Shuster failed to challenge Corker when he blamed "independent" groups for ads run by his campaign and the RNC

On the November 30 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, guest host and MSNBC correspondent David Shuster failed to challenge the claim by Sen.-elect Bob Corker (R-TN) that "a lot of independent expenditure groups that got involved" in his Senate race against Democratic challenger Rep. Harold Ford Jr. had "changed the tone of the race." In fact, Corker's campaign ran at least one radio advertisement that was criticized as racially charged, and the ads Corker attributed to "independent expenditure groups" were, in fact, paid for by the Republican National Committee (RNC), which Shuster failed to note.

As Media Matters for America has noted, one RNC ad featured a scantily clad white woman posing as someone who "met" Ford "at the Playboy party," who then invites Ford, an African-American, to "call" her. As the Los Angeles Times noted, "Critics said the ad ... plays on fears of interracial relationships." At the time, then-chairman of the RNC Ken Mehlman denied he had the authority to stop the ad, but also characterized it as "a fair ad."

Another ad, paid for by the Corker campaign, was described as having "what sounds like tom-tom drums playing in the background every time the ad talks about Dem Harold Ford, Jr." That report, written by blogger Greg Sargent at the website TPM Election Central, quoted Bill Lockhart, the program director for radio station WGOW in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as saying that the ad was "overtly racial."

Additionally, in an October 23 interview with CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, Corker claimed, "I've never said a negative word about [Ford's] family." As Media Matters noted, that claim was false: Corker's campaign repeatedly attacked Ford's family, calling it "the Ford Political Machine."

From the November 30 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

SHUSTER: Finally, Bob, you were in a tough campaign until a couple of weeks ago. Is there anything about that emotionally charged campaign that you regret?

CORKER: No. You know, it's really interesting. The people who watched the race -- I've seen one thing -- they were watching commercials and listening to the radio and all that. And when you're out on the campaign trail, all you feel is the positive energy of the campaign. I'm really proud of the race that we ran. As you know, there were a lot of independent expenditure groups that got involved and, I think, changed the tone of the race, and I will tell you this, as I move into the Senate, that's something I want to address. And I think the candidate ought to have some ability to approve what those independent expenditure ads say, and I think that was not positive, but I'm really proud of the race that I ran, our team ran, and all of our supporters were involved in.

SHUSTER: Well, thank you, Senator-elect Corker. Good luck here in Washington, and we look forward to hearing from you again.

CORKER: Thank you.

—R.C.