BTW- it was *supposed to be* George Allen

[underpants]

Sitting around yesterday morning watching George Will and Cokie and Sam and the ever pettable Stephanopolopagus fret about how none of the Republicans are really doing it for them. Will even said that the Republicans are engaging in Reagan envy (or something to that effect). They all agreed that Fred Thompson is the hot item right now but isn't he really just McCain minus the immigration issue when I remembered the shining beacon on the hill ..... well WAS on the hill










SWEET NECTAR OF LIBERTY!!!

I mean look at him!! That is all you can ask for in a Republican candidate can't you??? (including a horrific fiscal record and ending parole )

I mean Allen actually ran on his father being being the Redskins coach but would have been more than willing to morph pictures of his dad into Ronald Reagan for TV ads (they did foster the same basic look)

But alas no.

I don't mean this as gloating I really don't I just want everyone to remember that given McCain making another "I came in second last time" run and for all the Romneys and Guilianis trying to step into the void that void wouldn't be there if Allen had won with 60% or so of the vote as everyone and I mean EVERYONE (except for Jim Webb) expected.


Now they are rudderless and they are arguing about the wind direction.

[Byronic]

1. Well, I AM gloating

Nothing gave me greater pleasure during the mid-terms than Jim Webb's victory over George 'Felix' Allen. After the 'macaca' incident, and the ridiculous attempts to smear Webb over the contents of his novels, I was just desperate for the novellist to overcome the philistine.

For once, the good guys won, and sanity prevailed.

That was the sweetest victory for me in 2006.

And, you're right: it WAS supposed to be George Allen for President in 2008.

So Jim Webb should be thanked twice-over.

[underpants]

3. Welcome to DU

if'n I haven't before :hi:

You either are from Va. or you paid really close attention especially at the end. The book thing was brutal and desperate and it didn't work, it very may well have been the final dagger to Allen.

Yes it was oh so sweet.

But hey-there is always Jim Gilmore!!!

[Byronic]

6. Thank you!

No, I'm not from Virginia, but I can tell you one thing, there were a lot of Democrats from other states who felt honorary citizens of Virginia the night Webb beat Allen!

You did us proud :toast:

[liberal N proud]

2. I do remember hearing them say that yesterday

I wasn't paying too much attention to the talking heads but as you mentioned here, I do remember them bringing up Allen.

[underpants]

4. Oh no they didn't mention Felix

no no no they couldn't bring that up that would be unfair.

:evilgrin:

[Chipper Chat]

5. Allen/Santorum

When FredThompsonMania is on the wane the FundiePubs that control the GOP just may draft these two. What a ticket!

[Bucky]

15. They were never going to back Santorum. But yes, Allen was being packaged.

I don't have to tell you who I mean by "they," do I?
.`

[Jim__]

7. Definitely one of the better side-effects of the dems taking the Senate ...

... was that it meant George Allen couldn't run for president.

I'd like to believe that that clown could never win the presidential race; but, given recent presidential elections ...

[underpants]

8. Yes but they were taken completely out of their playbook

they don't do primaries. They don't do internal disagreement. They annoint their guy and then start running a national campaign complete with talk of "leadership" and "vision" and "indecisiveness by those weak Democrats" all packaged up and sent out for mass consumption.

The air of leadership and WINNING is huge. Now they have to slug it out and actually state their beliefs on issues and there is no central campaign to water down analysis of candidate X's history on _______ (insert issue) as liberal bias and so forth.

They haven't had anything close to an actual primary season in over 27 years.

[PATRICK]

9. Not a primary this time either

It's more like blowing the audition and not finding a single decent filler for the role. Should they stumble with this fundamental structural embarrassment into the actual voting booth the winner maybe the one who lines up the most nose-holders to actually form a meager base. they don't want excitement and it will be extremely painful to watch a primary that was never supposed to be a voter choice go on with a cast of non-starters who flunked their auditions for the role in front of the kingmakers. The media will be adrift and helpless trying to report on the competition that was only meant to be for show.

There will a dark smoke of burning ballots(figuratively in this digital age) should a plurality of angry GOP voters surge toward Ron Paul. Romney wins. yay. Come on gang, yaaaay.

[underpants]

10. And Would be President Fred comes in as the calming voice of reason

Did you know he is 6'6"??? Apparently that is about all it takes, according to Cokie (I would assume that she completely brushed off Gore's height back in 2000)

Great points Patrick

[Cosmocat]

11. Same with Santorum ...

Living in PA, I regained hope in my state and country that the maniac was put out out of office, and it was not even close ... Make no mistake, especially sans Allen, Santorum WOULD be in the mix right now ... And that dude is just flat INSANE ...

[underpants]

13. Both were the "Next great ones"

the golden childS if you will and both went down in flames

[Nedsdag]

12. That's why the Repugs are in the messy state they're in.

Allen was SUPPOSED to be the "chosen one." The one to bring together the evangelicals, moderates, and other conservatives with his "folksy" charm and his "Reaganesque" persona.

It was not to be and I for one am grateful.

[underpants]

14. Yyyyyyep

and Welcome to DU if'n I haven't before :hi:

[kaygore]

16. Webb wasn't the only person who thought that Allen would lose

"if Allen had won with 60% or so of the vote as everyone and I mean EVERYONE (except for Jim Webb) expected"

Webb had feet on the street and our feet defeated their $$$$s. Webb won because many, many, many people in Virginia believed he would and worked very hard to make it so. We believed that Webb would win because we had already had enough of that loser Allen, first as governor and then as senator. And, we saw a person of intelligence and integrity in Webb.

If the Republicans in Virginia had not been busy trying to steal the vote for Allen (which they would have been able to do had not one of the cities in Northern Virginia held off reporting their count which went heavily for Webb), the actual margin for Webb would have been much higher.

The United States of America owes a big thanks to thousands of us here in Virginia who worked for Webb's election (especially Susan Mariner in Hampton Roads who rallied many of us early on to the cause). Unlike Texas, we were able to stop an incompetent who claimed to be from our state from becoming president.

And, you are welcome!

[underpants]

17. Thank you

I didn't work on the campaign-wish I had but well I won't go into that.

I meant that if Webb weren't around, if he had listened to EVERYONE then Allen would have still been able to survive his disasterous cocky self-righteous campaign.