Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen is showing off his monetary strength to Democratic opponent Jim Webb with his second television advertisement, according to political experts.
“Allen is pressing his enormous financial advantage, which is exactly what he should be doing,” said Larry Sabato, director of University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. “Webb is unable to compete on television and won’t be able to until September.”
Sabato said Webb’s pennies must turn into millions in order to compete with Allen’s $7.5 million war chest.
Allen’s first television commercial began airing nearly one week before the June 13th Democratic Primary. He also has a radio spot on Virginia radio stations.
The commercials, which the campaign “put a significant amount of money behind,” are introducing Allen to new voters and reminding others of his political service to Virginia, said Dick Wadhams, his campaign manager.
“It is certainly no secret that several hundred people have moved to Northern Virginia since [Allen] was last on the ballot in 2000,” Wadhams said.
Toni Travis, a George Mason University political science professor, agreed with Sabato, but said airing the ads so early in the campaign “makes him look like he is running scared, that he is vulnerable.”
She said the early ads defining Allen will switch to Allen defining Webb, which will hurt the Democrat’s campaign if he doesn’t get himself “out there.”
Webb will have a television campaign “that gets the message out loud and clear,” but there is no definite timeline yet, said Kristian Denny Todd, a Webb spokeswoman.
“Allen is not going to rule the airways. That is the bottom line,” she said.
A Wall Street Journal/Zogby Battleground State Poll released Thursday shows Allen is just 5.3 percentage points ahead of Webb. Allen is supported by 48.8 percent of the voters, compared to Webb’s 43.5 percent.
A Rasmussen Reports poll released two days earlier showed Allen with a stronger lead — 51 percent over Webb’s 41 percent.
“John Zogby is a joke and should not be taken seriously … and the Wall Street Journal should be embarrassed for hiring him,” Wadhams said.
The Zogby poll shows “Virginians are hungry for change and have grown tired of George Allen’s ambitions taking him out of the state,” said Karl Frisch, a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman.
