Webb Leads Allen

By Radley Balko
October 31, 2006


A third poll confirms Webb's lead, this time at 50-46.

These polls seem to have been conducted over a period partly before and partly after the Allen campaign's press release last week. So it's difficult to say if they reflect Allen's floundering campaign before the novel excerpts, if they include any outrage at Webb after the excerpts hit the Drudge Report, or if they reflect backlash from voters against the Allen campaign after the excerpts were put into context.

Meanwhile, a former colleague of mine, a professional woman now living in Richmond, Virginia, writes:

If Allen's ploy backfires, it will be because of people like me. I do not consider either Allen or Webb to be good options -- but what else is new for a libertarian? I was a Teenage Republican in high school. I still tend to vote Republican when I vote. There are many reasons I don't like Allen, but I figured there were just as many reasons not to like Webb. As much as the GOP has screwed things up, I couldn't see the Dems doing much better, and quite possibly worse.

I plan to vote next week mostly to vote AGAINST that ridiculous marriage amendment. I wasn't sure if I'd even bother to vote for Senate, but was leaning towards holding my nose and voting for Allen anyway. I saw the Drudge Report a few days ago and I saw that one thing taken out of context and I thought "ew -- who thinks of something like that?" That was my first reaction but it didn't really sway me one way or the other, since fiction is fiction.

Then, I read your blog and saw just what Allen had done. It is interesting sometimes to see what is the straw that breaks the camel's back. Even "macaca" (times three) and "welcome to America" didn't quite push me over the edge. But this was the final thing. Maybe it's a lifetime of reading! But when you revealed on your blog the extent to which Allen had taken that one quote out of context -- indeed, portraying it as the EXACT OPPOSITE of how it was intended in the book (as an endorsement or fantasy or even neutral description, rather than an indicator of culture clash and culture shock) -- I truly just had it. And all this pandering to women by saying Webb only portrays women negatively in his books? It's just condescending. I haven't read Webb's books, but I have a pretty good idea why women are portrayed the way they allegedly are in what I understand to be the context of those books.

Anyway, yes, it backfired and I have been vocal about it with others. I don't really want to vote FOR Webb. For all I know he really is sexist, and I guess he'll vote with the Democrats on things, and I surely don't think he'll push things in a libertarian direction. But I cannot, I CANNOT, in good conscience reward George Allen with a vote. And yes, it's because of this book thing. At the end of the day, neither of these guys takes policy positions that line up with my ideology. So this is what it ends up coming down to, for me. There is still a chance I just won't vote for either of them, but I really think I'd like to sock it to Allen, even if that means rewarding Webb.

So yet again, you've made a difference -- even if it was just changing my one vote!

I'm flattered! Unfortunately, a hell of a lot more people read the Drudge Report than TheAgitator.com. I imagine there are a sizable number of Virginia voters still grossed out by the out-of-context penis quote, and don't realize that it's not some weird nugget plucked from Webb's imagination.