"U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Fairfax County, sparred on foreign policy and tax issues with Democratic challenger Jim Webb on Monday, in the fourth and final debate of a tight contest for the Senate.

Allen linked Webb a half-dozen times with Democratic U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and tied himself to fellow Republican Sen. John W. Warner of Alexandria.

Webb appealed for Reagan Democrats to come home to the Democratic Party on Nov. 7 and linked Allen with the Bush administration. He also charged that Allen repeatedly distorted Webb’s record on taxes.

“George Allen has been one of the administration’s blindest supporters, voting with them 97 percent of the time and 100 percent of the time on foreign policy,” Webb said.

He and Allen talked over each other several times as they disagreed about facts and had to be stopped by the moderator, CBS Sunday Evening News anchor Russ Mitchell, at the debate televised on 19 stations from the Richmond public television studios of WCVE-TV.

Allen charged that Webb would raise taxes on 3 million Virginians by rolling back Bush administration tax increases, a charge Webb dismissed by saying that Allen was making up the Democrat’s position.

“My opponent wants to reimpose the marriage penalty, reimpose the death tax and slash the child tax credit by half,” Allen said.

“I think people who listened to me tonight know how absurd some of the things George Allen just said truly are,” Webb shot back in his closing statement. He said the election “will be a referendum on this administration. ... It will mark a chance for many people to return to the Democratic Party. In the wake of 9/11 and the globalization of the economy, the old labels of liberal and conservative no longer apply.”

Allen said his campaign had been knocked off track in recent months by a series of character questions dealing with his own words but insisted it is back on course, centered on his issues and record as governor and senator.

“The campaign got off on other things,” Allen said, explaining a steep slide in the polls since July. “Some of it I brought on myself,” he said. “Some were smears on the campaign.”

Virginians wants to ensure that Iraq is not allowed “to become a safe haven for terrorists,” Allen said. “Having an independent United States senator who will stand with John Warner and not Hillary Clinton matters a lot.”

State Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, said that Webb showed that he has expertise in foreign policy and military matters.

“Allen’s more polished than Webb, but Webb is about 4,000 percent better than he was in the first debate” back in July, Deeds said.

Webb stayed after the debate to answer reporters’ questions but Allen hurried out of the studio immediately upon the hour-long debate’s end. Aides said he has a late morning event today in Northern Virginia.

Seventh District Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-Henrico County, said Allen was clearly superior in the debate and stood stronger beside Virginia’s families.

Allen defended the constitutional amendment Virginians will face dealing with a definition of marriage, Cantor noted. Webb said the amendment’s second paragraph would clearly strip some rights from gay and straight individuals who are not married.

The debate’s strangest moment came when Webb asked Allen his opinion about the Shikaku Islands, a western Pacific Ocean island chain claimed by both Japan and China. Allen said he would need to study the matter further. Deeds said Allen did not know where the islands were, which appeared to be a payback for an Allen question in the first debate about Craney Island, which Webb could not place." (Bob Gibson, The Daily Progress, October 10, 2006)

Contact Bob Gibson at (434) 978-7243 or bgibson@dailyprogress.com.

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