"Republican George F. Allen kicked off his campaign for the November U.S. Senate election on Monday with the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, an independent who bolted the Democratic Party in January" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"In a four-city blitz, the former governor lashed U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb as a liberal spendthrift bent on raising gasoline taxes by 50 cents a gallon" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"Allen reprised many of the themes that propelled him to the governor's office in 1993, saying the November election against Robb was a choice between the Democrat's penchant for higher taxes and his own brand of 'common sense' conservatism attuned to Virginia's low-tax, leaner government climate" (R.H. Melton and Jamie Stockwell, The Washington Post, March 14, 2000).

"'Virginians don't need a senator who votes Bill Clinton 85 percent of the time,' Allen said of Robb. Of his own ideals, Allen added: 'This is an agenda not just for Republicans, but all Virginians, whether they're independents or Democrats'" (R.H. Melton and Jamie Stockwell, The Washington Post, March 14, 2000).

"'Of all my opponent's votes for higher taxes, and there have been many, nothing says more about how out of touch he is with Virginia tax- payers than his repeated efforts to raise the federal taxes people pay at the pump on gasoline,' Allen said. 'He has proposed not a 2-cent, not a 4-cent, not an 8-cent increase, but a 50-cent increase on a gallon of gasoline'" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"'So committed is he to taxing working families that he was one of only eight senators only eight out of one hundred - to vote against limited tax relief for middle class working families that even President Clinton signed into law in 1997,' Allen said (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"Robb's campaign manager Jim Mulhall a Allen has already set a shrill tone for the campaign and accused Allen of distorting Robb's record" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"'George Allen reached seven years back talk about a statement the senator made in I wake of the Gulf War,' Mulhall said about 1 gas-tax comment" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"He said Robb at the time believed a gasoline tax would lower America's dependence on oil from the Middle East, 'a dependence that has led to this run-up we now see in gas prices'" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"Republican officeholders greeted Allen at each stop, especially Arlington, where he was joined by U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, RAlexandria, Gov. Jim Gilmore, Lt. Gov. John Hager and Attorney General Mark L. Earley" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).

"But it was the day's first stop, in Roanoke, where Allen picked up Goode's endorsement. It was the first time Goode, I-Rocky, Mount, has endorsed a Republican in an election for statewide office" (AP - Roanoke, The Daily Progress, March 14, 2000).