Anyway, now, George Allen continues his attempts at resurrecting his image after his disastrous 2006 campaign, in which he infamously used a racist term from his mother’s (and grandparent’s) native Tunisia to disparage S.R. Sidarth, the Webb campaign’s Indian-American “tracker.” The problem for Allen is that “macaca” wasn’t an isolated incident. As Brendan Nyhan points out:
… Allen’s very long list of racially insensitive actions has grown again. He’s twice referred to his opponent’s non-white campaign staffer using a term that means monkey, hung a noose from a tree in his law office, displayed a Confederate flag on numerous occasions from 1967-2000, featured the flag in his first statewide television ad in Virginia, signed a Confederate Heritage Month proclamation that described the Civil War as “a four-year struggle for independence and state’s rights,” opposed the 1991 Civil Rights Act, opposed creating a holiday for Martin Luther King, voted against changing a racially offensive state song, and initially defended Trent Lott after he praised Strom Thurmond’s Dixiecrat presidential candidacy.
There’s also this photo (of Allen and the KKK racist CCC. There’s also his common use of the “n” word and the little incident where he “stuffed a severed deer head into a black family’s mailbox.” Lovely.
But now, George Allen is attempting to resurrect his political career, so he’s embracing his long-lost Jewish roots and issuing a statement on Martin Luther King Day, even if he can’t manage to spell Dr. King’s first name correctly. All I can say is, I sincerely hope Republicans are foolish enough to nominate “Felix Macacawitz” for Senate once again. It will be most enjoyable — but not for them!
UPDATE: Bob McDonnell issues a much stronger, much better-written statement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day than George Allen. And no, that’s not a backhanded compliment; McDonnell’s statement is excellent.
UPDATE #2: Politico reports, “George Allen, the former U.S. senator and Virginia governor, plans to tell supporters within a week that he is mounting a campaign to retake the Senate seat he lost to Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) in 2006. Allen, 58, the most prominent 2012 challenger to announce so far, has begun to line up key staff members.” Yep, get the “A Team” back together! LOL
UPDATE #3: Former RPV Chair Jeff Frederick says, point blank, “I will not support George Allen” for Senate in 2012.
He was complicit in all the big government conservatism that came out of the Congress during his years in the Senate, cheerleading for it all and never leading against it. Allen was a go-along member of the GOP majority that lost power because it lost its principles, and he really is the opposite of the ideal candidate for those of us looking for a constitutional, first-principles, non-GOP-status-quo type of candidate. George Allen is the poster child for the establishment.
LOL, it’s going to be a fun year or two watching this unfold… 🙂
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