Democrat Harold Ford, just last week leading by five points in his race against Bob Corker for the open U.S. Senate seat in Tennessee, has fallen to two points below in the latest Mason-Dixon poll.  This, of course, sucks. 

Yes, I know, this just makes it a statistical dead heat.  But with the Democrats needing to win two out of three of the races in Missouri, Tennessee, and Virginia to capture the Senate, and Democrat Jim Webb consistently trailing Republican Sen. George Allen in Virginia, Tennessee has to go to Ford. 

He's run the best damn Senate race in the country.  But he's still up against an entrenched racism that no one wants to talk about, and is on everyone's mind.  Check out the latest Republican National Committee ad hitting Ford, if you doubt.  Kudos to Mr. Ed for the tip.

Of course, the RNC, which announces itself in the ad as its sponsor, denies it has control over it.  Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman explains:

Even though a woman's voice discloses that "the Republican National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising," Mehlman said the RNC was not, in fact, responsible.  He said the ad was produced by an independent group contracted by the RNC, with whom he is prohibited from communicating.

"The way that process works under the campaign reform laws is I write a check to an independent individual and that person's responsible for spending money in certain states," he said.  Beyond that, he said, the RNC is out of the loop.


Like hell they are.