In today's Washington Post, Marc Fisher talks about George Allen's "measly" response to all the nasty contoversies swirling around him:
Finally, it seemed, Allen was going to explain "macaca," and his angry, defensive reaction to the public revelation of his Jewish heritage, and the various ugly accounts of his use of racist symbols and words over the years.
Instead, according to Fisher, what we got was "seven measly words" from Allen - "Some of this I've brought on myself." Fisher ridicules Allen on this:
Allen chose the very hour that ended the Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, to say not a word about his newfound Jewish heritage or his tacky comments about the discovery of his Jewish background ("I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops.")...[...]
Instead, Allen, posed in front of a Redskins helmet and a portrait of his father the football coach, stood next to his silent but ever-smiling wife Susan, and pretended that none of this had ever happened.
Fisher than proceeds to rip into Allen's "Issues, Ideas, Proven Record Tour," pointing out that Allen has been "shrinking his vision of Virginia" and completely avoiding "Loudoun, Fauquier, Stafford, Prince WIlliam, Fairfax, Alexandria and Arlington" (to to mention Richmond and heavily African American areas).
Finally, in a parting shot, Fisher has this to say: "Last night's TV address played Virginia voters for morons, only adding to the growing disenchantment with the senator."
Ouch.
Webbs people should investigate this. I certainly didn't realize that this was our objective in the Afghan war! I bet Allen's supporters don't realize it either.
Pam is hanging with her hero- Hillary, or she would go too. Team effort.
Instead, it was Allen Seeks to Refocus Campaign with Long Ad: Senator Urges Shift from Character to Political Ones by Tim Craig. It was an okay ... if rather banal ... piece.
By the way, one should ask whether Allen's ad showed any indication of his great sensitivity to his new-found Jewish heritage? Along the lines of Allen bragging about his "ham sandwich", the Allen ad ran when the Commonwealth's Jews were almost certainly breaking the Yom Kippur fast with friends and family, not sitting glued in front of the television.
Note that the article ends with the following:
Even as Allen tried to refocus the campaign, he found himself responding yesterday to the latest scandal on Capitol Hill. He said he would return $2,000 in contributions he received from former congressman Mark Foley, a Florida Republican who resigned last week because of inappropriate instant messages he sent to teenage pages.
Why is Allen returning the money to a sexual predator rather than donating to an appropriate charity?
Again, it is not as ironic as the fact the Henry Kissenger has a Nobel Peace Prize but it is ironic.
I canvassed a hispanic area last weekend, and they have equated allen with the Nazi tendencies to round up Aliens to deport them. They understand the vote, and will use it to great effect.Allen has given up on the 703 area code?????
Its still part of virginia!!! Thats like cutting off your lungs and expecting to survive.......
The fact that Allen is himself, in part, of Jewish ancestry would logically lead one to imagine that he might be somewhat sensitised to racial/religious bigotry -- so much of it having been directed at Jews in the past. It seems not.
Is Allen's bigotry a sign of his own insecurities and a hidden self-loathing -- a desire to identify himself as some sort of ideal "white" person? I don't know but I don't believe that someone with such warped views on race and national identity should sit in the U.S. Senate when the alternative -- Jim Webb has proven himself not only an intelligent patriot but exhibits real qualities of statesmanship including a broad, reasonable understanding of race and national identity in modern America.
Once more, this episode offers voters real choices about the vision for America we wish to see advanced in the new Millennium.