"Webb won primarily because of the macaca incident, which served to further fuel the Washington Post's jihad on George Allen. Webb ran on no particular issue and his campaign was rather dull and boring - commercials consisted mostly of "George Allen = George Bush" and the like."
I agree. I also think that the Dems were looking for the exact right vehicle to defeat republicans on war in Iraq, and a non-liberal anti-Iraq-war military man was their best shot. Allen would have beaten any conventional democrat that ran IMHO.
On this however ...
"I have never come across a book that contains a description of pedophilia or incest (let alone both)." ... it must have backfired on Allen, he had a close lead in mid-October but end of October Webb pulled ahead ... compare with eg Corker.
Go figure. Democrats must not mind porn writers in the Senate. Or maybe it smacked of below-the-belt (you see, only the Democrats and media are allowed to bring up irrelevent old cr8p and call it 'news').
In 2000, Allen won by 4 points against Robb.
Yes, he should have done better, but he is a good politician who can and should get back in the game, so long as he, like other Republican leaders, learns from this year.