http://www.cavalierd...Courtesy of the Cavalier Daily (the University of Virginia newspaper), comes this fine article by Maura O'Keefe:
According to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, this heavy focus on the war in Iraq allowed Webb to emerge as the clear winner of the debate."Webb clearly edged Allen in the debate," Sabato said. "Slightly more than half of the debate was about Iraq, which is Webb's number-one platform plank. He was aggressive, decisive, and confident; Allen seemed defensive and evasive on that subject."
***
In the final moments of the debate, Russert asked Allen if he would pledge to serve a full six-year term in the Senate. Allen responded, "I'm the only candidate running on ideas on education+óGéĽ-Ş," before Russert ended the segment.According to Sabato, this was an indication of Allen's intention to run for president for 2008.
"Allen all but made it clear that he is still running for president, despite everything," Sabato said. "If Allen is re-elected, he is going to interpret re-election as a green light from Virginians to spend the next two years campaigning for president."
Sabato added that the debate's national stage has one key implication.
"Democrats across the country saw Webb's performance and may start giving," he said. "Everyone's been waiting for the Democratic Senatorial Committee to jump into this race, and so far they haven't. If they don't, Webb has virtually no chance to win."
Sabato also said with 50 days left in the campaign season and two debates to go, "this was the most important debate."
Sept 18 (Reuters) - Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Monday, as of 1100 GMT:BAGHDAD - Fourteen bodies, tortured and with bullet holes in the head, were found in different districts of Baghdad on Monday, a Ministry of Interior source said.
NEAR KUT - Three border guards were killed and six wounded by a roadside bomb when they were searching a village near the Iraqi-Iranian border east of Kut, 170 km (105 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.
KERBALA - Gunmen killed four men in different incidents in the holy Shi'ite city of Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
BAQUBA - Gunmen killed four members of a Shi'ite family and wounded five as they were leaving their homes after receiving death threats in the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
HIBHIB - Gunmen killed two members of a Shi'ite family and wounded two others as they were leaving their home after receiving death threats in the small town of Hibhib, near Baquba, police said.
MOSUL - Police found the bullet-riddled corpses of four women in different districts of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said. One of the bodies showed signs of torture, police added.
MOSUL - Three civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb went off near an Iraqi army patrol in Mosul, police said.
MOSUL - A man and a child were wounded when several mortar rounds landed in and around a police station in Mosul, police said.
MOSUL - Four policemen were killed when insurgents ambushed them in Mosul, police said."
Remember during the debate Allen said:http://www.msnbc.msn...
The northern part, the Kurdish area, is doing very well. Gosh, they’re even running advertisements for investment in the Kurdish area. They’re building homes, there’s a convention center. And the southern part, the Shiite part, is, is, is fairly stable, too.
Gosh. Golly gee, George. What about this story, in this northern Kurdish city:
27 die as blitz of bombs hits Iraqi oil cityPublished: Monday, 18 September, 2006, 11:22 AM Doha TimeKIRKUK: Iraq’s fragile northern oil city of Kirkuk yesterday buckled under a wave of bombings targeting the security forces that killed at least 27 people.
In a dramatic attack, a bomber firing a machine gun with one hand and driving a bomb-laden truck with the other detonated his vehicle near a police centre killing at least 19 people, officials said.
Six other blasts rocked the city, killing another eight people.
The bombings in the north come at a time when Iraq, particularly Baghdad, is witnessing its own surge in sectarian violence between the dominant Shia and the once-powerful Sunni Arabs, with another 34 corpses recovered yesterday.
The day’s grim harvest took to more than 180 the number of people killed in the latest bout of communal bloodletting since Tuesday.
The attack on the Kirkuk police investigation centre, which wounded at least 65 people including the head of the unit, was clearly aimed at Iraq’s fledgling security forces, police said.
"He drove towards the centre, firing the gun with one hand randomly to push back civilians, and then detonated the truck in front of the centre," a Kirkuk police officer said.
Those killed included six women and two children who had gone to see imprisoned relatives as Sunday is visitation day.
Around half an hour after the attack, a car bomb exploded in front of the Mahaba wa Tasamah (Love and Forgiveness) foundation killing one woman and wounding four others.
The organisation had closed its doors a week earlier after threats from the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar al-Sunna group. The building was owned by a local tribal sheikh who had recently called for Saddam Hussain’s release and reinstatement.
A second car bomb exploded outside the offices of a private security company, killing two people and wounding three.
As US forces arrived at the site of the blast and surrounded the company’s offices, another suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle at the site, killing four civilians and wounding six.
A pair of roadside bombs went off within five minutes of each other targeting a passing police patrol in the city, killing a civilian and wounding 12 others.
The seventh bomb attack came as a suicide bomber exploded his car at an Iraqi army checkpoint. One soldier was wounded.
Kirkuk, a fragile mix of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, has long been a flashpoint in the country, especially with the potential revenues from the massive - and largely unexploited - oil reserves beneath the city.
Kurds claim the city as their own, something resisted by the city’s other communities.
Until recently, violence between the communities was kept to a minimum, partly due to political institutions, including a strong provincial council.
But in the past few months there has been a sharp increase in the number of explosions and car bombs.
As they say in football (and other sports) keep your head in the game, George. You're so busy running you don't even know the current situation in Iraq. You're so busy running you don't even know the details of the different interrogation plans.
omg, I almost fell out of my chair.
-Fred
...[K]eep an eye on Rep. Tom Davis'(R) fundraising. He is readying for a Senate bid in 2008 assuming John Warner decides not to seek another term. WaPo political discussion
Davis said he was running for Warner's spot in 2008 in an interview in the Washingtonian, too.
Thanks all :D
... the RTD (emphasis mine):
During the debate, Allen was on the hot seat given his alleged racial slur last month that tightened the Senate contest in statewide polling, and given moderator Tim Russert's aggressive style and focus on Iraq.
"This was Webb's debate," said political analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia. He gave Webb good marks for improving his debating skill from a matchup in July. Sabato had scored that one an Allen win.
"They both did reasonably well," said political scientist Robert D. Holsworth of Virginia Commonwealth University. He said Webb probably enjoys that Allen must defend the Iraq war position of Bush, who has suffered in national polls. Allen voted with Bush 96 percent of the time last year on key votes.
Virginia Senate Candidates Allen and Webb Clash Over IraqAssociated Press
Monday , September 18, 2006
McLEAN, Va. — Republican Sen. George Allen and his opponent, Democrat Jim Webb, clarified their differences on the Iraq war Monday in their second debate in as many days.
The debate also brought an angry response from Allen when a panelist asked him whether the word he applied to a Webb campaign volunteer of Indian descent, "Macaca," was a racist slur he had learned from his French Tunisian mother.
Allen criticized Webb for saying in Sunday morning's debate on NBC's "Meet The Press" that Iran and Syria needed to be brought into a multinational effort to end the sectarian bloodshed in Iraq.
"It doesn't make much sense to me to have a country like Iran, which is clearly a state sponsor of terror ... to have them forming the future of Iraq," Allen said during the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce debate.
Allen said the issue of involving adversaries in the region in a settlement is the only significant difference between himself and Webb.
But Webb, an outspoken opponent of the 2003 Iraq invasion, said he and Allen differed profoundly, particularly on stationing U.S. troops indefinitely in Iraq.
"We've been divided from Day One — whether we should have gone in, which I believe was a strategic error," said Webb, who left the Republican Party partly because of the invasion that Webb says destabilized the region and strengthened Iran's hand.
"If you go to how we solved the problem in Afghanistan, one of the reasons it was so successful is we brought all the countries around Afghanistan ... to the table, including Iran," Webb said. "The problem with this administration is it has blinders on on this issue."