Report: George Allen To Launch Comeback Senate Campaign Soon

Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA)
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We may not have seen the last of former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) — and what’s more, we could be in for a top-tier rematch between him and Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA), who defeated Allen in 2006.

Politico’s Mike Allen reports:

George Allen, the former U.S. senator and Virginia governor, plans to tell supporters within a week that he is mounting a campaign to retake the Senate seat he lost to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) in 2006. Allen, 58, the most prominent 2012 challenger to announce so far, has begun to line up key staff members. Webb, 64, who won by 1 percent, has sent mixed signals about whether he will seek reelection. DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor who could be the Democratic nominee if Webb bowed out, has been telling friends he thinks Webb will run.

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 racial slur going back to 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.

For old time’s sake, here’s that video:

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