I'd never heard the word "macaca" before it was used against Senator George Allen, and it seems obvious that the Democrats' current effort to tar him as a racist based on scurrilous, anonymous "recollections" by mostly-unidentified persons from decades ago--which the "recollectors" apparently forgot to mention during the many years in which Allen served as the Governor of Virginia, and then a U.S. Senator--is a joke, or worse.

So it's good to see that the latest poll from Virginia contains good news for Allen:

In the first poll in a couple of weeks, a new poll by SurveyUSA for WUSA-TV Washington DC and WDBJ-TV Roanoke gives Allen a five-point lead, 49% - 44%. All things considered this has to be seen as good news for the Allen campaign given the recent news coverage. The poll was taken Sunday - Tuesday while the latest scuttlebutt over accusations that he used the N-word in the 1970's was hitting in the media. Each individual day's polling was all over the place so it is clear there is a tremendous amount of volatility in this race.

But given the news flow for Allen the past month, the fact that Webb has actually lost ground from SurveyUSA's poll taken August 18-20 is not great news for his ultimate prospects in November.

Yeah, that's right. You can only play the macacacard so often.

SCOTT adds: I'll have more on Professor Sabato and the macacacard for our readers on the dawn patrol first thing tomorrow morning. Stay tuned.

PAUL adds: As that line in the Howard Hawks movie goes, "Somebody always gets it on the dawn patrol."

Posted by John at 10:01 PM  |    |