The media seems unanimous in their characterizations of the debate - it was not a cordial exchange of pleasantries.

Many noted the combative tenor of the debate. Larry O'Dell & Bob Lewis's AP coverage this morning reports that the candidates "sparred both with each other and their pasts".

The Washington Post refers to this extensively (italicized below for emphasis). The candidates "clashed over issues and character in a fast-paced and contentious series of exchanges".

In a campaign marked by personal attacks on character, real issues emerged Monday night. In rapid-fire succession, the candidates sparred over energy independence, immigration, the federal deficit, the Capitol Hill page scandal, the minimum wage and secret spying by the government.

Like the broader campaign being waged on both sides, the exchange provided a nasty, bickering forum for questions about personal honesty and character. Allen was pressed on questions about his racial sensitivity. Webb was confronted with allegations that he demeaned females by opposing women in combat in an article he wrote 27 years ago.

The candidates continued to spar over the war in Iraq...

The debate gave Allen and Webb several opportunities to question each other directly, leading to several testy arguments that left Mitchell trying to restore order.

Allen repeatedly attacked Webb for what he said was his support for tax increases...

The format allowing the candidates to question each other facilitated the testiness, notes Chelyen Davis in the Free Lance-Star:

It was the last scheduled debate before the Nov. 7 election, and it afforded the candidates a chance to question each other--an opportunity that led to the most testy exchanges of any debate they've had.

The candidates ignored the moderator:

The 60-minute discussion, televised across the state, was punctuated by several personal exchanges, as the two men ignored moderator Russ Mitchell and argued about whether each had distorted the other's record.

At times it was out of control:

O'Dell and Lewis, again:

The debate spun out of control during a segment in which candidates were allowed to ask each other questions. Allen and Webb became argumentative, talking over one another and making it virtually impossible to understand what either was saying.

Davis, again:

In a debate that was at times contentious and even out of control, Sen. George Allen and challenger Jim Webb faced off on television last night.

The Situation

The Virginia Senate race has become a national focal point, with both parties' national Senate campaign committees funding advertising efforts. Allen had been favored from the outset, until his recent travails eclipsed his lead. The Washington Post situates the debate in the larger political horse race:

Webb, Navy secretary during Ronald Reagan's presidency, has closed a 16-point Allen advantage to a statistical dead heat. That's not how it was supposed to be. Allen started his reelection campaign this year brimming with confidence and with one eye on Iowa and New Hampshire, as he plotted a possible bid for the presidency in 2008.

Davis, again in the Free Lance-Star, notes the opening statements were indicative of the larger context and what the candidates needed to do for themselves:

Allen went into the debate needing to turn the campaign's focus off his verbal missteps--such as calling an Indian Webb staffer "macaca" in August--while Webb went in still needing to introduce himself to voters.

It was clear from the opening statements that they intended to use the debate in those ways, with Allen vowing in his first sentence to "discuss issues that matter" and then reeling off a list of his accomplishments as governor.

Webb used his opening to talk about divisions of class within society and how America "needs leaders who understand these divisions" and can work to overcome them.

The debate afforded Allen an opportunity to try to refocus the race, as Bob Gibson reports in The Daily Progress:

Allen said his campaign had been knocked off track in recent months by a series of character questions dealing with his own words but insisted it is back on course, centered on his issues and record as governor and senator.

"The campaign got off on other things," Allen said, explaining a steep slide in the polls since July. "Some of it I brought on myself," he said. "Some were smears on the campaign."

Overall, though, O'Dell and Lewis indicate the debate offered little new insight into the candidates, as each fell back on "boilerplate" responses from the campaign trail.

I'm Not Him

Both candidates seized on the opportunity to provide contrasts with his opponent.

O'Dell & Lewis note that distinguishing effort: Allen appealed to the conservative base, while Webb articulated himself as a populist for the middle class:

Each candidate attempted to use the debate to clearly distinguish himself from his opponent--Allen to reassure conservatives who were unsettled by his missteps that have erased his clear lead and Webb to advance himself as a populist champion of the middle class and connect Allen with Bush, the war and tax cuts for the wealthy.

The Washington Post emphasizes the contrast between the candidates on each's key issues:

The 60-minute debate, held in Richmond and broadcast live on 19 public and commercial television stations statewide, gave Webb and Allen a chance to highlight the issues they hope will dominate the four weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

For Allen, the Republican, those issues are taxes, same-sex marriage and a dislike of liberals. Webb, running as a Democrat, stressed the Iraq war and economic fairness as he appealed for support from independents and Republicans.

Much was made of the candidates' efforts to unfavorably link their opponent to other politicians. The Virginian-Pilot reports that the "Candidates had own agendas in final debate." Allen tried to align Webb with liberal Democrats, while Webb tried to align Allen with the Bush Administration:

Republican Sen. George Allen wanted to talk about Democrat-backed tax increases, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy.

Democratic challenger Jim Webb wanted to talk about a "Republican Party that's lost it s way on national security" and Allen's almost-perfect record of support for the Bush administration.

In their final scheduled debate before the Nov. 7 election, the state's two major Senate candidates often seemed to talk past each other Monday night, breaking little new ground on foreign and domestic issues while concentrating on symbols they think will resonate with voters.

As Gibson notes, Allen linked Webb to Senator Clinton, and himself to Senator Warner throughout, while Webb linked Allen to the Bush Administration, and himself to Reagan Democrats:

Allen linked Webb a half-dozen times with Democratic U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and tied himself to fellow Republican Sen. John W. Warner of Alexandria.

Webb appealed for Reagan Democrats to come home to the Democratic Party on Nov. 7 and linked Allen with the Bush administration. He also charged that Allen repeatedly distorted Webb's record on taxes.

"George Allen has been one of the administration's blindest supporters, voting with them 97 percent of the time and 100 percent of the time on foreign policy," Webb said.

Virginians wants to ensure that Iraq is not allowed "to become a safe haven for terrorists," Allen said. "Having an independent United States senator who will stand with John Warner and not Hillary Clinton matters a lot."

This continued through their closing statements, Davis notes:

In his closing statement, Allen reiterated that "issues matter" and sought to align himself with Sen. John Warner of Virginia.

Webb appealed to voters who, like himself, had at one time identified with the Republican Party.

"Just remember the Republican Party has lost its way, and I would hope many of you will decide to come home," Webb said. He added that power in America should flow from the bottom to the top, that Washington is filled with lobbyists and that senators need to be lobbyists for their constituents."

The Style

Coverage suggests Allen was the more polished debater of the two, noting some flaws in Webb's delivery and presence.

O'Dell and Lewis:

Throughout the debate, Webb looked tense, his eyes riveted on his off-camera questioners or on Allen. His answers were detailed, sometimes to the point of wonkishness; his delivery sometimes halting.
Allen, a veteran of numerous TV debates in his long political career, appeared relaxed, his eyes connecting comfortably with the camera, even as he offered up refrains he has used for years and made a practice of opening his response with attacks on Webb.

The Washington Post agrees Webb may not have been as polished, but he was undaunted:

Allen, who is a former governor and congressman, appeared more comfortable with the fast-paced forum, which gave each man a minute or 30 seconds to answer complex questions. He stuck to his talking points and often looked directly at viewers for impact. Webb, by contrast, seemed to look down at his notes and wasn't as smooth, but he appeared aggressive and not intimidated.

And Davis notes that Allen had a timing issue:

That was part of Allen's first direct question to Webb, although he spent so long asking it and quoting Webb to himself that time was called before he actually got to the question, which was whether Webb knew how many Virginians had benefited from tax breaks that Webb wants to end.

The Issues

Each article linked to this post covered prominent issues raised in the debate. Both the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the Virginian-Pilot devoted majorities of their coverage to those issues. On an interesting note, noticeably absent from the Virginian-Pilot coverage was a discussion of the exchanges between the candidates on the allegations of racism and sexism.

On the racism and sexism questions, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Moderator Russ Mitchell, Sunday-night anchor of "CBS Evening News," asked Allen about the "macaca" controversy that has dogged him for months. At a campaign appearance in Southwest Virginia, Allen called a young Indian-American volunteer working for Webb "macaca," a genus of monkey and, in some countries, a racial slur.

Last night, Allen said: "I made a mistake; those were careless words."

Asked about recent allegations that he used the n-word in referring to blacks when he was in college, Allen said those allegations were "baseless."

Asked if he were calling his accusers liars, Allen said: "I don't recall using that word. What the stories were portraying was as if that word were a part of my vocabulary."

Webb, who wrote 27 years ago that he would not trust women to lead in combat, said he is comfortable with women's positions in the military. He said that while serving a year as secretary of the Navy, he increased assignments for women more than anyone else.

On economic issues, from the Virginian-Pilot:

Allen repeatedly accused Webb of backing tax increases and invoked Clinton, Kerry and Kennedy, three traditional GOP targets. "Your friends," he told Webb, obstructed Republican efforts to cut taxes paid by small businesses and increase the minimum wage.

Democratic tax proposals would increase the tax bills of some 3 million Virginians, Allen said.

For his part, Webb asserted that Allen is the only candidate who has actually voted to raise taxes and hammered at Republican policies he said have shifted an increasingly larger share of the nation's wealth to the top one percent of wage earners.

Webb also said that despite Allen's professed support for minimum wage increases, the senator "never voted to raise the minimum wage."

Webb took issue with an Allen television commercial, now airing, that claims that Webb wants to roll back a series of tax cuts enacted by the Republican Congress, including reducing the child-care tax credit from $1,000 to $500.

Webb said he supports some tax cuts and opposes others. He acknowledged backing a "windfall profits" tax on energy company revenues and complained that Republicans "can't keep spending like this without raising revenues."

And the RTD:

Allen said Webb would raise taxes almost $1,000 a year on the average Virginia family, while he would vote to keep taxes low.

Webb said Allen was misrepresenting his tax stand and said Allen and his fellow Republicans have widened economic differences between rich and poor Virginians.

Allen has voted to increase taxes, but "I never have," said Webb, who, as a nonelected official, has never had to make a tax vote. Webb is an author and a former Defense Department official.

Webb said 47 million Americans now are without health insurance and that the disparity between rich and poor is much greater than it was when George W. Bush was elected president in 2000.

Allen said Bush's tax policies have created a huge economic expansion in America.

On Iraq, from the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Webb, who entered the race as an opponent of the war in Iraq, said the United States should use diplomacy, including talks with Syria and Iran, to try to get out of a war he describes as misguided.

"Our foreign policy should be formed by experience rather than by sound bites," he said.

Allen said he would consider victory in Iraq to be "if the Iraqi people, themselves, by their own backbone, their own minds, their own hearts, their own acts, take control of their own destiny and that Iraq, an oil-rich country, does not become a safe haven for terrorists."

"Nobody wants to see terrorism in Iraq, or elsewhere," Webb said. "We can address terrorism by [military] bases that are not in Iraq."

Webb said he would consider victory achieved in Iraq when the warring factions are brought together, such as he said occurred in Afghanistan.

And on national security, from the Virginian-Pilot:

While Allen hammered on taxes, Webb urged voters to make the election "a referendum on this administration." Webb also called on Democrats who, like him, left their party in the 1960s and '70s because of concerns about its dovish stands on military matters, to come back.

"In the wake of 9/ 11 and the globalization of our economy, the old labels of liberals and conservatives no longer apply... " he said.

"I believe the power in our society should float from the bottom to the top. I believe our representatives should be personally accountable to those who elect us and that their personal duty should be to stick up for those who have no one in the corridors of power."

And the islands, both Craney Island and the Senkaku Islands, are now experiencing their 15 minutes of national fame:

Larry O'Dell & Bob Lewis's AP coverage last night reports there was little new for Virginians in the debate, with the exception of the "almost comical exchange":

The most bizarre moment of the debate, however, came when Webb tried to corner Allen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, with a question about the Senkaku Islands.
The uninhabited islands lie about 100 miles northeast of Taiwan, and China and Japan claim the islands' fishing grounds and oil and mineral deposits, creating the potential for a major conflict, Webb said.
"I'd have to study the issue more fully to give you a complete answer," Allen said.
It was payback of sorts for Webb, who was similarly stumped during a July debate when Allen asked him about the best use of Craney Island, a manmade peninsula in Portsmouth created from mud dredged from the Elizabeth River ship channel.

The Virginian-Pilot:

In the evening's most unusual exchange, Webb exposed Allen's lack of awareness of the Senkaku Islands, a western Pacific island chain that is the subject of dispute between China and Japan.

The islands, which have substantial oil reserves, could be a flash point in the region, Webb said.

The discussion recalled how Allen, in the first debate between the two men in July, got Webb to admit to a lack of knowledge about Craney Island in Portsmouth and the ongoing effort to turn the dredge spoils piled there into a maritime terminal.

And the Washington Post's take on the islands issue:

Allen, who stumped Webb this summer during the first debate with a question about a port project on Craney Island in the Hampton Roads area, was left almost speechless Monday when Webb queried him about the Senkaku Islands off the coast of Taiwan. "I'll have to study it," a clearly baffled Allen said. Webb then lectured him about the island's strategic importance to Southeast Asia.

The Miscellany

Statements made by political proxies for the candidates we quoted by Gibson, with each obviously favoring their own party's candidate:

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, said that Webb showed that he has expertise in foreign policy and military matters.

"Allen's more polished than Webb, but Webb is about 4,000 percent better than he was in the first debate" back in July, Deeds said.

Seventh District Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-Henrico County, said Allen was clearly superior in the debate and stood stronger beside Virginia's families.

Allen defended the constitutional amendment Virginians will face dealing with a definition of marriage, Cantor noted.

Davis quotes a political analyst's take on the debate, echoing the final verdict by Rick Howell in the earlier post on coverage in the blogosphere:

Virginia Commonwealth University political analyst Robert Holsworth said both men had "moments of political eloquence," but the debate also had "moments in which it spun almost completely out of control."