I am sorry but more Allen

I was trying to lay off the Allen thing for a while but a few things have popped over the past couple of days that prevent me from doing so. Hey – I am not above kicking a man while he is down. So in that spirit, let’s recap.

First, Allen pulls off the hood by using a racial slur in front of the camera. Whether he meant monkey or darkie or whatever is almost irrelevant (I don’t me to trivialize the incident so stick with me). The truest sin was Allen, a Californian (not that there is anything wrong with California - read previous post), telling an Indian-American and Virginian by birth,

“Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.”

The message he sent was the Commonwealth and this nation was meant for white people and you folks of the darker complexions are not welcome. Wrong, mean, racist. What a bastard…

Then Bush states flat out that "We're not leaving [Iraq] while I'm the president” and that the war is “straining the psyche of our country”. Our psyche is not strained, we are pissed. Happy lies do not make most of us happy. They make us not believe you. With 61% of America believing Iraq was a bad idea, Bush’s statement, I think, is going to drive home the fact that the Administration has no plan to fix Iraq. Our current quagmire is not going to better or go away any time soon.

As if on cue, the pollsters deliver. Yesterday, Survey USA put the VA Senate race 48%-45% to Allen. Webb has closed something like 10 points in a matter of three weeks without having a significant presence anywhere in the media. While reading this article this nugget struck a chord in me:

In Southeastern VA, Allen has gone from a 2:1 lead to a tie, a 31-point swing.

People, this is my neck of the woods. It is conservative, heavily military, and very, very Republican. For Allen to crater so badly here, something very big is going on. It looks like the "macaca", a terrible campaign plan, a tough opponent, and the majority disapproval of the war are coming together here.

Today, our good Senator, did his part to keep the ball rolling by issuing the fifth? sixth? seven? explanation for what went down. First, he half-heartedly apologizes for his “gaffe”, then sidesteps, followed by 2 backpeddles, a duck and dodge, and now, finally a retraction. From the mouth of Allen’s campaign manager, the awful Dick Wadhams:

I think it is obvious that this past week was difficult one for Senator and Mrs. Allen and the campaign. It is very clear that the news media created what they call a "feeding frenzy", with the Washington Post alone doing major stories on the same issue for 5 consecutive days.

Literally putting words into Senator Allen's mouth that he did not say (by speculating, defining and attributing meanings and motives that simply are not true), the Webb campaign and the news media seeming worked hand-in-hand to create national news over something that did not warrant coverage in the first place.

So that’s it. That’s the strategy. Allen is a victim for being called out on his bigotry. You, Virginia, are to feel bad for the terrible mistreatment of your Senator and former Gov. because the papers are mean to him, after he attempted to publicly humiliate to a twenty year old kid. What a pansy. And he was one of the front runners in the ’08 Prez run…

We may not win the House or the Senate this go-round, but I firmly believe that Jim Webb is going to beat George Allen. If a conservative cannot win Hampton Roads, he cannot win statewide. 50-50 in Southeast Virginia coupled with Richmond and NoVa will carry a Democrat home. All Webb needs now is a little luck and a whole lot of cash. Hello, Democratic Party – our boy needs your help.