George Allen Hopes to Reclaim Virginia Senate Seat

Former Senator George Allen announced in a video released this afternoon on his website that he will run for the Virginia Senate seat he lost to Democratic Sen. Jim Webb in 2006.

Allen, a Republican, argues in the video that Washington has not been "listening" to Americans and Virginians, saying people are "frustrated, really frustrated that Washington continues to ignore us."

He goes on to call for less spending, a balanced budget amendment, a line item veto, and "to replace and repeal this government mandated health care experiment." Allen has been pushing aggressively for repeal in the runup to his announcement.

"It's time for an American comeback," Allen adds.

It is also, he seems to be suggesting, time for a George Allen comeback. Allen was a Republican superstar in 2006 when he sought reelection against then-little known Democratic challenger Jim Webb. Allen had been expected to cruise to an easy win and potentially enter the 2008 presidential race, where pundits predicted he would be a leading contender.

Then came what has come to be known as Allen's "macaca moment" - his characterization of a 20-year-old Webb volunteer, who is of Indian descent, as "macaca" during a campaign rally.

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great," Allen said.

The somewhat obscure word - used in some European countries to derisively describe African immigrants and also sometimes used to describe a monkey - prompted outrage and an apology from Allen, who later said he did not know what the word meant.

"I would never want to demean him as an individual," Allen said. "I do apologize if he's offended by that."

But the damage was done, and members of the media soon began scouring Allen's past for evidence of racism. Teammates from Allen's college football team said he "used the N-word" in college, a claim Allen (and other teammates) strongly disputed; critics zeroed in on the fact that Allen wore a confederate flag pin in his high school yearbook photo and displayed one in his house, and the fact that he had signed a "Confederate Heritage Month" proclamation as Virginia governor. 

Allen, suddenly on the defensive, went on to lose to Webb by a narrow margin - around 10,000 votes - and see his presidential prospects go up in smoke.

Now Allen, who has reportedly turned to many of the same staffers as in the 2006 race, is prepping to face Webb again - though the Democrats has yet to say whether he will run for reelection.

In a statement, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director Eric Schultz said "Allen's offensive macaca moment will be the least of his worries" before attacking Allen for "his years in Washington shilling for corporate interests, wildly spending taxpayer dollars, and racking up our national debt."

National Republican Senatorial Committee Communications Director Brian Walsh shot back by casting Webb in much the same way, calling him a supporter of "out-of-control spending and rampant debt" whose "record the last four years has been one of a big spending liberal and a reliable rubber-stamp for the Obama agenda."

Before he gets to Webb or whomever the Democrats put forward, however, Allen will have to get through his own primary, where he faces a tea party challenger in the form of Jamie Radtke. Radtke has attacked Allen for his support for budgets that increased the deficit while in the Senate, and has won the support of conservative commentator Erick Erickson, who says Allen's voting record "is out of step with most of the grassroots activists engaged in Republican primaries today."

Allen could also face other Republican challengers. A decision by Webb not to run, meanwhile, could leave state Democrats in a bind; the only obvious candidate, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, has said he will not enter the race.