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Tavis: Halimah Abdullah is a political reporter for the Memphis 'Commercial Appeal' who's been covering the Senate battle between Harold Ford, Jr. and Bob Corker. She's previously written for 'The New York Times' and the religion-based website BeliefNet. She joins us tonight from Memphis. Halimah, nice to have you on the program.

Halimah Abdullah: Oh, good to be here. Thank you for having me.

Tavis: My pleasure. So everybody across the country, certainly those who are political animals, have been following this race. So let me start by asking the obvious. How close is it?

Abdullah: Very close. It's fairly neck-in-neck here in Tennessee.

Tavis: What makes this race too close to call?

Abdullah: Early on, I think both parties weren't expecting quite this level of a horse race between the two candidates. But several weeks ago, Harold Ford, Jr., the Congressman from Memphis, picked up a lot of momentum. And he's been going full steam ever since.

Tavis: What happened a few weeks ago that caused that momentum to kick in?

Abdullah: Well, one of the things that happened, actually, back in August, after the Republican primary, was that the candidate who emerged from that primary basically had to take a little bit of a breather. It was quite a contentious primary between the three candidates in that particular race, and when Corker paused to take a breath, very briefly, roughly a week or so. Ford just kept going, and ever since, he's kind of steamrolled ahead and is fairly neck-in-neck.

Tavis: I know Harold Ford, Jr. well, and I know what makes Harold Ford, Jr. run. The question I wanna ask you from your prism is what makes Harold Ford, Jr. think he can win in Tennessee as a Black man? Running for Bill Frist's seat, no less.

Abdullah: I think that for Congressman Ford and for the National Democratic Party, there's definitely some excitement about some attitudes among voters both here in the state and nationally. Concerns about the Bush administration polling numbers that have been low, worries about the war in Iraq and those types of efforts, and excitement about the fact that another moderate Democrat, Governor Bredesen, was elected to a statewide position a few years ago. So those things combined kind of adds a degree of excitement to the Ford campaign.

Tavis: Again, everybody covering this race has made note of this time and time again, that Harold Ford, Jr. is trying to do the impossible as an African American. Speak to that part of the equation, and how that, at the moment, is factoring, the race question, that is, factoring into this race?

Abdullah: It's been interesting to watch that issue play out, or to some degree, watch how it hasn't exactly played out. Our paper, the Memphis 'Commercial Appeal,' along with 'Mason-Dixon' and another paper out east did a poll asking people exactly that question, whether or not people would feel comfortable voting for an African American. And of course in the poll, people say of course.

And so would my friends. Whether or not that will bear out will be interesting to see. But as he canvasses the state trying to get votes and connect with voters, the race issue has been less of an issue. What's been a bigger issue has been the family issue.

Tavis: Speak to the family issue.

Abdullah: Congressman Ford is in a position where there are several family members of his who have had some legal problems. His father, several years ago, was under indictment for bank fraud charges. Those charges were dropped, he was found not guilty, I should say. He has an uncle who is currently facing indictments, and that trial will be in February of this year coming up.

An aunt ran for a state Senate seat, and ended up having to basically be ousted from that seat because it was discovered that there were dead voter names and felon names on the rolls. And most recently, his middle brother, brother just under him, Jake Ford, announced that he had been arrested for simple assaults, marijuana possession, and driving while under the influence, charges that were also dropped. So these things combined have kind of created this climate of tension for Congressman Ford as he tries to make this bid.

Tavis: Halimah and I, or actually Halimah just jumped into a brilliant analysis of the Ford family in Tennessee. I should mention for those who are watching who don't know the history of this family that as you can hear now, Harold Ford, Jr. comes from a very political family. They're kind of like the Kennedys in Massachusetts. He's from a very political family in Memphis.

His father, of course, had the Congressional seat for many, many years that Harold Ford, Jr. now has. He's very much a part of a political family, and that's why in this particular race, that family issue is so important. That said, let me go back to the polls that your paper, 'Mason-Dixon,' and others have been conducting that find that people in Tennessee say they could vote for an African American candidate.

I don't find that surprising. This is the state that Dr. King was assassinated in. Harold Ford, Jr. hails from that city, and for many, many years I've been going to Memphis, and I know that folk in that state, you know it better than I do, have done everything they could, and want to put that kind of ugly past and history behind them in Tennessee. So I'm not surprised that they would tell pollsters this.

I say all that to say that I used to work for a guy here in California, the late, great mayor of this city named Tom Bradley, who ran for governor of California, and I learned the hard way that folk will tell you one thing in a poll, but when they pull that curtain, they do something different. What's your sense of how that might play out in Tennessee?

Abdullah: I think it's too early to tell. I think that you're absolutely right, and that's something that political scholars here have kind of been wondering of late, whether or not any of this kind of punditry talk about how voters will vote, whether or not it'll be along racial lines. It's just too early to tell. You are absolutely correct that people do say one thing (laugh) when they're being called by pollsters anonymously on the telephone, and another thing when they cast the ballot. So, we'll just have to wait and see.

Tavis: Across the country, one of the things that has energized Democrats is not just that Harold Ford, Jr. has pulled even in this race, at one point was ahead, but now a dead even race as you said earlier, too close to call. But Democrats have gotten excited in part because of whether you like him or loathe him, think he will win or not win, Harold Ford, Jr., by all accounts, has run a very, very good campaign, yes?

Abdullah: I would say that one of the things that actually has impressed people in the state, as least those that I've talked to as I've kind of traveled along with the campaign, and folks nationally, is the level of sophistication, especially in terms of a media campaign that Congressman Ford has been able to mount. As you know, he's been on the cover of 'Newsweek,' he's often on MSNBC and other national media outlets, and that, coupled with his presence in commercials and things of that nature, and the energy that he brings to his campaign, has kind of helped create this groundswell of excitement.

Tavis: It's getting close to the end here, and I know the Republicans are pouring a lot of money into this seat. We've been reading everywhere that this has become now, in the final days of the campaign, one of their, one of their defining moments in terms of campaigns. They do not want to suffer the embarrassment of losing the seat that now belongs to their majority leader to a Democrat out of Tennessee. That said, how's Harold Ford, Jr.'s money holding up?

Abdullah: That is the question of the hour. Actually, for both candidates, the wells are running a little dry. And understand, too, that when we talk about wells running dry, we're talking about, for example, I think as of the last FEC filing, Congressman Ford had on hand about three-quarters of a million dollars. And Mayor Corker, his Republican opponent, had about half a million dollars.

Since then, they've both raised about a million dollars. So this isn't exactly small change, but these glossy commercials, running a campaign with lots of staff, criss-crossing the state on a bus, these things take money. And both national parties are definitely pouring quite a bit of money into it to help buffet these campaigns.

Tavis: I got 10 seconds left, let me ask you right quick whether or not your paper, the 'Commercial Appeal,' has yet made an endorsement?

Abdullah: We have not.

Tavis: Okay. Is it your sense the paper will endorse in the race?

Abdullah: Yes, our paper will definitely endorse.

Tavis: Okay. Halimah Abdullah with the Memphis 'Commercial Appeal,' following the Harold Ford, Jr.-Bob Corker race in Tennessee. Nice to have you on the program. We look forward to seeing how this turns out in just a few weeks from now. Thank you for your time.

Abdullah: Thank you for having me.

Tavis: Glad to have you on the program. Up next on this program, I get a chance to talk to not one, but two legends at the same time. They got a new CD out together, finally. George Benson and Al Jarreau. Stay with us.