Last night was the final night of Vanderiblt’s IMPACT Symposium for 2007. Harold Ford, Jr. had some tough acts to follow, and it showed. After being more than 20 minutes late for the pre-lecture media availability, he gave an undirected, off-the-cuff set of remarks heavy on namedropping and light on substance. The *ahem* lecture barely lasted 30 minutes, and I was unable to detect a thesis. Mostly, it seemed to be a scattershot smorgasbord of platitudes about optimism and American greatness. During the very brief media availability, the congressman was asked if he would speak to negative advertising in his address. He said that he would not unless asked about it by a questioner. Then, during the speech, he referenced having been asked that during the media availability. I truly wonder if the entire speech was extemporaneous. If I had been responsible for the outlay of a multi-thousand-dollar speaker’s fee, I would have asked for my money back. During Q & A, he often strayed so far from the original question asked as to render his answer nearly meaningless.

Still, despite the disappointing content of the evening, one thing remained clear: Ford is a talented politician. He, more than the other two speakers, went out of his way to thank the speaker’s committee that had made the symposium possible. He also worked the audience, giving several shout-outs. And his invocations of prayer and blessing the president’s heart seemed to find a sympathetic audience. He made no bones about how he hoped “soon” to return to a significant opportunity to continue to pursue public service.

Fortunately, he ended on a note of humility, recognizing Mr. Dobbs and Speaker Gingrich as true media and political heavyweights, whereas he was now just a professor who had lost a U.S. Senate race.

It was not the best $10 I’ve ever spent, but I feel like I got a preview of someone who is still campaigning.

This post was written by Freddie