Allen versus Webb on Meet the Press

The general consensus is that Jim Webb well and truly whipped George Felix Allen, Jr. on Meet the Press yesterday. Larry Sabato, probably the most astute political observer in the Commonwealth, called it for Webb, as did most everyone else. From the Cavalier Daily:

According to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, this heavy focus on the war in Iraq allowed Webb to emerge as the clear winner of the debate.

"Webb clearly edged Allen in the debate," Sabato said. "Slightly more than half of the debate was about Iraq, which is Webb's number-one platform plank. He was aggressive, decisive, and confident; Allen seemed defensive and evasive on that subject."

[Snip]

Sabato added that the debate's national stage has one key implication.

"Democrats across the country saw Webb's performance and may start giving," he said. "Everyone's been waiting for the Democratic Senatorial Committee to jump into this race, and so far they haven't. If they don't, Webb has virtually no chance to win."

Sabato also said with 50 days left in the campaign season and two debates to go, "this was the most important debate."

From the Richmond Times Dispatch:

"This was Webb's debate," said political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. He gave Webb good marks for improving his debating skill from a matchup in July. Sabato had scored that one an Allen win.

"They both did reasonably well," said political scientist Robert D. Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University. He said Webb probably enjoys that Allen must defend the Iraq war position of Bush, who has suffered in national polls. Allen voted with Bush 96 percent of the time last year on key votes.

From the conservative TownHall.com:

I should also say that given the vital partisan stakes involved this election season that Hugh and I have frequently discussed here, I squarely and unequivocally support Allen’s re-election.
Or at least I did until this morning’s debate. Now I’m not so sure.

IT WOULDN’T BE FAIR TO ALLEN to ignore the fact that he had to deal with being double-teamed by Webb and “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert. Still, Webb outclassed Allen in every aspect of the clash.

When it was time to talk about the candidates’ biographies, Allen really didn’t have a chance. There aren’t too many people in America who have biographies that compare with Webb’s.

Folks – Allen got smoked...