I give Allen a B as governor and a D+ as Senator...the reason he doesn't get an A when he was governor is that he inherited (and I hate to admit it) a pretty good fiscal state from ) L. Douglas Wilder. Wilder, if you remember, barely got into the statehouse as the Old Dominion's first black governor. In a large way that was fortunate because the House of Delegates and Senate were in the hands of the Republicans, so he had to forge compromises. And, as a result, there were a lot of things that he got done--the state lottery, the restoration of a Triple A credit rating, plus there were plenty of improvements made on the state's roads. Allen, to his credit, carried on much of what was left to him but also, truth be told, claimed credit for some of what Wilder left him. Gilmore, OTOH, was a bust and left our state parks reeling and our credit rating raided.
As a senator, Allen was mostly a rubberstamp. I really cannot remember one piece of legislation that he sponsored. I hear a lot here at FR about RINOs--with John Warner, like McCain, listed as a major one. However, I have a ton of respect for Sen. Warner. He has responded everytime I needed helped with something. I am going to be sad to see him retire.