U.S. Senate candidate Ed Bryant said Wednesday that "Bob Corker’s silence on Harold Ford Jr.’s election year positioning on abortion is predictable given Corker’s well-documented record of support for abortion rights."

Mr. Bryant said, "The truth is Bob Corker and Harold Ford Jr. are two peas in a pod when it comes to both their records of supporting abortion rights, and their efforts to try and hide their records just to further their own political careers.

"Tennesseans tell me they want to be represented in the U.S. Senate by someone who has the courage of their convictions and who will provide principled, conservative leadership, not someone who flip-flops.

“Tennesseans know that I am the real conservative in this race – unlike Corker and Ford – that they can depend on to never let the winds of political opportunity lead me astray from my pledge to faithfully, and consistently, fight to protect our conservative Tennessee values in the U.S. Senate."

The Bryant campaign listed this "documentation":

Ford Voted For Partial-Birth Abortions, Before He Voted Against Them. “Ford also acknowledged that during his early days in Congress, he supported partial-birth abortion. ‘Three years in the Congress, I had a long conversation with a physician outside of a town hall setting in Memphis that really started to change my opinion on it,’ Ford said of partial-birth abortion. ‘The last four years, I have been an opponent and voted against it in the Congress. I’ve had an evolution in thinking and change of position.’” (Kingsport Times-News, 2/7/06)

Bob Corker In 1994: “I view it [abortion] as a personal issue, not a government issue.” (Bob Corker, Republican National Coalition for Life, 1994 Candidate Questionnaire, 7/9/94)

· “The abortion issue provoked some differing responses. Corker, asked whether he believed ‘an unborn fetus is a human being’ declared, after some hesitation, ‘To me, at a certain stage, that is true. (But) I believe that is a decision that each individual needs to make for themselves.’” (Knoxville News-Sentinel, 7/28/94)

Corker In 2005: “[I] am in a different place spiritually.” (Chattanoogan.com, 8/1/05)