Wall Street Journal/Zogby poll

For some reason, WSJ/Zogby isn't polling Rhode Island or Montana. These are likely Democratic pickups, and they are close races. Odd.

Of the races they do poll, there is one interesting point to make. Of all the Democratic pickup opportunities polled by WSJ/Zogby, Jim Webb has the biggest lead. That's right. Not Bob Casey (4%). Not Sherrod Brown (4%). Jim Webb leads by 7.5%. That is well outside the margin of error.

Republicans will immediately question the methodology, but there is a problem with that argument. George Allen was consistently polling ahead of his opponent for months, according to the same Zogby poll. Now that he has a real opponent and he has made a mistake or two, that lead has evaporated. The race is now likely tied, which bodes well for Webb, as undecideds will likely break toward the challengers/Democrats this fall.

Reagan ad

Apparently that wasn't such a good idea. Did the Webb campaign not think of okaying this with Nancy Reagan? Are they that stupid and incompetent? Apparently they are. There's no spinning it.

Advice to Jim Webb: Shut the monkey down

Dear Jim,

Please make a phone call to whomever it is dressing up as a gorilla and a banana. Tell them to stop making you look like a fool. This is juvenile and childish behavior, and they are embarrassing your campaign. Please put a stop to it.

Sincerely,
Virginia Debunker Expatriate

Google carries Allen shill, but not Webb shill

I noticed today in my Google News Alerts a post on the QandO blog. Yet I've never seen anything coming from Raising Kaine. What gives, Google? You'll feed us Senator Allen's propaganda but not Webb's? I've also noticed that Google carries Redstate sometimes, but not Daily Kos. The two sites are practically mirror images, if you ignore Daily Kos' insane popularity.

Allen's netroots coordinator Jon Henke writes for QandO. Lowell Feld, his counterpart on the Webb side writes for Raising Kaine. QandO is a great blog, but I don't believe QandO should qualify as news. It's a blog, plain and simple. Also interesting - Jon Henke is no longer the "Netroots Coordinator" for the Allen campaign. He is now the "New Media Coordinator."

It seems the new strategy on the Republican side is to accuse Raising Kaine of some sort of election law malfeasance. This is bizarre. First of all, these kinds of accusations won't hurt Webb. They aren't sexy enough. Secondly, they have no merit. And you know, it's funny, Dick Wadhams didn't have much of a problem with paying bloggers under the table back in South Dakota. There certainly wasn't any collusion in that case. None at all.

Meanwhile, the Webb campaign is smartly putting out their first TV ad starring Ronald Reagan. In it Reagan praises Webb for being an all around great guy. I can't think of any better way to get Webb into voters' minds. This is the first brilliant move by the Webb campaign. Maybe they do have their act together? With some luck he could pull it off.

Shuler up, Drake down

Former Washington Redskin Heath Shuler leads Charles Taylor by three points. This is a travesty. I'm not worried though. Shuler will just throw an interception late in the game and blow the whole thing.

Heath "$17 million" Shuler - 50%
Charles "not a Liberian warlord" Taylor - 47%

Well, with Darrell Green getting into politics, we'll have a real Redskin for which to root.

On a local note, Phil Kellam is up eight points over Thelma Drake. If Kellam remains competent and in control, Thelma Drake is toast.

Phil Kellam - 51%
Thelma Drake - 43%

What macaca means

George Allen has no ties to the CCC. He was photographed with CCC leaders. Democrats seem to be asserting that George Allen is secretly sympathetic to the racist ideas that the CCC espouses. But George Allen is not intentionally racist. He doesn't secretly scheme against people of color, snickering as he makes his plans to wipe them out.

George Allen is probably latently racist. In conversation he would never admit it, but deep down he see people of color as different. He likely makes assumptions about people of color - nationality, citizenship, etc. Otherwise he would not have let slip his comments of several days ago. Frankly, I am surprised that macaca had the impact that it did. Many people have this same type of latent racism lurking under the surface. Democrats, Republicans, doesn't matter. But apparently it has had some effect, and maybe that restores my faith in society. Allen's comments beg the question - What else lurks in his mind? If he makes assumptions about people regarding nationality, does he also make assumptions regarding intelligence and worth?

His comments also show that he can be a mean-spirited person. Would any of you - given the opportunity to speak in front of a rather large crowd - single out a 20 year-old dark-skinned guy in an audience of all white people and mock him by calling him macaca and welcoming him to America? I don't think it's something you would do, so why would you condone it? Republican bloggers who dismiss it as "not a big deal" are really doing themselves a disservice. I don't associate with people who would even be capable of that kind of behavior. That is why so many Democrats are incredulous over Allen's comments. It is simply incomprehensible that a anyone they know would let that slip out of his mouth. Apparently it is perfectly acceptable to many bloggers. I think many Republicans are embarrassed but they do not want to harm their candidate. This is understandable, if cowardly.

Felix

Calling George Allen by his middle name, "Felix," makes you look stupid and childish. Does this kind of name-calling really appeal to anyone who isn't already a strong partisan? I am really tired of seeing Felix everywhere I look. Democrats are fools sometimes.

Rarely does the discourse rise above mere noise

Rarely does the discourse rise above mere noise, but Bearing Drift's comments on Webb's campaign presence bear mentioning. George Allen has attended over 80 events in 2 weeks. I don't see that Jim Webb is making the same level of commitment. So what is the strategy here? Is Jim Webb trying to stay out of the way while George Allen takes heat for being a jackass? Or is there something else at play here? I'd really like someone to explain it to me. I am aware that Jim Webb has to see his son off to Iraq, but does that really justify two weeks of relative resting and relaxing? George Allen is working his ass off to win this race. And he will, if he attends more events, works more rooms, and spends his money wisely. I think that Jim Webb is right on the issues. But he cannot rely on gaffes to get elected. When will the Webb campaign prove that it is not completely incompetent? I believe that with diligence, we can win over smart guys like Jim Hoeft.

I think Democrats do not criticize the Webb campaign enough. There's no need for the kind of hyperbole ("worst campaign ever") that is generated by Republican blogs. But a little nudging might do some good. I do not overestimate the importance of my blog (I doubt many will read it), so I'm not going to hold back my criticisms. Maybe, out of the three people who read it, one person will take something away.

Let's cut through it, shall we?

I am an observer of Virginia politics. Much of my fascination has come from the Webb-Allen Senate race. Virginia is also my former home. Since I currently reside in a place where representative democracy is only a dream, I will continue to follow Virginia politics as long as it remains interesting to me.

I also enjoy Virginia political blogs. However, I am finding the assertions made by Republicans and Democrats alike to be shrill at times. Partisan hackery is one thing. But the outright deception is another. So I'd like to cut through the bull. I'll let you guess which party with which I choose to associate.