Posted on 03/19/2006 12:03:59 PM PST by wagglebee
DAVENPORT, Iowa - U.S. Sen. George Allen gave a breakfast speech Saturday here in Iowa, a state that could be crucial if he runs for president in 2008.
Several hours later, he gave a dinner speech in Virginia Beach, the largest city in his home state, where he faces a re-election battle this fall.
As the Republican senator juggles his two apparent political goals, he edges closer to creating a campaign issue at home. Allen, 54 , will not commit to serving out his six-year term should he reclaim his Senate seat in November.
"I'll consider the future when I get to the future," he told reporters after a morning speech to about 75 GOP activists at a Ramada Inn along the Mississippi River in Iowa, home to the first presidential caucus in 2008.
Allen was quoted in Saturday's edition of The Des Moines Register, Iowa's largest newspaper, as saying he was getting "a surprising amount of encouragement" to run for president "from people I have a lot of respect for."
In another interview Friday night with journalists from his home state, Allen said, "All my time is going to be spent in Virginia. What I'm focused on is 2006."
A look at his schedule for this week suggests he is running two campaigns.
Allen will tour the Richmond area Monday and spend Tuesday in Staunton, Culpe per, Stuart s Draft and Weyer s Cave.
On Thursday, Allen will travel to Dallas to host a fundraiser for his Senate campaign and speak at an annual dinner held by that city's Republican party.
Friday will find him orating in South Carolina, home to the leadoff Southern presidential primary in 2008.
Then it's off to New Hampshire, site of the nation's first presidential primary in 2008, to be the keynote speaker Saturday at the state's Republican convention.
Allen plans to return to Iowa in June to speak at the state GOP convention. He'll host a fundraiser in Sioux City for his Senate campaign.
Dick Wadhams, Allen's chief of staff, said the frequent trips to key states do not necessarily indicate White House ambitions. "These are not events we have asked for," he said. "For the most part, we get invited."
Allen is a proven moneymaker for the GOP, having led national fundraising efforts for Republican Senate candidates from 2002 to 2004. "The fact is that he has a reputation for giving a great speech, and people come to hear him," Wadhams said.
Allen was invited to Iowa this weekend by the state's GOP, Wadhams said. He keynoted two $50-a-plate fundraisers. About 100 people attended a Friday dinner in Cedar Falls; about 75 heard him speak Saturday at the Davenport breakfast.
Wadhams said Allen also is under pressure to raise money for his own Senate campaign out of state. He said the two Democrats vying to oppose Allen this fall - Harris Miller, a Northern Virginia businessman, and Jim Webb, an author and former secretary of the Navy - could invest their significant personal resources into their campaigns.
Allen said he plans to raise at least $15 million for his re-election run. Any unspent money could be funneled to a presidential campaign, should he decide to launch one. He had received $6.5 million through the end of 2005, Wadhams said.
Still, the out-of-state political travel seems to be a sensitive issue for the Allen camp. It is routinely omitted from Allen's public schedules while most of the Senator's Virginia appearances are listed.
Whether Allen's courtship of the presidency will become a major issue in his Senate re-election bid this fall remains to be seen. For now, Miller and Webb say they are focused on their race against each other in the June 13 Democratic primary.
Webb and Miller say the most significant issue is Allen's unflinching support of the Bush administration, which has seen its popularity plummet . Allen supported the administration's position in 96 percent of his votes last year, according to Congressional Quarterly Magazine. That was the third highest in the 100-member Senate.
Miller said Allen's national ambition is a concern.
"I'm a businessman," he said in a telephone interview last week. "If I'm interviewing a guy for a job and he wants to go off and have lunch with another prospective employer, I'm not going to hire him."
Miller and Webb have never held elective office and are not well- known to voters. Brad Coker, managing director of Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., said they may lack the stature to make Allen's dual campaigning an issue.
"In theory, what Allen is doing is dangerous if you're running against a top-tier candidate," Coker said. "But there isn't a Democrat running against him right now who I would put in that category."
Coker noted that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. , also is seeking re-election this year while courting her party's presidential nomination in 2008. Former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas won re-election in 1988 while simultaneously running for vice president .
"There's no way to predict the fallout," Coker said. "Each case is different."
Allen's road speech is the same message he's been delivering in Virginia for 25 years. He calls himself a "common-sense, Jeffersonian conservative." He plugs his record, as governor from 1994 to 1998, of ending parole, overhauling welfare and increasing accountability and testing in schools. He backs President Bush's tax cuts and foreign policies.
"I trust the people," he said. "I don't like to see restrictions on people."
He strongly backed expanding the ethanol industry, a key issue in Iowa, where 25 percent of the nation's ethanol gas is produced. That's a major change for Allen, who before last year had a consistent voting record against renewable fuels.
In Saturday's speech in Davenport , Allen mentioned that he was almost born in Iowa. His parents met, wed and conceived Allen in Sioux City, he said. They left a few months before he was born when his father, a legendary football coach, accepted a job in California.
"If I had my druthers, I would have been born in Iowa, but I had to, at the time, remain very close to my mother," he said.
Iowa Republicans said Allen has not created a campaign organization in their state and will need to make inroads by the end of the year. Allen, on his maiden to trip to Iowa during this presidential campaign cycle, seemed to make a good first impression.
"He was wonderful," said Carolyn Scott, a GOP activist from Bettendorf. "He speaks from the heart and accomplished a lot in Virginia. I think he'd be a great presidential candidate."
Ray Hoffman, Iowa Republican Party chairman, said, "He's a good man, down-to-earth. I like a guy who smiles a lot, and he looks like he's happy. I'm sure we'll see him many times in Iowa."
He will be a wonderful president, the best since Reagan.
i am beginning to worry a bit about his own re-election in VA.
Is there any chance Tim Pawlenty will get in the GOP rrace. Problem with Allen is that he is a Senator, so probably somewhere he voted against something before voting for it or vice versa...which will be easy to demogogue
The only person in Virginia who had any shot at beating Allen was Mark Warner. But Warner has presidential aspirations of his own, he's not going to risk losing a state election. Allen will probably win by 20 or more points.
IMHO, We won't know until after he wins his re-election as governor of Minnesota in November of 2006.
President Pawlenty? Not gonna happen... (Nothing against the man) Of course I could be proven wrong. But the names of our past Presidents don't bode well for the oddball Presidential name.
I'm sure VA has enough good Republicans who can take over his seat.
while there is probably no real basis in that comment, it is a good point
But a Democrat governor.. a one-termer...I predict.
I don't really know much about Allen, but he comes off as an empty suit. James Webb called him an idiot on TV, which I thought was pretty rude even in present-day politics. Plus, I'm not sure its best to run another candidate named George who has a famous father. Lends itself to jokes pretty easily.
for later
Allen has a has been described as reganesque
PING
Go see him speak sometime and you will know what they mean.
What makes you think that Allen would be a better president than George Bush?
Allen is the one to lead us to the promised land.
I hope to see him speak in New Hampshire in 08
Better than Allen running for a Senate seat and then running for POTUS a scant one year later. It's way too early for Allen to run for President anyway. Resign, Allen and take some time off with your family or something. Do some brainstorming with the conservative think-tanks.
It's a feeling you get when you meet him. It's not to diminish Bush in any way, Allen is just incredible.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.