One Sure Thing, Bill Frist's Successor Will Be More Colorful

Two of the Republicans in the race to fill Bill Frist's Senate seat are gaining early momentum. Bob Corker, a former mayor of Chattanooga, has amassed more money than any other candidate, Republican or Democrat. He's got three times more cash on hand than the likely Democratic nominee, Rep. Harold Ford Jr., according to Political Moneyline.

He's going to need it for the primary. Congressman Ed Bryant this week picked up the endorsement of an influential conservative group, Tennessee Right to Life. The group can move primary voters and has helped defeat Republican candidates who opposed its agenda. The early endorsement (the primary is in August 2006) reflects the group's fear that time will devour a candidate of their liking.

Political spectators are surely hoping for a Corker-Ford race. Both candidates come preloaded with baggage that's sure to surface in a campaign. In the sticks and stones department, Mr. Corker all but called Mr. Frist a cat killer in their 1994 senate primary (as a medical student Mr. Frist adopted cats and used them for dissections). Mr. Frist's campaign replied by calling Mr. Corker "pond scum."

As for Mr. Ford, his family business is politics and the family currently appears dysfunctional. His uncle, John Ford, is a former state senator who's involved in a bunch of scandals. Among them: An FBI sting that led to federal corruption charges, and his attempt to wiggle out of child-support payments to former girlfriends by using a law he sponsored that relieves a father with multiple families from paying for more than one.