I just finished watching the George Allen – Jim Webb debate on “Meet the Press.” For conservatives wishing for Allen to retain his seat, their best hope is that Virginians were otherwise occupied this morning or that the state’s NBC outlets were having technical difficulties.
Before offering my analysis, I should confess a pre-existing fondness for Jim Webb. Like virtually everyone who has read some of his books, I respect him as an artist but even more as a man. Webb is a war hero, an outspoken and outsized intellectual, a patriot who has tirelessly served his country, and all-in-all a tremendously admirable individual. Our political system is richer when people like Jim Webb decide to enter it.
That being said, I didn’t think Webb would be a very good politician. Webb’s background didn’t suggest that he would take to the tasks that a politician must constantly assume – relentless and humiliating fundraising, the endless happy tolerance of fools, and an uncanny ability to condense complex issues into 90 second sound-bites.
I should also say that given the vital partisan stakes involved this election season that Hugh and I have frequently discussed here, I squarely and unequivocally support Allen’s re-election.
Or at least I did until this morning’s debate. Now I’m not so sure.
IT WOULDN’T BE FAIR TO ALLEN to ignore the fact that he had to deal with being double-teamed by Webb and “Meet the Press” host Tim Russert. Still, Webb outclassed Allen in every aspect of the clash.
When it was time to talk about the candidates’ biographies, Allen really didn’t have a chance. There aren’t too many people in America who have biographies that compare with Webb’s.
The biggest surprise was what a nimble and effective political debater Webb turned out to be. At one point, Russert thrust into Webb’s face an article Webb had written in 1979 where he said that women should not and essentially could not lead men into combat. The language the young Webb used to make this argument was, shall we say, provocative:
“I have never met a woman, including the dozens of female midshipmen I encountered during my recent semester as a professor at the Naval Academy, whom I would trust to provide those men with combat leadership.” (Emphasis added.)
For some reason, the Allen campaign spotted an opportunity in this ancient article, even though it is a common sense argument that women should not be leading recon missions or commanding infantry. I know not everyone will agree with the previous sentiment, but I’d wager 90% of the population would. So in other words, if you want to win an election and this becomes an issue in the election (which it is thanks only to the remarkably maladroit Allen campaign), you’re better off being with Webb’s 1979 argument than against it.
Again, for reasons that I don’t fully understand, Allen has decided to attack Webb from the left on this issue. When Russert pressed Webb on the matter, Webb was subtle and effective. While he apologized for his intemperate tone and wished that he had been more mature when he wrote the currently controversial article 27 years ago, he refused to throw his argument under the bus. He acknowledged room for women in the military, but he did not surrender the common sense ground that the infantry and similar areas should remain a male preserve.
There were also the notable stylistic differences between the two candidates. Allen seemed like a politician through-and through. Webb seemed like he was intellectually and spiritually slumming while exchanging barbs with Allen and dealing with the sometimes insipid questions from Russert (e.g. “Both of you chew tobacco. Is that a good example to set for the young?”).
Even if Webb weren’t so impressive, Allen might well have cost himself the election with his continuing inept efforts to defuse “Macaca-gate.” Considering that Allen knew the issue was bound to arise in this morning’s debate, his defense of his comments was fairly shocking: He claimed that “macaca” was a word that he just made up on the spot when he called a young Webb volunteer that name while the video-recorder whirred.
When Allen offered this latest explanation, I’m pretty sure even in Massachusetts I heard the sound of half a million Virginia conservatives simultaneously slapping their heads and screaming, “Oy vey!”
AS EVERYONE HERE KNOWS, I THINK IT’S A MATTER of considerable import that Republicans maintain control of Congress. But, I have to admit, I can imagine far worse things than having a man like James Webb in the Senate.
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