We do not need more Orrin Hatch type nice guys who think liberals are just misguided people who have different ideas on how to govern the country sort of like Walter Mondale or the modern dwindling stock equivalent of liberals who are also nice guys.
Right now, I can't think of one prominent liberal whom I would consider a gentlemen or a nice guy in the Walter Mondale mold. They are all either mindless dupes (such as Patricia Bin Murray or Bob Casey, Jr.) or downright evil (such as Dick Durbin or Harry Reid).
They are all either mindless dupes (such as Patricia Bin Murray or Bob Casey, Jr.) or downright evil (such as Dick Durbin or Harry Reid).
I always wondered where Feinstein fit in. She is not a dupe and not really evil, but not a “Walter Mondale” either.
I think Allen learned quite a bit from the macaca incident. But his biggest mistake wasn’t macaca or the attack on Webb’s books.
The biggest mistake was not taking the Senate campaign seriously enough with an eye on the White House (even Rush was promoting him). That’s why Dick Wadhams was brought in after the successful SD campaign for John Thune.
When macaca hit, Wadhams misplayed it and pushed Allen to the multiple apologies. When the poll numbers began to sink, they didn’t have enough opposition research to hit Webb with anything other than his writing and “Webb hates women.”
In spite of all that, on a night when Republicans were being slaughtered nationwide, Allen lost by less than half a percentage point.
For those reasons, and more, that I won’t go into on these threads, the 2006 campaign was different than any other Allen campaign I’ve seen in the 25 years I’ve known him.
All that to say, yes, he’s ready for his closeup.