The campaign signs are almost all gone. The ads, thankfully, have long since stopped running on TV, and I haven’t gotten a recorded call from John Warner, Hillary Clinton or John McCain in a couple of weeks. The media is also starting to turn away from analyzing the election results and is now focusing on the new Congress and what the change means in Washington.
Here in Virginia, we had one very big change. Sen. George Allen, one of the most dynamic figures in modern Virginia politics was shown the door in a defeat that will go down as one of the most startling political meltdowns in American politics.
A lot has already been written about this defeat.
However, what probably won’t be said for a while is just what Allen and his politics meant to Virginia. No matter your opinion of Allen, whether you loved him or hated him, there is little doubt that he forever changed the political climate of Virginia. Some would say for ill, some would say he was the leader of a longneeded realignment, but he will never be accused of being one of those shadowy figures in politics that no one can quite remember.
When he was first elected to the House of Delegates, the Republicans were in the minority and the Democrats had just won the state’s top offices. The normal approach if you were a Republican in those days was to cooperate, be a good fellow and work with the majority.
But this didn’t suit Allen, who wanted to make waves, and true to his idol, Ronald Reagan, he agitated, gave speeches, picked on the leadership, and espoused concerns about the growth of government, regulation and just about any other topic he could find that would annoy the Democrats.
Allen’s next step came in 1991 when he ran in a special election for Congress. He won handily, but there was a price to be paid for annoying so many Democrats in the legislature. When redistricting came around, just a year later, his old colleagues, hoping to marginalize Allen forever, all but made it impossible for him to seek reelection.
But if only they had realized what would happen next. With no where else to go, he decided to run for governor. It was the ultimate long shot.
After a rather intense nomination battle, he got the GOP nod and took on Virginia’s twice-elected Attorney General Mary Sue Terry.
When the campaign began, he was unknown statewide, had no money and seemingly no chance. Then, he started talking about crime and parole. Slowly, his campaign took on momentum, and by Election Day 1993, he won easily.
From then on, it was a whirlwind of an administration.
As promised, he persuaded the Democratic legislature to eliminate parole and implement what he called, “truth in sentencing.” It was a popular reform.
He also implemented the standards of learning.
These are still hotly debated, but it was hard to argue with a premise that called for increased accountability from local school systems. Allen’s approach to government, for the most part, was divisive. It was “us versus them,” and yet, with his charm and singleness of purpose, his administration accomplished many of its goals.
He was also, perhaps most notably, the leader of a major transition in Virginia politics that all but ended Democratic dominance of the Commonwealth.
In 2000, true to a Virginia tradition of rewarding former governors by sending them to the U.S. Senate, Allen joined what has been called the world’s most exclusive club. His new colleagues, quickly recognized his skills as a campaigner and put him to work. In 2004, he chaired the Senate Republican Campaign Committee and presided over the biggest gain in GOP seats in the Senate since 1994.
The party was grateful, Allen had a network of friends nationwide, and like many who have come before him, he started to hear “Hail to the Chief” playing somewhere in the distance.
Unfortunately for Allen, that’s where things started to go wrong.
Running for re-election in a bad year for the GOP against a spirited opponent is tough in itself. Add to that the scrutiny that comes with running for president, along with several self-inflicted wounds, and it spelled trouble.
Allen didn’t lose to Jim Webb by much, but on Election Day, he was still out of a job.
Some think Allen still has a future — and he might because he is not a quitter — but he is also practical. He could run for office again or he could decide to call it a day.
But no matter what his decision, there is no doubt that George Allen won’t be easily forgotten.
David S. Kerr is a longtime observer of Virginia politics.
