Finally, it looks like the nutjob rightwing has its answer as to why George Allen lost to Jim Webb. No, it's not that the people of Virginia responded favorably to Jim Webb and his message of economic fairness, a fundamental reorientation of our foreign policy, and a reining in of the out-of-control Executive Branch. No, it's not that Webb managed to raise enough money - including over $4 million online, another $4 million offline - to remain competitive with an entrenched, incumbent Senator. No, it's not that the DSCC poured millions into the race during the final weeks. No, it's not that the Allen campaign completely botched the "macaca" incident, and that Allen himself kept opening his fat mouth. No, it's not that Webb had 18,000 volunteers and a Democratic Party working its butt off to defeat him. No, it's not that Allen lost touch with a rapidly changing Virginia (in the tolerant, cosmpolitan, "blue" direction). No, it's not that Allen had a miserable, 6-year record of failure in the US Senate. No, it's not that Allen refused to talk about the issues, but spent his time (mis)analyzing Jim Webb's fiction writing. No, it's not that the Webb campaign was highly underrated and actually did a damn good job, thank you very much.
No, it's none of that.
Instead, according to far-right-wing writer and activist Cliff Kincaid, George Allen lost this November because he wasn't anti-gay enough. That's right, according to Kincaid, "Allen failed to run a conservative campaign on the most important social issue in the race-traditional marriage." Dumb, dumb, dumb. And WHY didn't Allen do this? Well, you see, "Allen was surrounded by key personnel who were secretly gay, with the implication that they were instrumental in moving Allen into a more 'moderate' position on homosexual rights." Finally, as we all know, "Republican homosexuals have 'mixed loyalties,' since they share the liberal social agenda of the Democratic Party, and 'they killed the GOP majority by operating as a fifth column.'"
So, there you have it. Allen lost because of a gay "fifth column," because Allen himself didn't bash gays enough, and probably because he wasn't nasty enough in general. If only Allen had hired James Young (or Cliff Kincaid) as his anti-gay coordinator, he'd be taking the oath of office today, not Jim Webb. Ha. Anyway, I'm glad that Cliff Kincaid has resolved his cognitive dissonance over George Allen's loss. Isn't life so much easier when you can find a scapegoat for all your problems? Next Kincaid column: we're losing the war in Iraq because the "fifth-column" of Muslims (or Jews, or liberal Christians, or whatever) in this country blah blah blah...
P.S. For more classic Kincaid quotes (e.g., "It looks like Fox has been used by one of its chief critics to advance his radical environmental agenda," "Why join the Armed Forces when you not only have to fight the terrorists but the American media, which is doing their best to make our soldiers out to be human-rights abusers, torturers and killers?"), see here. The pathetic thing is that we've probably all met lots of "conservatives" like Kincaid. No wonder why these guys are losing.
If only Allen had hired James Young (or Cliff Kincaid) as his anti-gay coordinator, he'd be taking the oath of office today, not Jim Webb.
This made my day. Thank you.
I've had about enough of Young's intolerance.