The Virginia Senate race between incumbent Republican George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb provides voters with a choice. So says the Pilot in this morning’s editorial.
As two debates between the pair over as many days this week confirm, this is far from a one-issue battle. From health insurance to stem cells to the future of American workers, there are sharp policy differences between Allen and Webb.
Choice is a good thing. The issues are what separate one man from the other, and I’m glad to see that the Pilot focused on that in this editorial.
Technorati Tags: Jim Webb, George Allen
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
While it is always great to have a choice, it doesn’t help when one of the two people to choose from doesn’t put his message out there. We are moving into the final week of Septmeber and I for one have yet to see an ad of Jim Webb. My roommate he saw the Regan ad once and that is it. Now maybe I am not watching the right channels, but this is pretty bad.
In addition to this, reading the commentary on the debates makes me think Webb want to do thigns for Virginia, but has no real strategy. The one area he has all his ducks in a row on is with Iraq. After that, he seems scatterbrained to me.
Now granted, things ought to pick up in the coming days and weeks, but is it too little too late? “Controvies” aside, do the majority of people in this state even know, much less care, about Jim Webb? I think the answer is no.
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I think the answer is yes. Yes to change, no to “stay the course”.
Did you see that interview on Hardball last night? Webb refused to get down in the mud…and he may have been the first person I have ever seen that was able to intimidate Chris Matthews into asking questions about real issues. Focus and discipline.
The Pilot house editorial was excellent. I thought they framed the debate very well and represented each candidate’s positions accurately.
As far as Jim Webb’s name ID goes, I think this is an issue for those who base their decisions in large part on paid TV ads. Also, the state GOTV campaigns are likely to be significant as well.
I have seen Webb’s ad a couple times in the expensive Northern Virginia market. He also has received exposure in newspapers across the state and on quite a few political talk shows. I understand that the Meet the Press appearance alone resulted in over $100,000 of unsolicited campaign donations. These donations aren’t coming in in the form of $2,100 or $1,500 contributions–these are often $25, $50, $100 donations. It takes a number of those to add up to $100,000+. So yes, obviously there are some people paying attention.