Posted on 09/27/2006 7:42:34 AM PDT by truthandlife
One of Virginia's best-known political analysts said he had never personally heard Sen. George Allen use racial epithets, despite saying on television a day earlier that the senator "did use the n-word."
Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press, "I didn't personally hear GFA (Allen's initials) say the n-word.
"My conclusion is based on the very credible testimony I have heard for weeks, mainly from people I personally know and knew in the '70s," Sabato wrote.
Sabato, a classmate of Allen's at the University of Virginia in the early 1970s, said Monday on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" that he knew Allen had used racial slurs, but declined to say whether he had witnessed them.
Allen, a Republican who had been mentioned as a presidential contender and is now fighting an unexpectedly difficult race for a second U.S. Senate term, had said through a campaign aide that Sabato's claim was inaccurate.
"We're obviously glad that Mr. Sabato clarified his comments," said Dick Wadhams, Allen's campaign manager. "We remain committed to trying to dispel these erroneous stories that have been out there."
Also Tuesday, Allen's Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, declined to say definitively whether he had ever used a racial slur to describe blacks.
"I don't think that there's anyone who grew up around the South that hasn't had the word pass through their lips at one time or another in their life," Webb told reporters.
Webb referred to his novel, "Fields of Fire," which aides said includes passages using the n-word as part of character dialogue. But he added: "I have never issued a racial or ethnic slur."
Asked for clarification of his original answer, spokeswoman Jessica Smith quoted Webb as saying, "I have never used that word in my general vocabulary or in any derogatory way."
She declined to say whether he had ever used the word apart from when he wrote his book.
Allegations of racial insensitivity by Allen dating to his high school days in California have become a major distraction for the senator since August, when he called a Webb campaign volunteer of Indian descent "macaca." The word is considered a racial slur in some cultures.
On Monday, a former football teammate of Allen's, Dr. Ken Shelton, said he heard Allen frequently use a common slur applied to blacks among white friends while in college. Allen called the claim "ludicrously false" and released statements from four other ex-teammates defending the senator and rejecting Shelton's claims.
Also in interviews with the AP and Salon.com late Sunday, Shelton claimed that on a hunting trip to Louisa County in 1973 or 1974, Allen stuffed the severed head of a female deer into the oversized mailbox of a black household near Bumpass, Va., 40 miles east of the university.
But in interviews Tuesday, two Louisa County sheriff's deputies who were on the force in the early '70s said that they recall no complaints about severed animal heads.
Retired Lt. Robert Rigsby said he was in charge of investigations in the early '70s, and any such report would have gone through him.
"I think that's a myth," Rigsby said.
That he's virtually never right?
Actually it is on the AP wire but it is burried
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15027633
Yep, we were right!
He's NEVER EVER RIGHT ABOUT ANYTHING.
EVER.
"Fields of Fire"
James Webb
Read an Excerpt
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?z=y&ean=9780553583854&displayonly=EXC
Are you kidding? Well, that confirms it; they DO cherry pick their questions for liberals, i.e., the Clintons.
This is going to be HUGE blowback on Sabato.
Precisely.
Sabato, a classmate of Allen's at the University of Virginia in the early 1970s, said Monday on MSNBC's "Hardball with Chris Matthews" that he knew Allen had used racial slurs, but declined to say whether he had witnessed them.
So Sabato has appointed himself judge and jury here? Whatever little credibility he had has just dwindled to nothing.
I certainly plan to vote for him. In no way do I believe he is a bigot. This entire episode is telling me that the Dems are really, really frightentd of him and are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to stop him right now, their strategy being to smear early and often, the same tactics they tried to use against Bush II. Larry Sabato really put his foot in it this time.
I find Sabato's participation in this curious, too.
Accuracy of this claim that matters. It's the seriousness of the charge that's important. /s
"Virtually" never right?
I think that post confirms it: you can delete the "virtually" now. ;O)
Bet you won't hear any of the media put this on!
In case anyone wants to opine to the good professor:
sabato@virginia.edu
Scott asked him NOT ONE QUESTION, about his own involvement in this race. AND went on to interview him in his usual role, as if he has some kind of deep understanding of political races.
FULL DISCLOSURE FOX. Your "pundit" has compromised himself.
Brit Hume and Fred Barnes, both of whom seem to like Sabato, went to UVA, too. Earlier than Sabato did, but they know the era. I doubt they appreciate the things being said about The University of this period.
Fake but accurate......
If only FR let you REDACT qualifiers!
Shelton lives about 100 miles southwest of Charlotte. The following incident occurred in the same media market, a few months before he started floating this story. Hoke county looks to be about 100 miles southeast of Charlotte.
Coincidence?
___________________________________________
Deer Parts Found In Hoke County Mailboxes Juvenile Confesses To Prank
POSTED: 5:37 pm EST January 6, 2006 UPDATED: 9:32 pm EST January 6, 2006
HOKE COUNTY, N.C. -- Every day in the past, Evelyn Matthews has gone outside her home to get her mail, hoping for something good. But when she opened the mailbox and peeked inside one day this week, something else peeked out back at her. She was standing face to face with a deer head.
"It was scary," said Matthews. "When you see two eyes looking at you, it's really frightening."
She ran for help and warned her neighbors -- and for good reason. They found deer parts in their mailbox.
"It's nasty," said neighbor Michael Degregorio. "It's just disgusting, really."
Investigators called it a teen prank, and said they caught the teen who pulled it off. The suspect has promised to get his victims new and clean mailboxes. They promised not to press charges.
"Everybody gets in trouble when they're young," said Degregorio.
Matthews and Degregorio said they now think twice about getting their mail.
"Like I told my husband, I don't know if I want to check my mailbox anymore or not," said Matthews.
"Larry Sabato really put his foot in it this time."
I'd say he has really stepped into the macaca!
HEARSAY.
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