Hey, the heat worked, here's what Josh Marshall has on Harold Ford's just released statement on Social Security:"I do not support changing the Social Security system as has been proposed by President Bush, nor do I support Social Security proposals advanced by the CATO Institute. In fact, both of these proposals have the potential to harm current beneficiaries by paying for the transition costs by issuing debt. Piling on more red ink to the existing federal budget deficit and the national debt will do both long and short term harm to our economy. I do believe that the system needs to be reformed but I do not support changing the Social Security system as President Bush has proposed."Good. That said, I don't think central Memphis is that great a place for a Democrat to come out of for a statewide race in Tennessee. It's gonna be tough for Ford to win statewide, what's the way he does it?

It looks like Mayor Corker, from Chattanooga, the guy that branded Frist as the "cat killer" (Frist got cats from the pound to use as med-school transplant guinea pigs), a Bush pioneer, but also a friend of the Democratic Governor Bredesen, has the quick start in fundraising. With Zach Wamp likely to break his term-limit pledge and stay in Congress, Ed Bryant is there, and Van Hilleary might run, but Corker looks like the GOP frontrunner.