Is Allen going to win? Will all this racist stuff have an impact?

[rockymountaindem]

I keep hearing all over about what a jerk Allen is and all his racist comments, but I've neither seen nor heard any evidence to suggest his popularity is waning. He's still ahead in all the polls I've seen. Virginians aren't going to re-elect this guy, are they?

[beachmom]

1. They could.

You see, it's just that pesky "liberal" media trying to smear a good man. The same people who thought the M-word episode was no big deal, now refuse to believe the n-word stories.

The other thing is that Webb needs to win on the issues. Throughout all of this character stuff, there has been less talk about Iraq. That is Webb's strong suit. That's part of the reason Kerry is supporting Webb -- they're both veterans and despite past differences, they are united in the cause of their similar views on Iraq.

I just don't know what to tell you -- it's going to be close, and he may well be re-elected because, well I really don't know why. A lot of people in this state may as well be from another planet their world view is so different from mine.

[jillan]

2. I have an idea on how to possibly smear Allen some more

It would take some time and research tho.

You know how Sen Byrd has been trashed because he used to be a member of the KKK ?
It would be interesting to see what Allen had to say about Byrd. Not only could we label Allen as a racist, but also a racist flip-flopper :)

[rockymountaindem]

3. That's the thing that worries me

The racism angle is a tough one to exploit. Taking out ads that basically say "my opponent hates African Americans, Indians, Jews and women" is both hard to confine to a 30 second ad and would just seem in bad taste. That's a shame, because if anyone is in bad taste here it's Allen. I'm beginning to think we should focus our attention more on the Missouri race.

[karynnj]

4. What concerns me is that Allen may suceed in

saying that the n word stories are SBVT like smears.

(hopefully unnecessary statement: John Kerry is a war hero and an incredibly decent person. The SBVT were NOT. Allen DID say Macaca which has similar connotations and the fact that it's a different language doesn't make it better. He also had a confederate flag and a noose!)

These people, who knew Allen in the past, are telling stories that show Allen as a racist. Allen has "his people" froom the same time who are saying they never heard that. Neither have proof. I worry that Allen will try to spin it as swiftboating, as the blog on one post the Beachmom posted seemed to be doing. This may put Webb in a tough spot - being asked to deny it.

[beachmom]

5. The Webb campaign needs to stay FAR away from the race issue

and let the media and blogs carry water for them. People are annoyed with the ugliness of the campaign, so if Webb can give off the effect of "staying above the fray", that will resonate well with the voters. Meanwhile, the Allen campaign tried to make s*** up about Webb going to Watts in the '60s, aiming his gun at black people and then getting beat up. It was obviously from the Allen campaign, and the guy's story is already falling apart.

What's the race in Missouri? Since I live in Virginia, I still want focus here! What can I say, I'm selfish :).

[sandnsea]

6. We need 7 wins

MT, MO, TN, VT, OH, RI, and VA or AZ. We also need to hold on to MN, NJ and MI. So I think both MO and VA are important, as well as creating a national push against the rubberstamp republicans.

But anyway, yeah, I think the racism has gotten as far as it's going to as far as votes. I think we may be at that tipping point where people start feeling Allen is being attacked a bit too much. If there was some blatant buffoonery, like with Burns in MT, that would be different. I don't think Allen is quite at that place yet. Webb really needs to turn attention to him being the better Senator at this point.