"Macaca" Haunts George Allen.

"When you lose a game by one point, you can go through every play in the game and say, 'If we didn't jump offside, if the referee makes that call, if we caught that pass, if we didn't fumble, we could have made a difference.'"

-- Sen. George Allen (R-VA), quoted by the Virginian-Pilot, on losing what should have been a safe Republican seat to a Democrat that had never run for office before.

For all the football analogies, I'm pretty sure George is just saying he wishes he called a guy he knew was taping him "Macaca."

George Allen Macaca

Flip-Flop Watch

More Kos stuff:

Burns press release, 11/28/2000:

On November 28, 2000, when the Florida election results were certified, Conrad Burns said Gore "appears more and more like a man who wants to win at any cost." Burns added, "It is time, as some have said, for Vice President Gore to stop being a litigant and start being a Patriot. The good of our nation is greater than any one man, and it is time for Mr. Gore to end these challenges and bow out gracefully."

More Burns in the 11/30/2000 Great Falls Tribune:

At the end of November 2000, Conrad Burns said he would like to see an end to Gore's legal efforts in Florida. Burns said, "Mr. Gore should step aside and let the Bush team begin its orderly transition to the presidency."

And Allen on the Today show 11/8/2000:

The morning after Election Day 2000, when Florida was counting absentee ballots, George Allen said, "we'll need to move America forward as soon as those votes are cast."

Everything changed on 9/11, right boys?

George Allen Conrad Burns Recounts

Looking Good in Virginia

From Raising Kaine:

Senator-Elect Jim Webb currently leads by 7046 votes with 99.84% precincts reporting.

The SBE website has the following outstanding precincts:

1. James City County Absentee (C003)
2. One of two precincts in James City County called "Roberts B (0502)"
3. Raynor in Isle of Wight County.
4. Fairfax City Central Absentee Precinct (C011)

Now, I just spoke with the James City County registrars office. I was told there are no voters left to count in their county. Long story short, all of the voters in James City County live in Virginia's first district. The uncounted "precincts" of that county that are in VA-03 are part of the James River. There are no more votes for anybody outstanding here.

The last two districts will - at best for Allen- add only a few dozen votes for him. Based on '04 turnout numbers, Raynor only had 170 total voters (+17 for the GOP) and Fairfax City absentees went heavily for the Dems. Most likely, Webb's lead will grow slightly.

Expect Sen.-Elect Webb's current lead to remain largely unchanged - he will be certified the winner of this Senate seat. After that, Allen will be allowed to call for a recount.

I'd rather be Webb than Allen for many reasons. The fact that Webb won the election is only one of them.

George Allen Jim Webb 2006 Election Recount

New American Tradition

Though it was a pleasant experience to wake up knowing that every candidate I voted for won (for me it was the first time any candidate I voted for won) and that the Democrats had taken the House and made gains in the Senate, one part of my morning-after-election-day experience was very familiar: I woke up not knowing what the full results were. The New York Times says I might not know for a while:

Virginia's election laws allow an apparent loser to request a recount if a contest's margin is less than 1 percent - and the margin in the preliminary results of the state's Senate election stood this morning at about one-third of 1 percent.

While a recount seems likely, though, if it comes it will not come quickly.

According to a statement issued this month by the state's Board of Elections, no request for a recount may be filed until the vote is certified, which is scheduled to happen this year on Nov. 27th.

After certification, a losing candidate has 10 days to file a recount request in the state courts. The petition will be considered by a panel made up of the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court in Richmond and two judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. Those judges then set out guidelines for conducting the recount.

November 27th! That's a long time! I don't know if I can wait that long to find out if Democrats take the Senate.

The article notes that Virginia's last recount didn't see much 'wiggle room' created. In a race for state Attorney General, the margin was 323 votes out of more than 1.9 million cast. If a recount doesn't close that gap, the likelihood that it will make a difference in a race with a margin of just under 8,000 seems small.

That said, we may be waiting a while for the official results. For the next few weeks, Virginia is for Lawyers.

Don't forget that it would be perfectly legal for the sitting Republican Senate to declare Allen the winner and technically the whole problem would go away...

Virginia Senate Recount George Allen Jim Webb 2006 Election

Disgusting

Think Progress has a story on an FBI investigation into Virginia voter suppression.

In related news, I just spent the morning in Virginia for work.

The 'I Voted' stickers there just say 'I Voted.' The ones in Maryland say 'I voted' and 'Soy Voté' underneath. At the polling place where my wife voted this morning an elderly lady was incensed by this fact. Her loud rantings drew criticism from another person in line to vote. Shouting ensued.

Who says voting isn't exciting?

George Allen Voter Suppression 2006 Election

Allen's Gaffes - One More for the Road

From WRIC-TV8, the Richmond/Petersburg ABC affiliate:

Charlottesville investigators are looking into possible charges as a result of Tuesday's physical confrontation at an Allen campaign stop.

That video of the incident is the centerpiece of an investigation that has much of the country watching. 8News Anchor AJ Lagoe sat down with Charlottesville Police Chief to discuss what's happening.

On Wednesday police served search warrants on the tv stations here in Charlottesville that shot this video of the disturbance at senator Allen's rally--they're now using the video to determine whether the incident warrants criminal charges.

While the images show what appears to be an assault, police are quick to point out they don't show all of what led up to the physical confrontation.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but unless Mike Stark (who the article later calls a heckler) hit somebody first, it's still assault no matter what he said. George Allen will have to go 'down town' to be interviewed about the incident within the next few days.

The Incident in Question:

Whether any assault charges are filled is, in a political sense, less important than the fact that this is yet another black eye (ha!) for the George Allen campaign and a huge distraction in the run up to election day.

Just for clarification, Mike Stark isn't a heckler. He's a blogger (he runs Calling All Wingnuts) and a Virginia resident - one of George Allen's constituents.

Living in the DC Metro area, I get to hear ads for both Maryland and Virginia races. Both state's political contests are topics of discussion on morning radio. I bring this up because this morning at the office, on a very un-political music station's morning show the incident was discussed. Outside of Virginia, this may be a 'bloggers only' sort of story, but here it's something that is very mainstream. Voters are hearing about this and while I don't imagine the outrageous actions of some of George Allen's staffers alone would cause people to not vote for Allen, as part of a long string of follies, gaffes, and damaging revelations, the assault, coming immediately before the election, may be the straw that broke the camel's back.

Let's hope so...

George Allen Assault Mike Stark 2006 Election

Shhh! Dubya in Virgina but Allen Doesn't Want You to Know

From the Washington Post:

As he [Va. Sen. George Felix Allen] and his wife, Susan, stood next to Bush in front of a huge U.S. flag, the president excoriated Democrats on national security and taxes. "They would have our country quit in Iraq before the job is done," Bush said. "That's why they are the party of cut and run. We will fight. We will stay. We will win in Iraq."

After the speech, the senator's aides brought Allen out to meet with reporters, where he softened the tone, saying that "America needs to adjust. Our battlefield commanders need to adjust and adapt to this evolving threat."

That's pretty sad. The Allen Campaign is so desperate to eek out a win in this thing that they've called in Dubya to raise money (about $500,000 last night) but within hours of standing next to him on the stage, the candidate all but tells the media he doesn't support the President's Iraq strategy. Why would Allen do that?

A Washington Post poll last week found that Bush's job approval among likely voters in the November election is at 43 percent in Virginia, about the same as nationally. In addition, 54 percent believe that the war in Iraq was not worth fighting, and 46 percent believe that "strongly."

Nearly a third of Virginia voters live in Northern Virginia, where political leanings are much more like Maryland's than Virginia's. Turnout numbers, especially the relative turnout of NoVa to the rest of Virginia could be the determining factor in the election.

Or George Felix Allen could say something dumb. Again. You never know.

George Allen George W. Bush Virginia Politics 2006 Election

Sen. Jim Webb, D-VA

Well, not yet. But the Washington Post has given him quite an endorsement:

THE U.S. SENATE race in Virginia pits a novice politician, Democrat James Webb , against a much more experienced one, incumbent Republican George Allen, who spent much of the early fall obliterating his reputation for amiable charm and political deftness. As Mr. Allen has partially admitted, his wounds in the close race have been mostly self-inflicted and have left a sour taste in the mouths of many Virginians. Still, there is an even better reason to vote against Mr. Allen: Quite simply, he is a mediocre senator whose six years of undistinguished service do not justify rehiring.

His opponent -- former Navy secretary, former assistant defense secretary, former Marine Corps officer and former Republican -- is admirably independent-minded. He was prescient in warning, back in 2002, that the war in Iraq risked stranding the United States in a long-term occupation without an exit strategy. An intelligent man with a record of integrity, he has resisted the packaging of political consultants, which can only be a good thing. Those assets, as well as his deep familiarity with military and national security affairs, offer the promise that he would make an able, if unorthodox, U.S. senator. And the fact that his youngest son is deployed as a marine in Iraq gives him a perspective that is rare in today's Congress.

[...]

Virginians deserve better and more enlightened representation. Mr. Webb offers that hope.

Allen still leads in the latest poll (October 16th) but only by three points, 47%-44%. That poll is the fourth consecutive poll in which Webb gained on Allen.

This election will come down to who's voters are more energized. It's all about get-out-the-vote.

George Allen Jim Webb Virginia Politics 2006 Election

More on George Allen - UPDATE

George Allen: The Man Who Couldn't Stop Screwing Up.

First, we learn that his use of certain racial slurs wasn't just a 'once in a while' occurence:

"I heard to my left the N-word and I heard it again and I looked around and I heard it again and there was this fellow sitting on the ground....I said to the boy beside me, a man, who is that kid? And he said, oh, that's George Allen." --Patricia Waring

"He just threw it around so casually, it's like he didn't know any better....[W]henever he'd get a black card that he didn't like, he would refer to it as a 'nig--- card' he needed to get rid of." --Leah Deason

"It was part of his everyday speech. It just rolled off his tongue. He'd get a black card he didn't like and he'd toss it back and say, 'I don't need that nig--- ten.'" --a former UVa classmate

What's that, George? You've never used that word? Sure. And you always make sure you've disclosed all your financial concerns per Senate Rules too. Oops, you didn't do that, did you?

For the past five years, Senator George Allen, Republican of Virginia, has failed to tell Congress about stock options he got for his work as a director of a high-tech company.

Congressional rules require senators to disclose to the Senate all deferred compensation, like stock options. The rules also urge senators to avoid taking any official action that could benefit them financially or appear to do so.

Mr. Allen’s stock options date to the period from January 1998 to January 2001, after his term as governor of Virginia and before he took office as senator.

Who's looking forward to new polling for the Senate race in Virginia?

UPDATE: 10:39 am 10.10.2006 - Via Bloomberg:

Stock options that Senator George Allen described as worthless were worth as much as $1.1 million at one point, according to a review of Senate disclosure forms and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The records appear to contradict remarks he made to the Associated Press. "I got paid in stock options which were worthless," AP quoted him as saying.

Allen served as a board member of Chantilly, Virginia-based Xybernaut Corp. from 1998 until December 2000 and was awarded options on 110,000 shares during that period. His Senate financial disclosure form for 1999, required for candidates as well as officeholders, doesn't report that he owned the options.

Most Virginians might not agree that $1.1 Million is 'worthless.' I'm guessing, however, that there are a growing number of Virginians that think George Allen is worhtless...

George Allen Racist Xybernaut 2006 Election Senate Virginia

George Allen Angers Higher Power

Earlier today at a campaign appearance, God smote George Allen for being, "a racist twit with an anger problem."

According to eye witnesses, storm clouds gathered, there was a rumble of thunder, a deep voice condemning the Republican Senator from Virginia, and bright flash of light. When the spectators, some of whom had been knocked to the ground, looked up at the podium, Allen was gone.

God was unavailable for comment.

Snark George Allen

Photo Credit: Bill Clark/Roll Call

Get Hannitized!

No, this doesn't mean washing your brain out with soap after watching FoxNews. Via The Politicker:

So here's an invitiation for a fund-raiser to be headlined this Friday by Fox News personality Sean Hannity on behalf of embattled Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia. (The "macaca" guy.)

The morality of campaigning for a racist bastard aside, what would the reaction be if Keith Olberman started campaigning for Russ Feingold? We could count on breathless reports on 'Fair & Balanced' FoxNews decrying the 'unAmericanism' of having a journalist campaigning for a candidate. Thousands of calls from activated Sheeple Cells would pour into MSNBC demanding that Olberman be fired.

Will any major media even mention this? My guess is no. Will thousands of liberals (and people with brains in general) call Fox demanding Hannity be fired? Nope.

The bumper sticker is true: If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.

But nobody's paying attention.

George Allen Sean Hannity Fox News Media

More Racism in Allen's Past.

I'm just as un-shocked as you are. From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 — Two acquaintances of Senator George Allen of Virginia said today that he had used racially inflammatory language in the 1970's and 1980's, compounding allegations of racial insensitivity that have dogged his re-election campaign since he referred to a young Indian-American as "macaca" a few weeks ago. Mr. Allen said he had never used the language attributed to him by the acquaintances.

Christopher Taylor, an anthropology professor at Alabama University in Birmingham, Ala., said that in the early 1980's he heard Mr. Allen use an inflammatory epithet for African Americans. Mr. Taylor, who is white and was then a graduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said the term came up in a conversation about the turtles in a pond near Mr. Allen’s property. According to Mr. Taylor, Mr. Allen said that "around here" only the African Americans — whom he referred to by the epithet — "eat 'em."

Anybody who still thinks this guy is anything but a racist bigot is being willfully ignorant. I want a list of Republicans that have endorsed Allen. They need to be called out on this. Now that it's known that Allen is a racist, do they still endorse him for Senate?

Virginia Politics George Allen Racism

I Never Would Have Guessed

Via Salon.com:

Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.

"Allen said he came to Virginia because he wanted to play football in a place where 'blacks knew their place,'" said Dr. Ken Shelton, a white radiologist in North Carolina who played tight end for the University of Virginia football team when Allen was quarterback. "He used the N-word on a regular basis back then."

A second white teammate, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared retribution from the Allen campaign, separately claimed that Allen used the word "nigger" to describe blacks. "It was so common with George when he was among his white friends. This is the terminology he used," the teammate said.

A third white teammate contacted separately, who also spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of being attacked by the Virginia senator, said he too remembers Allen using the word "nigger," though he said he could not recall a specific conversation in which Allen used the term. "My impression of him was that he was a racist," the third teammate said.

Raise your hand if you're surprised.

Nobody?

That's what I thought. And think! People actually thought this asshat would be president.

George Allen Racist Republicans Virginia Senate 2006

It was just a question, George...

Virginia Senator Georgie Allen can't quite keep it together. From the Washington Post:

At a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen, the tobacco-chewing, cowboy-boot-wearing son of a pro football coach, if his Tunisian-born mother has Jewish blood.

"It has been reported," said Fox, that "your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?"

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. His supporters in the audience booed and hissed.

[...]

Citing reports about his "possible Jewish ancestry," Fox questioned Allen's past denial that his mother is Jewish.

"I'm glad you all have that reaction," Allen said to the audience as people jeered the questioner. Allen lectured Fox about the importance of "freedom of religion and not making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs."

[...]

Allen, surrounded by cameras and microphones after the event, hadn't cooled down. "What do you mean, 'make me so angry'?" he demanded angrily when asked why Fox's query had made him so angry.

"To make whatever sort of comment that was, you just don't judge people by their ethnicity or their religion," Allen said, fuming that Fox would "drag my mother into this." The senator said his mother was the one who taught him about tolerance.

Taught George Mo' Caucasian than you' Allen about tolerance? You watch and decide for yourself.



This guy won't be president even if he manages to win reelection to the Senate. He won't be able to hide the fact that he's a whackjob when subjected to the scrutiny of a Presidential campaign. Still, the more he spouts off, the better our chances for a Democratic pick up in Virginia.

George Allen Religion Virginia Politics 2006 Election

Republicans Have a Problem

One is tempted to diagnose it as a 'loose lips sink candidacies' sort of problem, but that's not really it. It seems that there are (Gasp!) actual racists amongst the GOP ranks.

Via 365Gay:

(Salt Lake City, Utah) A state senator responsible for some of Utah's most anti-gay legislation is under fire for saying that the landmark court case that ended state-sanctioned segregation is wrong.

During an interview on KVNU radio this week Chris Buttars (R) was asked about a bill he has authored that would give the Senate the right to overturn the election of judges and to remove judges from office if senators disagreed with their rulings.

Buttars, who authored Utah's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, prepared the bill after a ruling this spring that the city of Salt Lake did not violate the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage by offering benefits to the same-sex partners of municipal workers. (story)

During the radio interview host Tom Grover noted that courts historically have been used by minority groups "to ensure [their] rights are protected."

"I don't know of an example where the minority is being jeopardized by legislative action," Buttars replied.

Grover then brought up the Kansas desegregation case that resulted in the busing of black students to white schools and vice versa.

"I think Brown v. Board of Education is wrong to begin with," Buttars shot back.

Wow.

There are very few things that a politician can say today, in the year 2006, that are as unbelievable as 'I disagree with Brown v. Board of Education.' Hell, you can actually get away with saying things like 'I think Evolution is only a theory' and still get elected.

By itself, this would just be the ramblings of some old white guy in Utah who happened to be a politician. Add in Sen. George Allen's use of the 'M' word, Sen. Conrad Burns' remarks about his house painter and Tramm Hudson's musings on the swimming ability of African Americans and this really starts to look like a tendency.

Throw in some 'Muslims should get special screening at the airport' bullshit by the House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King and anti-Latino immigrant blusterings by nearly every Republican in a border state (and beyond) and you have a trend.

Top it off with Pat Robertson's racist diatribes in his new book and things are pretty damning for the GOP.

Oh, and there was that whole Katrina thing too.

The sad thing is, in some circles, this will not only be permitted, but encouraged. I hope, I hope, that there are enough suburban moderates out there to counter-act the rising racist bent in the Republican Party. I will say one thing: If Bush had started to make inroads into traditionally Democratic leaning minority groups by appointing non-WASPs to key positions, he forgot to tell the rest of his party that for the strategy to work, they have to at least stop acting like racists. It seems that expecting them to actually stop being racists is still a little to much to ask...

Republicans Racism George Allen Conrad Burns Chris Buttars Tramm Hudson Peter King Pat Robertson

YouTube Politics

The New York Times has an article on the growing influence, or at least impact, YouTube is having on politics.

The story was brought on, it would seem, by Senator George Allen's recent bigoted diatribe involving a student working for the opposing campaign's Indian heritage and the slur 'macaca.' Unfortunately for Allen, the incident was caught on video and quickly found its way onto the internet.

The student, working for the opposing campaign, taped the comments, and the video quickly appeared on YouTube, where it rocketed to the top of the site's most-viewed list. It then bounced from the Web to the front page of The Washington Post to cable and network television news shows. Despite two public apologies by Senator Allen, and his aides'’ quick explanations for how the strange word tumbled out, political analysts rushed to downgrade Mr. Allen'’s stock as a leading contender for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

That's some pretty serious consequences for something that never would have made it to the evening news two years ago. (Rasmussen says 6%.)

When politicians say inappropriate things, many voters will want to know. Now they can see it for themselves on the Web.

But YouTube may be changing the political process in more profound ways, for good and perhaps not for the better, according to strategists in both parties. If campaigns resemble reality television, where any moment of a candidate's life can be captured on film and posted on the Web, will the last shreds of authenticity be stripped from our public officials? Will candidates be pushed further into a scripted bubble? In short, will YouTube democratize politics, or destroy it?

The article takes the position that YouTude will force politics deeper into the sound-byte, pre-packaged realm. Ex-Bush strategist Matthew Dowd says "that politicians now have to be perfect from Day 1. It's taken some richness out of the political discourse.‚”

We all know what Republicans mean by the 'richness of political discourse.'

Dowd thinks that YouTube will prevent politicians from crafting a message over time, refining speeches and trying out new frames, all out of fear that the oldversionss will circulate on the internet.

What Dowd misses is that it's not bad speeches and outdated frames that end up being popular on YouTube. It's the spectacular gaffes that YouTube craves. People aren't going to call their coworkers over to their cubicle to show them the video of Senator Smith using last week's talking points. People don't want to watch wonkishness, they want to watch a Senator belittle a college kid using racial epithets.

Politicians only need to worry about letting their personalities slip into speeches if that personality is going to offend the voting population! If you're a racist bastard, then you need to worry about letting something slip out. Politicians don't need to worry about censoring themselves if they aren't going to accidentally use the N-word.

YouTube has left handlers with less control over their candidate's image. For that reason, it's probably good for politics. Plus it allows essentially free forums for campaign adds to be distributed. What's not to like?

Politics YouTube George Allen
Image: Christopher Serra - New York Times