George Allen – Good Guy, Putrid Campaign

Poor guy.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — As the canvassing continues in Virginia, Sen. George Allen, R-Virginia, is sequestered in his home, “shell shocked,” and going through “a nightmare,” during this period of limbo, a senior Allen staffer tells CNN.

In a conference call with his senate staff and regional representatives Wednesday afternoon, the Virginia senator “didn’t concede but he was clearly not emboldened to fight this,” according to the staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

I feel bad for Allen who I believe is a thoroughly brilliant and good-hearted man. He was (and I think still could be) a more than viable candidate for President in 2008.

Except that he was at the head the most hamfisted, tone-deaf, unresponsive campaigns I have ever seen not involving someone named John Kerry. Senator Allen’s campaign made all the wrong moves at all the wrong times, left his strong and smart stands on issues on the sidelines in favor of book excerpts (which really was a dumb move), and played far too nice with Jim Webb and the Washington Area MSM. James Webb should never have gotten within ten points of Allen except that Allen let him. Jim Webb most certainly did not win the campaign. George Allen lost it. Badly.

If Allen has any aspirations whatsoever toward running for office again, he needs to take a long, hard look at how he ran this campaign and make darned sure he never looks that clueless, slow, or surprised again.

On the other hand, I have to give Allen a lot of credit for hiring Jon Henke. Henke was Allen’s internet outreach guy and he did yeoman’s work parrying the more scurrilous personal attacks on Allen than even the candidate himself. Plenty of candidates will need savvy and smart writers who know their way around a blog for the 2008 campaign and they’re not going to find many more capable than Henke (who they’ll be able to find at his regular Q and O home).

(h/t: Hot Air)

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Category: Political Pontifications, President George Bush