"To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant.... Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?"
Well, let's compare this to how irrelevant religion really had been to Allen's political career:
"I have been blessed by the Lord," Sen. George Allen told religious broadcaster Pat Robertson on a Christian Broadcasting Network show last week."Faith matters first and fore- most to me," the Virginia Republican told the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn, N.Y., in February. He told the club members that as Virginia governor, he had prayed in the Capitol over how to handle a parental-notification bill.
"'Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms,'" Allen quoted from the biblical book of 1 Peter in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference the same month....In the speech to the Cathedral Club, a group that supports charitable
efforts of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, Allen said, "There are four things that endure in me: faith, family, football and freedom."He went on, according to a transcript, to say he "asked for God's guidance as to what is the right thing to do" when, in his first year as
governor, he was weighing whether to sign a parental-notification bill that some viewed as inadequate....Addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Allen said the passage from 1 Peter was included in a note that his
wife, Susan, put in luggage that he opened when he arrived on a trip to Iraq."We all have a role and duty to play in life, and this is what I mean when I urge us all to seize the day," Allen went on to tell the
conference. He also referred in the speech to the "God-given gravity of freedom," and said, "Hope lies in every individual's chance to choose the God we serve, the character we exhibit, and the life we lead.""
I don't know - seems like religion has been pretty relevant to Allen, who's claimed to let his faith even shape his policy decisions.
"In our family, in a coach's family, there were four Fs, postulates of living, that mattered in the Allen household--family, faith, freedom, and football."
In his sister Jennifer’s autobiographical book “Fifth Quarter” at pages 41-42 of "Fifth Quarter," Coach Allen, the father, says spontaneously:
“Heck, you know what I’d like? I’d like us all to go to church someday, that’s what I’d like.”“Church?” Allen’s mom said. The mother asked Jennifer, “Do you know why your father’s saying that?” “I’ll tell you why. He’s afraid he might have been relaxing today. He’s afraid if he relaxes and doesn’t go to confession, the good Lord will not forgive him for enjoying himself for a goddamn change.” Jennifer Allen reveals that her mother believed “going to church brought bad luck.” Reportedly she relied heavily on superstitions, having “more faith in Arabic hand gestures to ward off evil than she did in the recitation of the Lord’s prayer.”
Jennifer says she had only been to church only once, so when they actually did go her mother gave her “a continual play-by-play”:
The procession of the priest: "Here comes the hypocrite."
The collection plate: "Here come the vultures."
The forgiveness of sins: "Here comes the guilt."
My impression? George Allen says whatever is expedient. You can't believe anything, and I mean anything, he says.
It sure seems that way. In the mean time, Webb can sort of just coast to the finish line without ever having to look over his shoulder again.
We need a rally with ALL the candidates at once. Pick some to speak, but let all the Democratic goodness rub off on everybody. Being seen with the right people is a big part of a campaign.