Allen to use the theme of “reflecting” and “learning” in first phase of campaign
By JR Hoeft | Saturday, June 4th, 2011 | PoliticsMost of those that study politics agree that the first phase of any campaign is to establish the candidate’s identity.
Some candidates in the current Republican race for U.S. Senate are doing this very well.
For example, Tim Donner is explaining to voters that he is frustrated with the growth and expansion in government, so he explains that he is ready to put his business experience to use in the public sector to make government more efficient.
He’s defining who he is, increasing his name identification, and explaining what he is for.
In fact, almost every Republican candidate in the race does this:
* E.W. Jackson puts his experience as the first paragraph on every press release
* David McCormick describes how his experiences at UPS and as an attorney affect his policy proposals
A notable exception to the above is Jamie Radtke who has focused her entire narrative on being Allen’s foil.
But even George Allen, who has been a public figure in Virginia since the early 1980′s (Allen’s political career began in 1981 when he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates; he has since also served as a congressman, governor, and U.S. Senator) and is the clear front runner (polls, fundraising, and public appearances bear this out), knows that at this stage in the campaign, he has to make a case to voters about who he is and why he is running.
Just because Allen has had a long career in the public eye, doesn’t mean he still doesn’t have to answer the questions, “Who are you?” and “Why are you running?”
Make no mistake – he and the voters remember the 2006 campaign. While a recent Washington Post poll confirms that most voters have forgiven the candidate for the incident, Allen still believes he owes the voters an explanation for how it affected him. He feels that the 2006 campaign changed who he is and influenced why he is running.
He did this right from the beginning of this campaign.
Bearing Drift was lucky enough to be the first internet magazine to interview Allen when he announced his campaign in January. In our podcast, Allen began to establish the theme of “reflecting” and “learning” from 2006.
This theme clearly continues today, as you can read in this prepared excerpt from his speech to the Faith and Freedom Coalition:
These years in private life allowed me to spend more time with my family – the blessing to do memorable, meaningful things with Susan and our children. These years allowed me to reflect, learn and renew with a resolve to advance ideas and reforms to get our country on track to become again a land of opportunity for all.
For future generations. This is a crucial time in our history.
Still, it is not an easy decision to run for public office. I did not like losing. It is a humbling experience. But, sometimes you do learn more from losing than from winning.
Our father and sports taught us that when you get knocked down you get back up. Don’t brood over mistakes, but you learn from them and improve.
During my last campaign, I should have never singled out that young man working for my opponent, calling him a name. He was simply doing his job.I was wrong to do that to him and it also diverted our campaign away from the real issues that families cared about.
Speaking of families, mine endured taunts and insults because of my mistake, and I sure would never want to put my family through that again.
However, because of that campaign, I learned so much more about my mother’s experiences as well as my grandfather and his legacy.
My middle name, Felix, honors him. Felix Lumbroso.
During World War II in Tunisia he was roused out of bed in the dark of night and incarcerated by the Nazis.
I saw in my dear mother that those terrifying experiences of the Nazis had left scars and wounds that still hurt, and an enduring fear that caused her to believe that the best way to protect her children was to conceal her father’s Jewish faith and ancestry.
This revelation really did bring our entire family closer together. For me, the core principle of freedom of religion was no longer just a matter of enlightened, Jeffersonian philosophy. It became deeply personal in the heart wrenching realization of how fear and persecution so tormented my loving, loyal mother’s life.
Learning all this has made me even more sensitive and more committed than ever to the principles of religious freedom and the dignity of every person regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender or religious beliefs.
It reinforced my belief that when injustice or the ugly head of anti-Semitism, racism, or repression arises, leaders must deplore it. Otherwise, people may believe that it’s to be acceptable or condoned.
Some have called the above an “apology” for “macaca”, but that’s not quite what Allen is doing. Allen is talking about how that event allowed him to grow as a human being.
It is clear as day from our podcast and this speech that Allen intends to face his past head-on in defining who he is to the voters. He will be using those lessons he’s learned from past experiences and attempt to show how those make him a better person and candidate today.
Allen is doing what all candidates should be doing right now in phase one of the campaign: explaining to voters who he is and acknowledging the past.
There are certainly different ways Allen could be addressing 2006, but this is the way he has chosen. There is no doubt that in speeches all across the commonwealth we’ll be hearing more about it.
However, Allen should know and understand that no matter what he says about 2006, the number one issue Virginians care about is jobs and the economy; veering off into the past is very dangerous territory for him if he can’t be clear and resolute on the primary message voters care about.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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44 Responses to "Allen to use the theme of “reflecting” and “learning” in first phase of campaign"
I think at this point he has addressed the issue, cleared the air and reached the point it is appropriate to move on to the issues at hand. It was less an apology than a simple message that he made a mistake and learned from it.
There was never any malice intended by this comment. It was a George Allen attempt at humor, and it bombed big time. Those who turned it into an issue and used it to political advantage really said more about the weakness of Jim Webb than anything else. Webb had already lost on his ideas.
The times are so dire now that these petty issues should not drive the dialog. Rather, as JR said, we must focus on jobs and the economy and changing the path the Democrats have set us on.
The primary winner and eventual Senator must prove that he or she understands what got us to this point and set a course to correct the problems.
I believe it was important for Allen to make the point he made in this speech about 2006.
Now let’s focus on the future.
Reflecting and learning from a career politician? Really? What, his first U.S. Senate term (after he served in Congress and as Governor) was training wheels? So, we’re supposed to give him another chance to “practice”? What about how he helps clients “navigate the waters inside and outside the beltway”? Is that part of his “insurrgence candidacy”? PUH-LEEZ. I don’t know what’s sorrier- that Allen thinks he can get away with it, or that people let him.
Jamie has said from the beginning she is a tea party candidate- fiscal restraint, individual responsibility, strong national defense (in a 21st century framework) and cutting the Federal Government down to its constitutional size. Unlike, Allen, she doesn’t have an identity crisis. (or anything to apologize for)
Karen, Jamie DOES has an identity crisis of sorts. As JR said, all most people know her as is the person who might not do what Allen did. If you don’t like Allen, that could be reason enough to vote for her.
We know Radtke isn’t Allen.
What we don’t know is who Radtke is…because she’s not talking about that, and-to be blunt-neither are her supporters. It’s “all Allen, all day.” If she is all the things you say she is, then she-and you-need to start talking about that. Tell the electorate what Radtke will do…not just remind them what Allen’s done, because in doing just the latter, you don’t create her as an alternative.
What we should thank Allen for is the Tea Party. He was one of the handful of big government porkers who inspired it. What was senator Allen thinking when he raised the debt ceiling? Was he having delusions about an 08 run for the WH? Who was he helping?
Follow the money.
Coby, Radtke speaks.. No secrets. Where is Allen?
The dems already are putting video and mailers out asking just that.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw7g8eN1bTU&feature=player_embedded
Who is Radtke? Radtke is ready to debate any time any place any topic.. Who is Allen? Allen is non committal.
James, Allen has a record. It’s open to be discussed, disagreed with, whatever anyone would like to do with it.
Radtke speaks, but not about herself. She doesn’t need to debate…she needs to talk about Jamie Radtke.
Coby, you’re wrong about that. She does talk about herself. Her supporters talk about her to. Your saying that is simply making a legitimate point that the message has to be delivered better and more frequently. It also says you don’t watch the Radtke videos coming from my Facebook page.
Lol. That’s ok.
I can’t paste links from my phone, other Radtke supporters could (hint!). Go to youtube and search “meet jamie razdtke” or “Jamie Radtke leadership”.
This is also a symptom of Radtke calling out Allen on his poor record and that being more attention getting and illiciting more response than her introductary stuff.
From the minority report.. http://www.theminorityreportblog.com/2011/04/19/meet-jamie-radtke-senate-virginia/
If you want Tim Kaine to be the next Junior Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia vote for Radtke in the primary.
Jamie Radtke has no plan she is just nothing but a reflexive NO to everything. NO isn’t the answer. George Allen has shown us real guts and humility in his speech. This is leadership people. He can say where he was wrong and show how its built his character. The only thing Radtke can say is George Allen is the devil and blah blah and big spending and blah blah… Grow up Radtke and your little minions like Hurd and the other tea party so called leaders. Tell me your plan to fix this country. YOU DONT HAVE A PLAN OR THE SKILL TO EVEN COME UP WITH A PLAN! Radtke can’t win against any Democrat in a Senate race. She can’t even raise money. Her salary when she worked for George Allen was more than what she raised last quarter. Give it up. Of course George Allen is so bad for this country such a sell out… blah blah…. You sure can take a paycheck from him. Where’s your principles on that?
Really, Matt? With all the dirt and ammunition the Democrats will have to start off with before the campaign even starts. Riiiiiiigggghtttt! Haha! Good one.
They will destroy Allen on the commercials.
George Allen – Fired by Virginians for a reason!
All of the comments so far seem to assume that the only 2 choices are George Allen and Jamie Radtke, but there are at least a couple of others so far. Also, everyone seems to miss the point that George Allen’s problem in 2006 was not a verbal blunder that most people saw not as bias, but as arrogance. His problem in 2006 was that he ran a terrible campaign–most of his air time spent attacking Webb for for his views on women in the military. Nothing about same-sex marriage until lAST COUPLE OF DAYS.
There is only ONE real candidate in this race and that is George Allen.
I tell yall what.. If you think your guy Allen is such a great candidate then lets have that debate. Invite all of the candidates and maintain an open moderation style (something Allen will refuse to do). Anyone wanna bet who will come up with more angles than a hardware store not to attend debates?
Turbo,
I’ll support George Allen debating any of the candidates if Jamie Radtke can beat me in a debate. You just don’t show up and ask to be QB in the NFL. You earn the position. That’s something she’s failed to do. Come on Common Sense Republican vs The Queen of the Tea Party. Name the time and the place and I’ll show up. Come on Jamie… AFP wouldn’t debate me and I don’t think you got the fortitude to do so either.
“Refelecting” and “learning”? Uh, yeah, because what other two words could have been chosen that would have been more antithetical to George Allen’s entire career, heck, his entire life.
A trend does seem to be developing, however:
Donald Trump has reconsidered his earlier announcement and will seek the Presidency of the United States. Trump’s campaign slogan will come from the Beatitudes: the meek shall inherit the earth.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn has announced his candidacy for the presidency of France from his New York residence. DSK noted that he expected to be the first international candidate endorsed by EMILY’S List and that the theme of his campaign would be “Justice for Janitors”.
High-ranking advisors to Mittens Romney have quietly made it known that the foundational ideas of ‘Romney the Reintroduction, Part 7, the 2012 edition’ will be the simple truths that Mittens is both more charismatic and more likeable than Ronald Reagan.
Finally, former Alaska Govenor Sarah Palin yesterday announced that her bus is headed directly to Juneau where she will demand that her former Lt. Governor vacate her office so that she may complete her full gubernatorial term. In a lengthy and extensively footnoted treatise published by The Nation, Governor Palin explained that the financial worries resulting from her lack of full-time employment were simply too great to bear, especially as both Track and Bristol might at some point soon graduate from high school and attend one or perhaps five colleges apiece. The Governor denied that her inability to see Mexico from her recently purchased Arizona mansion played any part in the re-routing of the bus.
J.R., no doubt before you sell resume you ‘define the candidate’; in non-political terms … you gotta like the guy. When I read this excerpt, my first thought was of Newt; it rings with similar tones. Voters forgive, but Allen completely missed the crucial moment to seek that forgiveness ~ immediately after it occurred.
And once again, Allen manipulates the apology to talk about himself. Wa-wa-waaah. Do voter’s care about his mother’s history? No. His family’s pain? No. His newfound (but selective and discriminating) sensitivity? No.
We own and operate a horse boarding and breeding operation. We pile manure daily and spread it in the fields. We plow it in, sell it and attract parasites with it.. Managing manure is a large part of running a barn. JR, I know horseshit when I see it, hear it or comewithin range of it. Allen is so full of it the buzzards are already flocking over it.
Allen made his bed and he sleeps in it. The latest apology is grand but it does not change the facts on the ground. The macaca moment has lasted 5 years and is not going to go away. The dems will have a field day trumpeting the GOP as a bunch of good ole boy racists regardless of the truth or what candidate Allen Version 2.0 looks like. There comes a time when former electeds have to reconcile with their past words, deeds & votes and this will happen eventually but for now all I see are smoke and mirrors.
And if Radtke gets the nomination they can paint her as the crazy lady like they were able to do with Sharon Angle and Christine O’Donnell. Remember how great they did?
NotKate O…
Loved your 3 am essay. Especially Sarah’s return to Juneau!!! Made my Sunday morning!!! Thanks!
@Matt It wouldn’t take much paint!
When is the BD debate?
Simple…he had his chance in D.C., he blew it. We need NEW people up there…badly!
P.S. Have ANY of these Radtke nay sayers listened to her at all? Have they gone to hear her speak? Have they asked her pointed questions? Surprise! She has many great ideas and plans….You all need to do you homework!
A critical review of Senator Allens senate voting record does not stand up well against the principles of the Tea Party movement.. Constitutional fidelity, smaller limited government, fiscal responsibility and fiscal accountability are real issues he flunked the test on over and over. HE VOTED TO RAISE THE DEBT CIELING FOUR TIMES. Allen was going against the grain of conservatives, no pun intended (this is ripening for a future post), and basically told Hagel to go screw himself when the conservative decision was to join forces. Nope, Allen was feeding at the public trough and pulling hind teat from special interest donors who could not give a rats ass about virginia’s constituents. You rinos supporting Allen aren’t having memory loss issues are you?
So the answer to the debt ceiling issue is to vote no and not pay our bills… Now that is great strategy. I think I will try it with my house payment this month. I’ll tell them Jamie Radtke said this works.
Lee, youre a smart guy.. Which debt limit increase Allen voted for do you think is the most important one and how did it fend off a financial disaster? I think it is grand that his hindsight is 20/20 and says what he will do next time while not acknowledging his sins of the past or his alliances with out of state monied interests who could give a flying poo about Virginians. Go ahead Lee, make my day, prove me wrong. Allen invokes the names of Jefferson and Reagan when describing his political philosophy, pure political wool over the eyes of Virginians. Do ‘Jeffersonian principles’ and does ‘Reagan conservatism’ allow for federal boondoggles such as Allens National Heritage Area too? GTFO, this charcter is the same bully now as before and you rinos wanting Allen 2.0 just might get him but keep in mind whose already been got.
To all you Radtke supporters when Allen wins the primary are you going to support Allen?
“this charcter is the same bully now as before ”
Turbo- I don’t agree with everything you say on BD, but here you have summed up Allen’s problem, the character flaw that lead to “Macaca” and more. I’d be surprised if that’s changed much.
You’re asking the wrong question, Matt. The real question is, who the voters will vote for after the Democrats obliterate him with his own screw ups? The Democrats couldn’t ask for a better chance to keep this seat than running against George Allen.
Britt: That’s probably right. The obvious question that Democrats will put to voters is “You fired this guy six years ago, why would you want to re-hire him now?” I’m not sure Allen has a good answer to that. I don’t think Tim Kaine is the strongest Democratic candidate I’ve ever seen, but he’s never lost. Allen has. That makes a difference.
Allen may think his $hit don’t stink but Kaine knows where to dig.. When you stir Allens shit it stinks.
Now, now, Turbo, keep it clean.
In answer to your question about a debate – BD intends to host one Mar. 2 or 3. Hopefully all candidates will accept. At this time, all candidates seem willing.
SV,
The only answer Allen has is “you saw what happened in 2009 and 10 when the Dems were in charge. Even I didn’t screw up that much.”
Val: I think I agree that’s his answer. I don’t think it’s a particularly good answer.
SV,
Maybe not but it’s better than Kaine’s. Allen would have been in more trouble with some newer face rather than a person glued to Pelosi, Reid and Obama. It’s better to be lucky than good.
If you can only sell yourself as the better of 2 bad choices, that dosen’t say a lot for for you. It didn’t do much for John McCain…….
Virginia Republicans and Virginia in general should adopt the theme of “Reflecting and Learning”. Time to reflect on the poor choice that George Allen was and why he was fired. Everyone should reflect on the damage he did to HIMSELF electability wise. They will hopefully learn that George Allen is a proven disappointment and not the best choice to send up against the Democrat nomination.
Britt,
As evidenced by the last 2 election cycles, a Republican Primary voter does not support the Tea Party candidates in VA to the extent to win it for them.
Scott: Jamie Radtke is not those candidates. She also is more than just Tea Party.
Val: Well, I don’t think Kaine’s the strongest candidate ever, but he’s run statewide twice without a loss. And he’s got a better answer to Allen’s question, which will be to compare their records as governor. Allen will say he did more (and yes, he did have more signature accomplishments) and Kaine will say i cut more money out of the state budget in four years than you ever proposed cutting and point out what the budget was when Allen entred office and when he left and then compare that with his own record in that regard. That’s a comparison that Allen won’t win. “He was governor while Virginia had abundant revenues and he spent every cent. Then he went to the Senate and did the same thing. I was governor when the ocuntry hit hard times and I economized and cut $7 billion out of Virginia’s budget and balanced it, without a tax increase.” (Is this strictly, literally true? Well, you could quibble here or there, but its easily true enough for politics.)
Another thing should be considered, Scott. If you are a Republican and you feel that the Democrats has really messed up, the Tea Party label she has will be attractive. It says she will actually do something about it, because those fiscal conservative values are among her core beliefs. She speaks very highly of guys like Rand Paul, Jim DeMint etc. She has already taken bold positions unlike Allen on the debt ceiling and Paul Ryan’s reform plan.
If you know we are in a dire situation and something MUST be done soon, you’ll sooner believe that Radtke will follow through before George Allen who has already proven to be a disappointment in the fiscally conservatived arena.
What is obvious is that we can do a whole lot better than to put warpaint on a proven disappointing warrior. You people call yourselves conservatives but I call your bluff.
Lets go into the Allen senate voting record on http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.xpd?year=2005&person=300004 and discuss that most valuable info in his resume.
I will start with something he got right.. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s2005-123
Splain this.. http://www.ontheissues.org/Economic/George_Allen_Government_Reform.htm
World Magazine did a profile on Jamie Radtke for those of you that “don’t know anything about her”.
http://www.worldmag.com/virginia/18177
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