We’ve said for a while that the potential vote for U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. will be elevated by national media attention to this storyline: ย“Can a bright young charismatic African-American congressman overcome racial bias and his family history to win a pivotal swing-state election for the Democrats?ย”

Newsweek hits this very point head-on with an article, ย“Digging for Dirt in Dixie,ย” which takes the Republicans to task for alleging a sybaritic lifestyle for the Memphis congressman (ย“Armani suits, four-star hotels and day-spa pedicuresย”) on the Web site www.fancyford.com. Key lines in the newsmagazineย’s story: ย“Ford wants to be the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction. And donย’t forget family history.ย” Mayor Willie Herenton, no Ford lover, recently said, ย“Folks who live outside Tennessee, they donย’t have a damn vote!ย” No, but folks in Tennessee do have Newsweek subscriptions.