George:

What the macaca/Jewish/deer head stuff has done is to make the electorate ripe for Jim Webb to present himself as an alternative to Allen. So far, he has not put out the positive message -- his few ads with Ronnie in them were a start, but only a start. Keep in mind that about half (I don't remember if it's a little more or a little less) of the Virginia electorate never voted for Reagan. (You would have to be 40 years old to have done so.) What Webb needs are three ads to run immediately:

1. Here is Jim Webb, son of Virginia. Life history, accomplishments, etc.

 

2. Jim Webb speaking to the camera -- "I knew back in 2002 that going into Iraq was going to be a disaster, but George Allen and George Bush thought they knew better. History has proven that I was right and they were wrong. Now, I don't have a deadline in mind for getting out. But the question we need to address now is the same decision that General Eisenhower posed during his presidential campaign in 1952 -- do you trust the folks whose mistakes got us into this mess to know how to get us out?"

 

3. Jim Webb speaking to the camera -- "Six years ago, I supported George Allen and George Bush, because I thought they could provide better leadership for Virginia and for our country. Like many of you, I have been sorely disappointed by the LACK of leadership that we have had in the last 6 years. We can do better. We must do better. Etc."

The only things that Webb should be doing that seem negative are the comparisons -- I was right, they were wrong.

Jay Leno, Jon Stewart and others are taking care of the macaca/Jewish/deer head kind of stuff, and Webb doesn't need to. I understand that Webb's staff is working on an ad that I suspect will go up in a few days that will have women members of the military say, "Jim Webb is fine by me."

By the way, Michael Feldman on NPR had a good line today -- "George Allen is promising voters in Virginia a deer head in every mailbox."

Lloyd Snook (electronic mail, September 30, 2006)

Editor's Note: An index to coverage of George Allen on the Loper website may be found at http://loper.org/~george/archives/2006/Aug/925.html