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A high-stakes debate

October 8, 2006 12:50 am

By CHELYEN DAVIS

RICHMOND--For both Republican George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb, tomorrow's debate here is a chance to tell voters who they are--and they both need it.

Analysts say Allen--who has been dogged by accusations of racial insensitivity for weeks--needs to reinvent himself, while Webb still needs to introduce himself to voters.

The two will spar in their last scheduled debate before November's election.

The 8 p.m. debate, hosted by the League of Women Voters, will be televised statewide, although PBS stations seem to be the only ones carrying it live; many network affiliates are running it later.

It is the second televised debate between Allen and Webb. They met last month on NBC's "Meet the Press," and have also debated at private events before the Virginia Bar Association and the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce.

Allen's troubles began in August when he called an Indian-American Webb volunteer "macaca," a name Allen says he made up but others say is a racial slur in some parts of the world.

Then, during the last debate in Fairfax, he became angry when responding to a panelist's question about his Jewish heritage--a heritage Allen admitted the next day.

Finally, a couple of weeks ago, several former college classmates accused Allen of using a racial slur against black people when he was at the University of Virginia in the 1970s.

So Allen has spent the past week trying to engineer a focus on the issues instead of character. This debate is a chance for him to continue that, and analysts say he will likely be on-message, repeating a litany of things done while he was governor and U.S. senator and hoping to avoid any new missteps.

"An awful lot is at stake for Allen. This has been the roughest patch in his political career," said Virginia Commonwealth University political analyst Robert Holsworth. "He's going to want to use this debate to convince people there are more important things they should be voting on than the allegations and revelations made about his past. George Allen really wants to utilize the debate to take another step in putting all of the turmoil from the last month behind him."

Holsworth said Allen will try to remind voters that he has worked for them and that he cares more about their future than "his one-time fascination with the Confederacy."

George Mason University political analyst Mark Rozell said the debate is the perfect way for Allen to do that. Despite debate time limits and requirements that candidates actually answer the question at hand, candidates can deliver messages unfiltered by the media.

"He needs some vehicle to get a more positive message out and let voters see him directly. So I think a debate takes on added importance because an unflattering profile of him has emerged," Rozell said. "This type of vehicle is potentially more beneficial than running an infomercial or TV ads, which are always considered a little bit suspect."

Webb's task is to tell voters why they should reject Allen's message and choose him instead.

This is Webb's first political campaign, and polls show he still is not well-known.

While the media's focus on Allen has hurt Allen's poll numbers--bringing the race to within a few points--it has also drowned out Webb's efforts to tell voters who he is and what he believes.

"Jim Webb has the same challenge he's had almost from the beginning of the campaign. That's to enable Virginians to know who he is, what he stands for, and feel comfortable with that," Holsworth said.

Rozell said Webb must use the debate to "give people a positive reason to support him, instead of just being the anti-George Allen candidate."

But it may be too late.

Quentin Kidd, a political analyst at Christopher Newport University, said Webb missed a crucial opportunity in not attacking when Allen's macaca comment gave him an opening.

Had the Webb campaign used that chance, Kidd said, it might have forced Allen to "respond to [Webb] and his issues."

"That's why Allen has been able to slowly but surely turn his campaign back because the Webb campaign has not been able to box him in," Kidd said.

The Webb campaign won't get another such opportunity, Kidd predicted.

Kidd said Webb can't win tomorrow night by challenging Allen on character issues that are weeks old. He has to go after Allen on policy issues, Kidd said, and he hasn't done too well at that so far.

To reach CHELYEN DAVIS: 804/782-9362
Email: cdavis@freelancestar.com