George Allen and House Republicans Turn Virginia Into a Laughingstock?

By: Lowell
Published On: 10/2/2006 5:44:47 AM

According to Michael Shear, writing in today's Washington Post, "Virginia is taking it on the chin these days" in the land of comedy.  And, according to Gov. Kaine, it "stings."  Why has this happened?  Two main reasons:

1) "Its legislature has become synonymous with inaction, having squabbled for eight months about taxes and roads, then returned for a special session last week only to abandon efforts to end congestion after less than 48 hours."

(Note: both house of the Virginia General Assembly are controlled by Republicans, including the more-concerned-with-"gay marriage"-than-gridlock House of Delegates.)

2) George Allen, who is being parodied almost 24/7 as a "racist" and an all-around buffoon (a "cowboy" who "makes up silly words") on Jon Stewart, Saturday Night Live, Jay Leno, etc., etc.

(Note: In fairness, Jim Webb has taken a few jabs himself, mainly for an article he wrote 27 years ago on the integration of women into the Naval Academy.  But I think it's correct to say that at least 90% of the jokes have been on Allen, maybe 10% on Webb - and that 10% being more for political "balance" than anything else, I would guess.)

Does any of this matter?  Do we care that our Republican-controlled General Assembly and our Republican Junior Senator have made Virginia - known, among other things, as "the 'mother of presidents,' earning the nickname by producing four of the first five U.S. presidents" - a joke among the country's comedians?  Well, according to Michael Shear:

That kind of attention can be tough for Virginia, which is constantly trying to attract international investment. In fact, Virginia has been working -- with some success -- to attract Indian companies to rural southern Virginia, where jobs are scarce.

Kaine said his administration will continue to market the state aggressively.

"I embrace the fact that we are an internationalized, very diverse state. We want to turn that face to the world," he said. "Embracing the global economy means . . . embracing people, foreign commerce, people from different lands."

Meanwhile, the late-night comedians are not going to make it any easier. Last week, Jay Leno opened his monologue with another snarky reference to Virginia's Senate race.

"Welcome to 'The Tonight Show,' " Leno said. "You know, in the time it took me to walk out of here, Senator George Allen insulted five more ethnic groups."

Ba da bing, ba da boom.  Ouch.

Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign.  The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.

Comments



What's up with the latest polls? (bamboo - 10/2/2006 9:05:30 AM)
Justcurious, but can anyone around here make sense of the recent polls in the Webb-Allen race? As of Sept. 29, Mason-Dixon says its a dead heat (43 each) while SurveyUSA has a 6 pt. spread (44-50). Has the gap closed with Allen's latest embarassments or not?


None of this matters unless we voters decide that it matters (snolan - 10/2/2006 9:10:23 AM)
If we keep electing corrupt do-nothing legislators because of the issues they say they are opposed to, and we keep forginving them their complete inaction on any issue that matters; we will of course get more of the same.

We voters are responsible for our reprehensible and often criminal politicians being in positions of power.

If Foley had not been elected, his peers might have turned him in before he caused harm to more minors; but because he was in office, the powerful peers protected him and caused more pages to be harassed.  Who is ultimately responsible?  We are, if we voted for ANY of those who covered up Foley's activities.



More Laughs on TV?: Allen Speaks Monday Evening (bb10 - 10/2/2006 9:15:37 AM)
We sure ain't going to be seeing a "reality show" this evening from 7:58 to 8:00 p.m. That's when George Allen, according to the "Washington Post," (see here), will be speaking in a two-minute TV ad "in the hope that a direct appeal just before prime time will help the Virginia Republican's struggling campaign regain momentum in its final month."

The "Post" also reports: In Northern Virginia, Allen will appear on WRC-TV (Channel 4) at 7:58 p.m., and he will appear at the same time on stations in other major media markets in the state.

Any bets on how many new explanations and lies Allen can pack into the two minutes?



What Allen qill Allen say (Teddy - 10/2/2006 6:04:43 PM)
Want to bet that Allen claims to be a poor victim and makes himself out to be the underdog "Piled on" by the liberal media and the weak, morally corrupt socialistic "Democrat" Party? And don't forget: he has so much to offer his beloved Virginia, and did so much for Vuhginny-ah when he was Guvner, cleaning up the prison system, advancing jobs for the rural areas, straightening out VDOT, cutting taxes, blah, blah. Oh, by the way, "he's changed" and regrets any inconvenience caused by any previous claimed insensitivites, which didn't happen anyway.

Any chance Webb has ad time immediately afterwards?



It is going to get worse (Dan - 10/2/2006 9:35:04 AM)
There are two Republican PACs sharing the floor on our office.  I see them all the time.  Well, one of them was out there this morning in the kitchen.  CNN was covering the Mark "do I make you horny" Foley scandal.  She looked horrified.  Not surprising that the morally corrupt Republicans would have a child predator in their ranks.  Now they are paying for their hypocrisy.  Remember all the Republicans who said Democrats are soft on child predators???  Remember how McDonnell had one managing his campaign back in the day?  Well, now we see that Republicans can't protect teens from child predators, even when it is THEIR DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY!!!  My God, have you ever seen a clearer case where Republicans lack on an issue???