Prospective 2008 Presidential Candidate: George Allen

Note: This is the second in a series of posts I plan to do on the prospective 2008 presidential candidates from both major parties.

George Allen is a rising star within the Republican Party. A former state delegate and son of the late Washington Redskins coach of the same name, he was elected to Congress in 1990. However, his district was redrawn by the Democrat-controlled (at that time) state legislature and he ended up in the same district as another, more established Republican congressman, Tom Bliley, by the end of his first term. He decided not to seek re-election in 1992 and was elected governor of Virginia in 1993 and then elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. He headed up the GOP's Senate Election committee for 2004. The extra seats that the Republicans picked up in the Senate during that election cycle will be a feather in his cap. He is running for re-election to the Senate this year and is not facing a very strong challenge. He has strong conservative credentials but is relatively unknown nationally. Recently, he has been leading all other prospective 2008 GOP presidential candidates in polls taken of party insiders. However, it remains to be seen how he will do with with the party's rank and file come primary season.

Comments

[James]

I guess this turned out to be a major mis-prediction about George Allen's Senate campaign this year: "He is running for re-election to the Senate this year and is not facing a very strong challenge."

Oops! Allen's (surprising?) loss handed control of the Senate to the Democrats.

[Terry Mitchell]

James, please note that this was posted back on May 30. At that time, even a lot of professional political pundits were thinking the same thing I was, as very few people had even heard of Jim Webb or his (then) soon-to-be primary opponent, Harris Miller.

For my current thinking about Allen, please read my Nov 11 post entitled "Is George Allen's Political Career Over?" Read the entire post, but it begins with the following paragraph:

"In the wake of George Allen's defeat by Jim Webb, let's not write Allen's political obituary just yet. Sure, it was a disappointing loss for Allen, who, just four months ago, seemed like a cinch to win overwhelming re-election to his Senate seat and be on his way to a formidable run for the White House in 2008. Now, after several gaffs and a poorly run campaign, he sits as a lame-duck senator with his 2008 presidential aspirations having been dashed. My, how quickly fortunes can change in politics!"