Below are the MSNBC video and transcript links of Jim Webb's debate with George Allen on Meet The Press from Sunday, September 17.
This was an excellent debate in my opinion where Jim Webb was superior to George Allen and was in complete control of this debate when discussing the issues of the war in Iraq, the war on terror, and the foreign policy errors of George Allen/Bush administration policies (which are one in the same on these issues). Allen used many of Bush's talking points all throughout this debate!
George Allen tried to duck and avoid and would not give a straight answer to many of the serious and tough questions that Tim Russert asked. Russert had to ask some questions multiple times to try and get a straight "Yes" or "No" answer from Allen. Here are just a few examples of this from the transcript below:
MR. RUSSERT: But let me ask you a simple question. If the CIA said in 2003, +óGé¼+ôSaddam does not have weapons of mass destruction. That is now our+óGé¼GÇ¥the finding,+óGé¼-¥ would you still have voted to go to war?
MR. RUSSERT: No, but it+óGé¼Gäós a serious question. People are saying, knowing what they know today, they still would have gone in. It+óGé¼Gäós a serious question. If you knew Saddam did not have weapons of mass destruction, was it still worth going to war?
MR. RUSSERT: Before I let Mr. Webb respond, did you say to Jim Webb you were voting for the war so as to not be disloyal to President Bush?
MR. RUSSERT: The, the concern being if in fact you cast that vote out of loyalty to President Bush...
MR. RUSSERT: Yeah. Let, let, let me ask you one, one final question on Iraq. In your mind, in your judgment, could the $300 billion we spent on Iraq had been better spent in other aspects of the war on terror: homeland security, port security, airline security, securing Afghanistan? Was this the best expenditure of $300 billion?
SEN. ALLEN: We have spent money on all those things. In homeland security, we just passed a port security bill this past week. And...
MR. RUSSERT: Yeah, but, but my question is $300 billion in Iraq. Could it have been better spent?
MR. RUSSERT: All right. Then let me move on to a different issue. Senator Allen, this week you have to cast a vote. Senator John Warner, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, but your senior colleague in Virginia, John Warner, has a view about interrogating and prosecuting enemy combatants. It is different than George W. Bush. Will you vote for Senator Warner or for President Bush?
MR. RUSSERT: You know, your critics say that you voted with George Bush 96 percent of the time your five years in the Senate. This time, would you vote for Senator Warner, or President Bush?
MR. RUSSERT: Colin Powell, Colin Powell, who+óGé¼Gäós a constituent of yours, said, +óGé¼+ôThe world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3+óGé¼-¥ of the Geneva Convention +óGé¼+ôwould add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk.+óGé¼-¥ Do you agree with Secretary Powell that the world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism?
MR. RUSSERT: So you disagree with Secretary Powell?
George Allen also used some macho football talk in the process of trying to evade giving direct "Yes" or "No" answers to these very important questions!
Jim Webb scored big in my opinion when he slammed Allen with this touching story regarding the "macaca" incident:
MR. WEBB: "I mean, start off with+óGé¼GÇ¥I think this, this campaign, the Allen campaign, is like the a lot of the Karl Rove campaigns. They, they focus on personal invective, you can see it in the ads that they+óGé¼Gäóve already run against me. I may have been in Hollywood, what+óGé¼GÇ¥or in L.A. doing fund-raising. I+óGé¼Gäóm+óGé¼GÇ¥you know, Senator Allen+óGé¼Gäós going to have an awful lot of money. Senator Allen+óGé¼Gäós raised a lot more money in Hollywood than I have.
But let+óGé¼Gäós talk about this incident. He not only bullied an, an individual in my campaign+óGé¼GÇ¥and I know how hard it is, I+óGé¼Gäóve had a camera three foot from my face for eight months now in any public place+óGé¼GÇ¥he not only bullied an individual, whether he was of Indian descent or not, but before he, he did that, he made comments that were deliberately misrepresentative of my own experiences in southwest Virginia. Ironically, he was standing in a place where 40 miles on one side my great-grandfather had been born, 40 miles on the other side my grandfather had been born. And I+óGé¼Gäóve spent a great deal of my adult life in southwest Virginia personally, not politically, in connection with relatives I have down there. In fact, Sidarth, the night before you insulted him, was spending the night at the home of one of my relatives in Gate City, Virginia. And I believe that, that the insinuation out of this, that, that person was separate, insulted a lot of the people down there, because that+óGé¼Gäós not their culture. That+óGé¼Gäós a very inclusive culture down there."
George Allen was in a lot of trouble when Tim Russert had him in this excellent exchange about serving out his term if he won. I wish that Russert would have had more time to follow up on this or that Webb could have gotten in a few words about this:
MR. RUSSERT: We are out of time. Before we go, Senator Allen, you have said, +óGé¼+ôThe Senate is too slow for me.+óGé¼-¥ Would you pledge to serve a full six-year term if re-elected to the Senate?
SEN. ALLEN: The Senate does move too slowly. Having been governor I like action and I wish the Senate would move faster. But my focus is to keep fighting in the Senate for these ideas.
MR. RUSSERT: For six+óGé¼GÇ¥will you serve a six-year term?
SEN. ALLEN: I+óGé¼Gäóm the only candidate running on ideas on education...
MR. RUSSERT: OK.
SEN. ALLEN: ...and on energy independence. And I am focused...
MR. RUSSERT: I, I, I+óGé¼Gäóve read the+óGé¼GÇ¥I+óGé¼Gäóve read the brochure. I+óGé¼Gäóve read the brochure.
SEN. ALLEN: ...and I want+óGé¼GÇ¥I will...
MR. RUSSERT: But will you serve...
SEN. ALLEN: Sure, and you can put it in as a...(unintelligible)...of my family.
MR. RUSSERT: ...will you pledge to serve a full six-year term?
SEN. ALLEN: I pledge that I+óGé¼Gäóm going to fight as hard as I can for our shared values and vision for Virginia for the next six years in Washington.
Jim Webb can effectively follow up on that dialogue with the information from this post that I wrote which specifically deals with that question:
George Allen Blogger Stupidity: "Allen still well positioned in latest +óGé¼-£08 poll"
Allen also made other comments that Webb can capitalize on about the issue of unity:
SEN. ALLEN: I was supporting our efforts of our administration. It was bipartisan support for this resolution, because I thought we needed to show unity of resolve so that Saddam Hussein, it was my hope, would see how resolved, how unified the United States was, as well as the United Nations, and would actually comply with the weapons inspections.
SEN. ALLEN: No, it+óGé¼Gäós loyalty to this country, and making sure that our country is unified in, in this, in this effort to disarm Saddam Hussein. That was the point.
Allen almost always tries to talk about the subject of "unity." Allen said this crazy comment about that topic in this CNN transcript from 1/22/06 which is that "Karl Rove is trying to unite this country in this effort:"
CNN LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER
Aired January 22, 2006 - 11:00 ET
BLITZER: I'll give you the last word, Senator Allen, on Samuel Alito. Go ahead.
ALLEN: Karl Rove is trying to unite this country in this effort, by the way.
I would really like to see Jim Webb follow up on this crazy quote because Allen will have no credible defense to it!
"Unity" to George Allen is rubber stamping Bush 96% of the time as Tim Russert verified with the only exceptions being when it pleases his hard core Rush Limbaugh Neocon activist base who are supporting him for President in 2008.
Examples of where Allen "disagrees with Bush" to please his activist base are on the issues of illegal immigration and opposing Bush's appointment of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court for someone like Janice Rogers Brown!
Here is why George Allen is "Bush-Heavy" as I like to call him and why he is a very dangerous player to become President in 2008 if he is not defeated now in 2006:
Analysis and Documentation: George Allen is already the GOP 2008 "front-runner!"
NEWS & ANALYSIS: George Allen launches Senate bid / How to defeat Allen in 2006!
Please feel free to forward this on to help bring more attention to this debate and to this race and because this information should also helpful to other campaigns!
The specific questions that Tim Russert asked George Allen are excellent questions that Democratic candidates should be asking to their Bush rubber stamp opponents and that all Democrats should be asking to the many disillusioned Republican and impressionable voters who can still be won over!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securinga...
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program:
An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda which will help our local candidates to win their races!
http://securingameri...
Gen. Wes Clark's endorsement of Jim Webb against George Allen
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http://video.msn.com... (Video 48:51)
Sunday, Sep. 17
Exclusive! The Meet the Press Debate Series returns with one of the closely watched Senate races in the country: Virginia. Incumbent Sen. George Allen (R) will debate former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb (D) live and in studio for the full hour.
+óGé¼-ó TRANSCRIPT
http://www.msnbc.msn...
Open up this link to read the entire transcript of this debate!
MEET THE PRESS
Transcript for Sept. 17
George Allen, Jim Webb
Updated: 12:32 a.m. CT Sept 17, 2006