Wishful thinking for Allen?

The AP just ran a story on Allen's failure to follow Senate financial disclosure rules.

Bob Gibson reports in the Charlottseville paper today that:

In the 27 years that I've known him, I can say I have not heard him utter the n-word, but I cannot automatically dismiss or ignore the three current and former Charlottesville residents who swear to me that they heard him use it often.

One is a doctor, one is a nurse and one is retired and a former classmate of mine at the University of Virginia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Only the former classmate does not wish to be named because a close relative works at a high level in the Bush administration.

To put their recollections in some context, the alleged usage was in the 1972-1975 period when Allen was a UVa quarterback and then a UVa law student.

Yes, that's more than 30 years ago, but never is a longer time.

The nurse who said she heard Allen's use of the n-word, who agreed to be identified by a maiden name of Leah Deason, lived then in a house on Route 20 near the Key West subdivision. She and her housemates, including a UVa jock or two, often hosted poker games.

"He just threw it around so casually, it's like he didn't know any better," she said. In poker games, "whenever he'd get a black card that he didn't like, he would refer to it as a `nig--- card' he needed to get rid of," said Deason, a registered nurse and widow of a UVa faculty member. "Allen was in law school at the time," she said.

And this sounds even worse:

"He definitely used the n-word, but that's been blown out of proportion because his actions often spoke louder," said Shelton, who has been interviewed by national newspaper and magazine reporters about an early 1970s Louisa County hunting trip with Allen in which Shelton said the then-quarterback stuffed a deer head in a black family's mailbox. Allen denied any such incident.

"Allen has called me a liar," Shelton said. "To me, George should come forward and be honest about his past and prove that he is different."

Shelton said Allen showed disrespect to UVa and the school's mostly black cleaning staff by walking down the hallways of Newcomb Hall as a student and spitting tobacco juice "on the floors in the hallway and on the walls."

Why would he resurrect old memories this year? "He absolutely denied ever having used the term [and] was testing the political waters for a potential presidential bid," Shelton said.

Truth and credibility still matter in politics. Racial insensitivity matters to many people. Allen seeks to enhance his status as a credible spokesman for conservative and family values and will not deny he harbors White House ambitions.

Be the debater you want to see.

by Ross Smith on 10/08/2006 11:18:30 PM EST

Webb and Allen are getting some more pre-debate coaching from bloggers:

Coaching Both Sides
Virginia political blog Richmond War Room offers both candidates individualized advice, echoing the judgment that the candidates should focus on the issues.

Norman, at Virginia political blog One Man's Trash offers suggestions for how each candidate can score points during the period in which they get to question each other. However, he notes that the substance may get lost in the discussion of their footwear or potential gaffes.

NoVaScout at Too Conservative declares the "racist/sexist contest is probably pretty much played out", offering Virginians an opportunity to see the candidates focus on the issues Virginians care about.

Coaching Allen
Stephen Fountain at Political Derby cautions Allen that this is his opportunity to change the narrative back to state and national issues in an attempt to put the race back into the Republican win column.

hr_conservative at Virginia Conservative Analysis says Allen "MUST" focus on the issues, and attacks on Webb should be on the issues - attacking Webb on the women issue could backfire.

Coaching Webb
Christian Pritchett at Midwest Values PAC reminds Webb that the race is his, "unless tonight's debate bucks the trend."

Adrienne F. Brovero Debate Coach University of Mary Washington

by Adri on 10/09/2006 11:08:14 AM EST

Over the last week, lots of coverage has described the need for the Virginia Senate campaign to refocus on the issues Virginians care about (see my earlier posts above on this last debate of the campaign season, as well as Dr. Morello's post describing such coverage).

Either explicitly or implicitly, much of the coverage has suggested the recent character-related questions are not important to Virginia voters.

Augusta Free Press co-publisher Chris Graham calls this assumption into question in the AFP Forum, calling for the candidates to "Debate the issues -- all of them":

And if I can venture another guess as to the reaction of those watching at home to the discussion of issues that so many people claim that they want to see ...
Zzzzz.
Honestly, the attention on this race has had so much to do with the candidates' records on race that it would be a crime to leave that out of the debate.
I can hear the howls of protest already, though, concerning the first question that comes up asking the candidates if they have ever used the n-word.
Ditto for the more recent revelations concerning Sen. Allen's failure to disclose stock options that he received for work with a technology company.
These things aren't relevant. Let's talk about what's important to Virginians.
Not for nothing, but whether or not a sitting senator or Senate candidate has been fully candid about his or her financial interests is important to me.
The same is true of the race views of the sitting senator or Senate candidates in question.

Adrienne F. Brovero Debate Coach University of Mary Washington

by Adri on 10/09/2006 01:45:27 PM EST