In the second profile of a 2006 senatorial race I look at my near neighbor Virginia. First term incumbent and former state governor, George Allen, is up for his first re-election campaign. A faithful conservative with no liberal or progressive qualities, Allen has defined himself with an iron-clad track record. He presents himself successfully as a “nice guy,” a simple act of political theater that no amount of money can buy.
And interestingly enough, since the Dick Cheney accidental shooting of the apparently bumbling septagenarian, Harry Whittington, Senator Allen's name has been put forth as a VP nominee, should Cheney decided to vacate the position for totally unrelated reasons. Should this happen, whomever would assume the role of VP would clearly be the GOP's Heir apparent in 2008. The only “draw me up short” aspect of this scenario is Allen's apparent intelligence.... Why would the GOP choose someone who can think, speak, and act forth himself?--i.e. without Carl Rove's puppet strings....
But I digress.
The Republicans are putting forth George Allen again as their hope to hold power in the senate from the Commonwealth of Virginia. And the Democrat's?
Virginia, being a state who's fortunes have clearly bent toward the Republican party in recent years, is not a place where “blue” is any threat to “red”. One notable exception to this is the current governor, D-Mark Warner. Early on, it was the hope of the Democrat party that Governor Warner, who is term limited, would decided to challenge Allen, his direct predecessor in the office of Virginia governor. I will admit, it would have been a great fight, but Warner isn't interested in playing this game. So now what? Allen skates to easy victory and with grand numbers pursues the higher and possibly ultimate office in the Land?
Whoa Nelly! Step in businessman, Harris Miller. Miller is actually a former Republican who has protested the Bush Administration on its characterization of the War. His present opposition to the conflict is his most salient selling point among his new constituency. His platform is checkered, to be kind. He supports outsourcing of US jobs, for example, which is not exactly a Democrat party pillar. And he once worked for Diebold....the people who have brought us all electronic voting machines without any paper trail from which to varify the results--can you say fraud?
In his initial polling after announcing his candidacy (Rasmussen), he trailed Allen by 30 points. And only three weeks later, he has narrowed the margin to 13 points. So it seems that there are underpinnings for an actual race in Virginia. And, in spite of Miller’s record of employment or smattering of Neo-Con/Globalist ideas, LOT’s of people are willing to support him....is this “anyone BUT Bush/Allen, again?”
And you can add to this brewing fray, Democrat candidate and former Navy Secretary, James Webb. Webb trails in the polls behind Miller, but the season is early and the support seems fickle--at least among the Democrats.
So, where there was once assumed to be a coronation, there is now a dogfight. And that's a pretty good thing for democracy.
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