"Virginians will go to the polls Tuesday to choose between incumbent Sen. George Allen (R) and his Democratic challenger, James Webb, in a tight race with national implications that was not supposed to be close.

After months of attacking each other's personal character, Webb and Allen headed into the final week in a virtual tie, with some surveys showing the Republican a few points ahead and others showing the Democrat leading slightly.

Allen's long history in the state as a legislator, member of the U.S. House, governor and now senator made him the clear front-runner against a political newcomer.

In fact, in the first half of the year, while Webb was battling Democrat Harris Miller for the nomination, Allen spent much of his time out of Virginia, giving speeches in states that hold early presidential primaries. His name was circulated at the time by several news organizations as a leading candidate for the Republican nomination in 2008.

That changed on Aug. 11, when Allen was caught on camera calling one of Webb's volunteers, a Fairfax County native of Indian descent, "macaca." The video became an Internet sensation and plunged Allen into several weeks of controversy.

Later, Allen also confronted questions about his Jewish heritage and was forced to answer charges from several former college friends about his use of racial epithets. He has denied that the "n-word" is part of his vocabulary.

Webb, too, ran into personal controversy, most recently with accusations that novels he wrote contained inappropriate passages of sex and degradation of women.

Earlier in the campaign, several women who attended the U.S. Naval Academy in the early 1980s came forward at an Allen news conference to say that an article Webb wrote for Washingtonian magazine in 1979 had intensified an atmosphere of hatred and harassment toward women.

Webb, a former Navy secretary and decorated Marine, apologized for the most strident language in the piece -- including calling one of the academy dorms "a horny woman's dream" -- but declined to apologize for the rest of the article, saying he was participating in an important debate at the time. He said he fully supports the current roles of women in the military.

Allen's campaign used the Naval Academy women in a hard-hitting television campaign commercial. Webb responded with one of his own, featuring military women who said the Democrat has done good things for military women.

Taken together, the charges and countercharges dominated news coverage for two months, forcing out discussion of many issues.

Here is a summary of where the two candidates stand on several key issues:

· Iraq: Webb, a Vietnam veteran, warned before the Iraq war started that it would turn out to be a mistake. He has been a frequent critic, saying that President Bush has bungled the aftermath of the invasion. He has rejected setting a specific date for withdrawal but has said the government should announce it has no long-term intentions to stay and should work with countries in the region more.

Allen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has for most of the campaign defended Bush and the war, saying that to "cut and run" would leave the oil-rich country a haven for terrorists. In recent weeks, however, Allen has moderated his rhetoric, saying that "mistakes have been made" and aligning with Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), who has characterized U.S. policy as "drifting sideways."

· The economy: Allen has focused on energy independence, urging consideration of oil drilling off the Atlantic Coast and the development of soy diesel. He has also talked about the need to educate more math and science students to compete with other countries. Webb has adopted a populist theme, talking about the disparity between the rich and the poor and the need to close corporate tax loopholes.

· Taxes and trade: Allen has accused Webb of wanting to raise taxes, citing criticisms that the Democrat made of the tax cuts Bush championed early in his term. Webb has said he supports middle-class tax cuts that are broadly applied, but not narrow tax cuts just for wealthy citizens. Allen vigorously supports free trade, while Webb has criticized the movement of jobs overseas.

· Social issues: Webb opposes the state constitutional amendment that would outlaw gay marriage, saying it would go too far toward outlawing contracts between unmarried people. He favors abortion rights and supports gun rights. Allen supports the marriage amendment, saying the nation's most important institution is "the family." Allen is antiabortion and also supports gun rights.

· Immigration: Allen talks frequently about the need to close the border with Mexico with a fence and does not support plans to grant what he calls "amnesty" to illegal immigrants already in the country. Webb has said the immigration problem is the result of a federal failure to control the border.

· Education: Allen and Webb say they support the goals of No Child Left Behind, but they disagree over how the federal law has played out. Webb says schools need more federal funding to fulfill mandates to test students and narrow achievement gaps. Allen, who voted for the landmark legislation five years ago, now argues that states need more flexibility in how they grade schools. Neither candidate supports repeal of the law." (Michael D. Shear, The Washington Post, November 2, 2006)

Editor's Note: An index to coverage of George Allen on the Loper website may be found at http://loper.org/~george/archives/2006/Aug/925.html