some say it was a smart move.
"Most Americans are religious people, and finding out about a candidate's faith and finding where his values came from would be appreciated," said John Green, a senior fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. He couldn't recall another campaign ad filmed in a church.
Ford is vying with Corker for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. It's a race getting national attention, because Tennessee voters could tip the balance of power in the Senate, as well as send the first African American to the Senate from the South since Reconstruction.
Read more: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060915/NEWS0206/609150410/1016/NEWS02
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