The Virginia Senate Race
The Virginia Senate Race
By: Leonard Carrier (DW’s In-House Historian and Philosopher):
Nowhere in America is there a clearer contest for the soul of our country than in the once great state of Virginia. Republican Senator George Felix Allen is running for re-election against Democrat James Webb, Jr. Here is how they stack up against one another. Senator Allen was born rich in California, the son of George Allen the football coach. He attended California schools where he played football, transferring from UCLA to the University of Virginia because, a teammate said, he wanted to attend a university where “blacks knew their place.” He was arrested in 1974, but it is unclear what the charge was. When he moved to Virginia he affected cowboy boots and an “aw shucks” accent. He became enamored of the Confederate flag and was reported to have expressed racist views on numerous occasions. Friends have said that he once shot a deer and placed its head in the mailbox of a black family as a joke. He supported the Vietnam War, but he got a deferment so that he wouldn’t have to serve. After his stint as governor of Virginia, he served on several corporate boards, and the SEC twice admonished him for not reporting stock sales on time. While governor of Virginia, he supported the pardoned traitor, Oliver North, for the U.S. Senate in 1994. He also supported the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Republican Party is touting him as presidential material for 2008.
James Webb was born in Missouri, the son of a military officer. He attended the University of Southern California until he received an appointment to the Naval Academy at Annapolis. After being commissioned he served in the Vietnam War, where he received the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism in action. He was also awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts in that conflict. In 1987 he was appointed by Ronald Reagan to be Secretary of the Navy. During his tenure he reorganized the Marine Corps to make it a more effective force. He resigned his position in 1988 to protest cuts made in the Navy’s budget. During the 2004 presidential race, he criticized John Kerry for the stand Kerry took in actively protesting the Vietnam War; but he criticized President Bush for making the worst strategic mistake in history by invading Iraq. Relatives of Webb have served in every major American war. Webb has written six critically acclaimed novels and a work of non-fiction that depicts the history of the Scots-Irish in America.
In my opinion, Virginians have a clear choice. They can either choose someone who is very much in the mold of George W. Bush, a child of privilege, someone who was born wealthy and got wealthier through his business connections; someone who supported two wars but declined to serve in either; someone who pretends to be down-home and folksy, when he really isn’t; someone who claims to be compassionate, yet doesn’t act that way; or they can choose a man of honor, someone who has shed blood for his country and who has always acted on principle. If Virginians choose to re-elect Senator Allen, we will know that wealth, power, and race mean more to them than having an honest, independent-minded senator. We will know what is really in their hearts. For those who cannot stomach voting for a rich, racist, phony, but who also think that Mr. Webb is still too conservative for them, there is always the Green Party candidate, retired USAF officer Gail Parker. If Webb and Parker together cannot muster more than 50% of Virginia’s votes, then Virginians should hang their heads in shame for caving in to their baser instincts.
Leonard Carrier
*(Dr. Leonard Carrier received his B.A. and M.A. from the University of Miami in ’56 and ’58, respectively, and his Ph.D from Stanford in 1967. He taught at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia and the University of South Florida (Tampa) before spending the rest of his teaching and research career (29 years until 2000) at the University of Miami.
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