It's all about the Internet for Allen

Campaign hits up 'blogosphere' for some good buzz -- By Garren Shipley (Daily Staff Writer)

How did one videotape blow up so fast? It's all about the Internet.

Ben Tribbett, the blogger behind "Not Larry Sabato" and a vocal Webb supporter, was the first to print with the story, where it was picked up by "Raising Kaine" and other pro-Webb sites.

The campaign posted the video on video-sharing site YouTube, and one short news cycle later Allen's name was linked with "macaca."

"This event was historic, as it was the first time blogs had enough traffic on their own to create the scandal themselves," Tribbett said.

So called "new media" have only been a force in politics since 2004, when Democrat Howard Dean's presidential bid made wide use of "netroots" to raise money and organize.

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Webb leads Sen. Allen slightly in latest poll

It's the first survey with the Democrat ahead in Virginia's U.S. Senate race.

BY JIM HODGES

247-4633

August 29, 2006

Democratic Senate candidate James Webb, down by more than 10 percentage points in the polls in late July, has moved ahead of Sen. George Allen in the latest Wall Street Journal/Zogby Poll.

Webb, from Falls Church, leads Allen 47.9 percent to 46.6 percent, according to the poll, which was conducted Aug. 15-21 and has a 3.2 percentage point margin of error.

For the Webb camp, there's also a sense that the timing couldn't be better.

"It's small, but we're very encouraged," said Kristian Denny Todd, speaking for the Webb campaign Monday. "The more people come to see the real George Allen, the more they don't like what they see."

The Zogby poll "falls right in line with the other two polls," said Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia and one of Sidarth's classroom instructors.

Those include the Rasmussen poll, which showed a week ago that the gap between Allen and Webb had narrowed from 11 points to five from mid-July to mid-August. And SurveyUSA showed that Allen's lead had shrunk from 19 points to 3 from late June to Aug. 21.

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Lowell,

This Site carries the front pages ( with links) of eleven Virgina Dailies.  It worth checking every morning, including the the DC papers (under D), also "The Examiner," since the also feature front pages stories of the VA race.

And please pass this along.

Al

...a little too optimistic, if you catch my drift...I mean, I think he oversamples democrats. Not that I wouldn't want to believe him, but I think Rasmussen has it right. Then again, they polled a huge gain for Mr. Burns over in Montana after he insulted Firefighters.

Man, it's hard to trust pollers nowadays.

Impossible to say.  Rasmussen was taken a day after the Macaca incident broke at a time when 40% of voters were unaware of the flap.  SurveyUSA taken a few days later confirms the gains found in Rasmussen and shows a 3% margin. 

I would feel a lot more comfortable with the Zogby results if there were more than 20-50 phone calls to anchor the online results.  It looks like they made about 200+ for the CT general election poll (a 3 way race granted, but a smaller state than VA). 

I think the bottom line is that Allen hurt himself significantly with his comments (and the lame attempt at spinning the story afterwards).  For all practical purposes this is a dead-heat right now.

where it's due.  That Shipley article didn't mention the headscratching damage control attempts by Allen's campaign team.  If anything kept the story alive for two weeks it was the bizarre series of responses, the shifting explanations, and the apologies and non-apologies coming from the Allen campaign. 

One consistent message by Allen saying "I take full responsibility and apologize for my thoughtless remarks" in the immediate aftermath of this incident would have killed this story within two news cycles.  People still would have been ticked off, but the journalists wouldn't have had as much to write about.  The damage control by Allen's campaign has revealed just as much about Allen's character as the remarks themselves.

I also note that the Allen apologist wants to have things both ways--the story was a media feeding frenzy, but no one but journalists reads the newspaper.  This story was propelled in part by blogs, but the national media still has a much broader reach.

I would be shocked had it happened, and I am certain if it did that it would have been big news, given his role in Ford and Bush 41 administrations.

Or do you have some super-double-secret source into his thinking that no one else has?

Hey, if I am wrong on this, I'd be delighted, but I do not think the error is mine.

I don't believe he has publicly endorsed Webb candidacy.

Have always been right. I love every one of them.

Zinni needs a political job!!!

Right about now if anyone has a recording of Ann Richard's "Poor George...he was born with a silver foot in his mouth" (okay its a paraphrase) talk about fitting!

I am supporting a variety of candidates around the country because the balance of power doesn't exist in on The Hill anymore. 

LillieLonestar
Your VOICE Matters!Your VOTE Counts!

Which George do you mean- Bush or Allen?

Either one is about the same as the other, so it doesn't make much difference!

Ray,

Thanks for the welcome!  I was refering to Allen in this case,  Ann knew what she was talking about though when she made her famous remark.  I took liberty removing the silver spoon and replacing with a silver foot.

----  New FOOTY Award ----

foo‧ty  /ˈfuti/ Pronunciation Key - Pronunciation[foo-tee]
–adjective, -ti‧er, -ti‧est. Northern British Dialect

poor; worthless; paltry. 

[Origin: 1740–50)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Webb was one of the first to support the "Family Support" directive as Secretary of the Navy, and for all branches of the military.  As a military wife, I saw firsthand how family support centers became a huge help to our families and service members.  Many other services that followed were implemented because of a few men & women willing to stand up and empower the families of our troops. 

LillieLonestar

I'd like to learn more about that.

Are military families better off under the leadership of Allen and this administration than they were before? I understand that things are different in wartime. Even so, I also believe that we have a professional military and the provisions made for families can make a difference in morale and performance.