Reply #17: Woo Hoo!!!!! [View All]

[tbyg52]

And remember, if Webb is elected it's a blow to Rove, Jr. as well!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0609.sin...

Rove 2.0

Dick Wadhams is the next Republican maestro of cutthroat campaigning. Can Democrats figure out how to stop him?

By Rebecca Sinderbrand

This spring, former combat Marine, one-time Reagan Navy secretary, and first-time candidate James Webb surprised political experts by entering the Democratic Senate primary in Virginia at the last minute--and winning. Three days later, Webb shocked Washington again by pulling within five points of the heavy-spending incumbent, Republican George Allen, despite a cash crunch that had kept Webb off the air for weeks. Legendary Virginia pundit Larry Sabato gave an ominous reading of the situation: The state's voters didn't yet know much about Webb, so the close numbers reflected "a judgment on George Allen." Damaging headlines loomed.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the front page. The poll results had barely gone public before Allen's chief campaign strategist, Dick Wadhams, went on the offensive. Sabato was a "biased" source, Wadhams sniffed to reporters from the Newport News, Va.-based Daily Press, and The Wall Street Journal poll carried out by establishment pollster John Zogby was "a joke." Moreover, said Wadhams, Zogby had "long ago been discredited."

A livid Zogby took the bait. "Frankly, I have never heard of Dick Wadhams and I may never hear from him again since he obviously is delusional," the pollster sputtered in a letter to the Virginia paper. "The race is close, and... Wadhams is obviously not up to the task."

Actually, thanks to Zogby's angry reaction, Wadhams had just earned his paycheck....