The original racist teabagger returns: George "Macaca" Allen to run for Senate again.

[FORD]

George Allen preps for '12 Senate bid
By: Alex Isenstadt and John Bresnahan
October 7, 2010 11:52 AM EDT



Former Virginia Sen. George Allen is taking increasingly aggressive steps to lay the groundwork for a 2012 Senate comeback.

POLITICO has learned that Allen, the Republican who was ousted from his seat in 2006 by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, recently huddled with National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn to discuss a prospective bid. He is also burnishing his profile through a series of public events, spreading cash through his political action committee and has even launched a Facebook page.

According to one source familiar with Allen’s efforts, he sent a strong signal to other ambitious state pols by informing GOP members of the Virginia congressional delegation in early 2010 that he was thinking of running for Senate.

For months, Allen has been teasing local reporters about a prospective bid — in July he told the Martinsville Bulletin that he was “perhaps” interested in running for his old seat — but those close to the former senator and governor say his most recent moves provide the clearest evidence to date that he is all but certain to run against Webb.

"He's been telling people privately for a couple weeks that he's in,” said one GOP lobbyist involved in Virginia politics. “It definitely seems like he's running."

An Allen entry would set up a dramatic rematch against freshman Webb, who capitalized off a mistake-ridden Allen campaign in a contest that was once thought to be out of the Democrat’s reach.

Allen — who until that time had been widely mentioned as a prospective 2008 presidential candidate — came under scorching criticism after he called a Webb video tracker “macaca” in a clip that eventually went viral on YouTube.

A spokesman for Webb, who ended June with $509,000 in his campaign bank account, had no comment.

Dan Allen, a George Allen adviser, said the Republican was “fully focused on this year’s elections in Virginia, and once the races are wrapped up, he’ll start to turn his attention to the future and what his role would be.”

But Allen’s jampacked election season schedule resembles one that a candidate would have around this time of year. He’s held 97 public events since June 4, and in September alone, he held a combined 20 campaign events for Virginia congressional candidates Robert Hurt, Scott Rigell, Morgan Griffith and Keith Fimian. On Tuesday evening, he attended a Cornyn-headlined Georgetown fundraiser for Senate candidates Marco Rubio of Florida and Sharron Angle of Nevada, and next week he’ll make an appearance at the Virginia Tea Party Convention.

His Facebook page — titled George Allen Va. — is described as “a way to interact with thousands of people across Virginia and the nation, keep them informed about what I am doing and also share with them my thoughts on the news of the day.”

“He’s still a draw. People still respond really well to him,” said one GOP strategist familiar with Allen’s thinking, who added that the former GOP senator was “most definitely planning a run.”

In some cases, Allen is offering private counseling to candidates running in November. He’s spoken with Hurt and Rigell, both of whom are in competitive races against Democratic incumbents.

More important, Allen is also spreading the wealth, cutting checks through his Good Government for America political action committee to a slate of candidates, including Hurt, Rigell, Griffith and Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf.

But Allen’s path to the GOP nomination wouldn’t necessarily be wide open. Allen could also face a primary challenge from a more conservative Republican candidate, according to Virginia GOP operatives.

Among those mentioned as potential primary opponents are House Minority Whip Eric Cantor and state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. Allen's entry into the race would complicate any statewide ambitions for Cantor, who is also in line to become majority leader in the event of a Republican takeover of the House on Election Day. Cantor is unlikely to challenge Allen in a head-to-head matchup, said sources close to the GOP lawmaker.

[knuckleboner]

no big secret here in virginia.

2012 won't be as good a year for republicans as 2010, but i think the republican will win the state's electoral votes, so webb's going to have to convince a percentage of the romney (etc...) voters that they should nonetheless vote for him.

[BigBadBrian]

no big secret here in virginia.

2012 won't be as good a year for republicans as 2010, but i think the republican will win the state's electoral votes, so webb's going to have to convince a percentage of the romney (etc...) voters that they should nonetheless vote for him.

Webb's not too bad a guy, he was Reagan's SECNAV afterall, but Warner and his insider trading ways needs to go.

[Dr. Love]

has even launched a Facebook page.

that's pretty damn serious right there

[Dr. Love]

has even launched a Facebook page.

that's pretty damn serious right there

[knuckleboner]

Webb's not too bad a guy, he was Reagan's SECNAV afterall, but Warner and his insider trading ways needs to go.

i agree, webb's solid. but it'll be a tough campaign for him.

warner will win in 2014.

[FORD]

January 23, 2011, 9:56 pm
George Allen to Announce Plans for Senate Bid on Monday
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Former Republican Senator George F. Allen of Virginia will announce Monday that he will seek to avenge his narrow loss in 2006 at the hands of Senator Jim Webb, two senior Republicans in Virginia told The Caucus.

“He’s calling himself the original Tea Partier,” said one senior Republican, who asked not to be named because Mr. Allen has not yet made his plans public. “A lot of the old gang is helping.”

Mr. Allen’s political career was abruptly ended four years ago after a campaign that became synonymous with the new era of YouTube politics.

After the image of Mr. Allen calling a young Democratic operative “macaca” was downloaded hundreds of thousands of times, the senator lost his reelection bid by about 9,000 votes. (See the video below.)

Mr. Allen, who in 2006 was considered a leading contender for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, never ran for the office after his re-election to the Senate faltered.

But Mr. Allen has never made a secret of the fact that he wanted to return to politics. Some in Virginia believed he might run for governor, a position he held in the early 1990s in the state.

But in the last several months, Mr. Allen has stepped up his criticism of Mr. Webb, leading many political operatives in the state to believe that he wanted to get his old job back.

Politico reported Sunday evening that Mr. Allen would make that decision official Monday. His Web site had only two words on it as of Sunday: “Stay Tuned.”

The two Virginia Republicans said Mr. Allen has been increasingly active in political circles. One official said he “saw him last Thursday night and he was in total campaign mode.”

Both said they believed Mr. Allen would file papers to make himself an official candidate on Monday. Jamie Radtke, the head of the Virginia Federation of Tea Party Patriots, has already filed to run for the Republican nomination for Senate.

But if Mr. Allen were to win the nomination, it’s not entirely clear that he would get the rematch he wants with Mr. Webb. The current Democratic senator from Virginia has indicated to confidants that he is not certain he wants to run for re-election, and he has raised little money so far.

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[Nitro Express]

Elections are boring. I wish we would just put the politicians who want office in a ring together and let them fight to the death in gladiator style fights. The winner holds office.