Democratic and Republican starts are coming out to support Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb as the two look to gain momentum going into Election Day next Tuesday.
A Zobgy poll released Thursday show Webb and Allen in a statistical dead heat.
Allen on Monday campaigned with NFL Hall of Famer Deacon Jones and spent Tuesday and Wednesday with Virginia’s popular and respected senior Sen. John Warner. The two campaigned together in Virginia Beach on Tuesday and throughout Northern Virginia Wednesday.
Allen spent Thursday in Roanoke. As of press time, his campaign had not released his schedule leading to Election Day.
Webb spent the early part of the week campaigning with Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder in the Richmond area. He campaigned with Sen. Barrack Obama, D-Ill., in Richmond Thursday afternoon and returned to Northern Virginia Thursday evening, where he campaigned with General Wesley Clark and actor Michael J. Fox.
Fox, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and is an advocate for expanding stem cell research, has become increasingly visible in the campaign since radio host Rush Limbaugh accused Fox of exaggerating symptoms of his illness in a commercial backing Democrats.
Earlier Thursday, Fox campaigned for Maryland Democratic candidate Ben Cardin.
Webb is set for a weekend of heavy campaigning around the state, starting in Norfolk with Wilder today, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and current Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine throughout the state on Saturday, and former Sen. Bob Kerry, D-Neb., on Sunday.
The challenger’s campaign comes to a close Monday evening with an Old Town rally withformer President Bill Clinton, and Warner and Kaine.
“The fact that so many big-name folks are coming to Virginia showcases how critical this state is … in the big picture nationally,” George Mason political scientist Mark Rozelle said. “If there was a solid lead or this was a lock, you wouldn’t see all the big names wasting their time here.”
Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said the arrival of national stars like Warner and Clinton would have been unthinkable in May, when most experts figured Allen would win easily as a run-up to a 2008 presidential run.
“If Allen looses, we’ll look back on the 2006 campaign as the deconstruction of a president,” Sabato said.
Part of the Washington DC Examiner’s 2006 election coverage.
