Can George Allen rise again?
The former Republican Senator from Virginia is set to announce today that he will run for the Senate once more, seeking a rematch against Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, who narrowly defeated him in the Democratic wave of 2006 — aided quite heavily by Allen’s own various missteps.
Allen narrowly lost his 2006 re-election, after he had previously been expected to win easily and then launch a 2008 presidential campaign. The trouble came in August 2006, of course, after he was videotaped by a Webb campaign tracker, who was Indian-American, calling the person “macaca,” a type of monkey. This was widely interpreted as being a somewhat obscure racial slur, often used by French colonists in Africa — which was the background of Allen’s mother.
Allen later claimed that he had never heard of the word or this particular meaning before, and that he had made it up. In the end, Webb won the election by a margin of 0.39%, in a very Democratic year, and helping to deliver Democrats their 51-seat majority.
A Public Policy Polling (D) survey from this past November showed Allen leading a large list of potential candidates for the GOP nomination, and Webb leading Allen by 49%-45%. Webb has not made any final decision on whether he will run again.
Interestingly, Allen could already face some anti-establishment opposition in the race for the GOP nomination. Erick Erickson has already come out against him:
I have met George Allen a number of times, like him tremendously, but I have personally decided to support Jamie Radtke for the Senate. Once someone has been beaten, I tend to think we need not run them again for the same seat. Republicans have a habit of doing that and, at this time, I think we need some fresh faces.
Beyond me though, former Senator Allen is going to have to address some serious problems other than the disastrous campaign waged in 2006 (he may need to talk about that too). Those problems are, put succinctly, his voting record, which is out of step with most of the grassroots activists engaged in Republican primaries today.
Erickson has endorsed Jamie Radtke, a Tea Party activist and former aide to the late Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), who was already in the race. Other candidates could potentially get in, too, such as state Del. Bob Marshall, who is known for his right-wing stances on such issues as gays, abortion — and wanting Virginia to mint its own gold and silver coins — and narrowly lost the party’s Senate nomination in 2008.
It is also not yet known whether the GOP will use a primary or a convention system to pick its nominee. So keep an eye on this one.
