Demagogue

The last three times Tennesseans have voted in a U.S. Senate race, the Republican nominee has won by an average of 22 percentage points. So when Dems nominated a black candidate this year, the conventional wisdom was that five-term U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr., didn't have a chance in hell.

But politics is full of surprises. Two of the last three polls in Tennessee have Ford leading his GOP opponent, Bob Corker. The third have the two candidates tied. Barring any missteps by Ford's campaign, this one could be decided by turnout.