Republican operatives speaking on background say that while they initially believed that split ticket voting would prevail, putting Corker in the U.S. Senate and Bredesen back in the governor’s office, they are now close to hitting the panic button.

They are afraid a lackluster Corker campaign combined with Ford’s charisma, voter dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush, Bredesen’s popularity among Republicans, and a Christian conservative base that is not convinced Corker is a reliable voice for them will result in a Democratic sweep in November. ~NashvillePost.com

As I was remarking to Michael the other day, I thought it could not be a good sign for the GOP that I literally had no idea until a couple weeks ago that Corker was the Republican candidate for Senate in Tennessee.  He is apparently better known to Tennesseans, but it seemed to me that if a political junkie and blogger such as myself had never heard his name mentioned once all year long it was probably a sign that something was going wrong somewhere with his campaign.  Apparently the Tennessee GOP received a dressing-down for their “unacceptable” performance in fundraising and mobilising the troops.  Ford, by contrast, was already something of a national media figure and comes across not only as charismatic but also reasonable and intelligent, and he seems to be campaigning well even though his family ties to corrupt relatives may hurt him.  What do our Tennessean friends have to say about this, I wonder? 

Update: Oh, here is one Tennessean’s remarks.