Waldo Jaquith (JAKE-with) is an open government technologist who lives near Charlottesville, VA, USA. more »
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13 replies on “Terry simplifies the narrative of Sen. Allen’s loss.”
George Allen had at least as much to do with his own defeat as his opponent did. I compare it with a flaming ball of gas from outer space, waiting to be burned out. George Allen’s light is out, at least for now.
Can he ever rehabilitate himself in politics?
Given he lost by 7000 votes out of about 3 million, and was once the front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination, I think anyone who thinks for a second that George Allen is no longer a threat is in for a big surprise.
We have at least three former governors who are making some political waves currently. 2008 AND 2009 look to be very interesting.
Yeah, I don’t think he’s done. He should go make a million bucks next year as a rainmaker for some big law firm and try to work some of the asininity and meanness out of himself.
M. Warner v. G. Allen in 2008 could be an epic battle, depending on lots of factors like: if J. Warner retires, if they run, who the presidential candidates for each party are, and if G. Allen can hire a competent campaign staff.
The CW right now is that Warner, the popular ex-governor, would trounce Allen, the other popular ex-governor. But remember that M. Warner declined to run against Allen for his Senate seat based at least in part, I think, on what he regarded as Allen’s invulnerability. Oh, well.
Virginia hasn’t gone for a Democrat for the presidency since 1964. Things can change quickly, however.
The CW right now is that Warner, the popular ex-governor, would trounce Allen, the other popular ex-governor. But remember that M. Warner declined to run against Allen for his Senate seat based at least in part, I think, on what he regarded as Allen’s invulnerability. Oh, well.
Hmm. I’d considered M. Warner might run for J. Warner’s seat instead of the Presidency in 2008–and in my opinion it would be a very smart move–but I hadn’t considered a Warner-Allen matchup for it.
But after several more “hmmms” I think you might be right. Most of the public suffers from ADD. By this time 2007, Allen could have deflected the worst criticisms engendered by this year’s PR debacle with a few well-placed charity issues and high-profile cases.
I’ve been getting calls from all over the nation ever since the election asking how 1,166,280 Virginians could have voted for Senator Macacawitz – in the face of his ugly thuggery.
I point to my Uncle Earl, a bigoted, selfish, ignorant, puffy and meanspirited man who admires those same qualities in his politicians. Earl wallows in self-pity and dreams of revenge.
Speaking of ugly thuggery, what’s with the implied anti-Semitism inherent in refering to Allen as “Senator Macacawitz?”
I don’t know why that’s anti-Semitic. The term was coined by conservative pundit John Podhoretz, who is a regular contributor to The National Review, The Weekly Standard, The New York Post and Fox News. Podhoretz often emphasizes the fact that he is Jewish in his writing.
If you feel it’s anti-Semitic, J-Pod’s your man to take it up with.
Point taken, but isn’t that a little bit like me throwing around the n-word and then saying, “Well, black rappers use it all the time, so if you have a problem with it, then take it up with them?” And didn’t some Democratic precinct boss in VA have to resign and apologize after refering to Allen as Macawitz in the run-up to the election?
To me, it’s just a step away from calling him “Jew boy.”
Point taken, but isn’t that a little bit like me throwing around the n-word and then saying, “Well, black rappers use it all the time, so if you have a problem with it, then take it up with them?”
But that, of course, is a known slur. “Macacawitz” is a newly-invented, timely (and, IMHO, funny) nickname based on Allen’s bizarre outrage at somebody pointing out that he’s Jewish combined with his racial slur against a kid of Indian extraction. The word has no history, and exists only to mock a single man for his religious and racial xenophobia.
And didn’t some Democratic precinct boss in VA have to resign and apologize after refering to Allen as Macawitz in the run-up to the election?
If memory serves, it was a college girl volunteering for Al Weed’s campaign who sent out a bulk e-mail to the press that included that particular nickname, who wisely resigned from her volunteer gig.
If it’s just a timely, funny nickname, then why’d that person resign? I believe there’s some ethno-religious animus behind it.
If memory serves, it was a college girl volunteering for Al Weed’s campaign who sent out a bulk e-mail to the press that included that particular nickname, who wisely resigned from her volunteer gig.
And then spent the next several weeks talking openly in blogs about how crappy the campaign was, and how she was being painted as a Webb employee by the Republicans. Truth was, she was answering the phone for the Webb campaign, because there was no Webb employee in Danville.
One has to wonder where the Weed campaign’s assistant manager was during all this.
If it’s just a timely, funny nickname, then why’d that person resign?
Presumably because the Weed campaign decided that they couldn’t afford dealing with any controversy. She resigned before there was any controversy at all. There may well have been none, but why run the risk?
If it’s just a timely, funny nickname, then why’d that person resign? I believe there’s some ethno-religious animus behind it.
I agree there’s animus behind it, but there’s animus behind all such jokes–it all depends on who is saying it and who the intended audience is.
If someone is throwing a brick at their own glass house–like the Jewish pundit who coined “Macacawitz”–you can’t accuse him/her of bigotry because malicious intent is lacking.
However, if some punk who has an obvious dislike for the subject/object makes the same joke about someone else, s/he could be construed as having a hateful and/or hurtful–malicious–intent.
Having read the e-mail, I’d say that the campaign worker in question was being wholly derogatory and trying to hide it as “humor.”
George Allen had at least as much to do with his own defeat as his opponent did. I compare it with a flaming ball of gas from outer space, waiting to be burned out. George Allen’s light is out, at least for now.
Can he ever rehabilitate himself in politics?
Given he lost by 7000 votes out of about 3 million, and was once the front-runner for the GOP Presidential nomination, I think anyone who thinks for a second that George Allen is no longer a threat is in for a big surprise.
We have at least three former governors who are making some political waves currently. 2008 AND 2009 look to be very interesting.
Yeah, I don’t think he’s done. He should go make a million bucks next year as a rainmaker for some big law firm and try to work some of the asininity and meanness out of himself.
M. Warner v. G. Allen in 2008 could be an epic battle, depending on lots of factors like: if J. Warner retires, if they run, who the presidential candidates for each party are, and if G. Allen can hire a competent campaign staff.
The CW right now is that Warner, the popular ex-governor, would trounce Allen, the other popular ex-governor. But remember that M. Warner declined to run against Allen for his Senate seat based at least in part, I think, on what he regarded as Allen’s invulnerability. Oh, well.
Virginia hasn’t gone for a Democrat for the presidency since 1964. Things can change quickly, however.
Hmm. I’d considered M. Warner might run for J. Warner’s seat instead of the Presidency in 2008–and in my opinion it would be a very smart move–but I hadn’t considered a Warner-Allen matchup for it.
But after several more “hmmms” I think you might be right. Most of the public suffers from ADD. By this time 2007, Allen could have deflected the worst criticisms engendered by this year’s PR debacle with a few well-placed charity issues and high-profile cases.
I’ve been getting calls from all over the nation ever since the election asking how 1,166,280 Virginians could have voted for Senator Macacawitz – in the face of his ugly thuggery.
I point to my Uncle Earl, a bigoted, selfish, ignorant, puffy and meanspirited man who admires those same qualities in his politicians. Earl wallows in self-pity and dreams of revenge.
Speaking of ugly thuggery, what’s with the implied anti-Semitism inherent in refering to Allen as “Senator Macacawitz?”
I don’t know why that’s anti-Semitic. The term was coined by conservative pundit John Podhoretz, who is a regular contributor to The National Review, The Weekly Standard, The New York Post and Fox News. Podhoretz often emphasizes the fact that he is Jewish in his writing.
If you feel it’s anti-Semitic, J-Pod’s your man to take it up with.
Point taken, but isn’t that a little bit like me throwing around the n-word and then saying, “Well, black rappers use it all the time, so if you have a problem with it, then take it up with them?” And didn’t some Democratic precinct boss in VA have to resign and apologize after refering to Allen as Macawitz in the run-up to the election?
To me, it’s just a step away from calling him “Jew boy.”
But that, of course, is a known slur. “Macacawitz” is a newly-invented, timely (and, IMHO, funny) nickname based on Allen’s bizarre outrage at somebody pointing out that he’s Jewish combined with his racial slur against a kid of Indian extraction. The word has no history, and exists only to mock a single man for his religious and racial xenophobia.
If memory serves, it was a college girl volunteering for Al Weed’s campaign who sent out a bulk e-mail to the press that included that particular nickname, who wisely resigned from her volunteer gig.
If it’s just a timely, funny nickname, then why’d that person resign? I believe there’s some ethno-religious animus behind it.
And then spent the next several weeks talking openly in blogs about how crappy the campaign was, and how she was being painted as a Webb employee by the Republicans. Truth was, she was answering the phone for the Webb campaign, because there was no Webb employee in Danville.
One has to wonder where the Weed campaign’s assistant manager was during all this.
Presumably because the Weed campaign decided that they couldn’t afford dealing with any controversy. She resigned before there was any controversy at all. There may well have been none, but why run the risk?
I agree there’s animus behind it, but there’s animus behind all such jokes–it all depends on who is saying it and who the intended audience is.
If someone is throwing a brick at their own glass house–like the Jewish pundit who coined “Macacawitz”–you can’t accuse him/her of bigotry because malicious intent is lacking.
However, if some punk who has an obvious dislike for the subject/object makes the same joke about someone else, s/he could be construed as having a hateful and/or hurtful–malicious–intent.
Having read the e-mail, I’d say that the campaign worker in question was being wholly derogatory and trying to hide it as “humor.”