Virginia: Allen’s National Ambitions Provide Campaign Fodder For Democratic Foes

The Frontrunner

The Richmond Times-Dispatch (4/17, Whitley) reports that Virginia Sen. George Allen (R), faced questions on his presidential ambitions as he kicked off his reelection bid last week. Allen’s “travels this year have taken him to North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa, Texas, California and New Hampshire,” and his Democratic opponents ? Harris Miller and James Webb ? along with the DSCC “have had a field day with Allen’s out-of-state travels. ‘Welcome back to Virginia, Senator Allen,’ the Webb campaign said. ‘George Allen is the only senator from Virginia who has ever kicked off his re-election campaign in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,’ Webb spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd said.” DSCC spokesman Karl Frisch said of Allen, “He clearly prefers the people of Columbia, South Carolina, to those of Columbia, Virginia.” Stuart Rothenberg, “who writes a political newsletter in Washington, called the Democrats’ criticism ‘poppycock.’ … ‘Senator [Hillary Rodham] Clinton is running for president; John McCain is running for president; Senator [John] Kerry is still running for president,’ he said. Unless Allen misses a key vote, the voters will not hold it against him, Rothenberg said.”

April 17, 2006 | Filed Under DSCC, News Mentions 

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