Jamie Radtke and Tim Donner – two of the four other Republicans running for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination against George Allen – lamented Allen’s debate performance today against Democrat Tim Kaine.
Both candidates, who have been telegraphing Kaine’s pitch for about a year, once again made clear their primary concern with Allen:
“George Allen has no credibility barking conservative themes, when even liberal Democrats like Tim Kaine can so easily prove his hypocrisy by pointing to Allen’s record of trillions in deficit spending, supporting massive expansions in the size and scope of government, and backing government subsidies to some corporate interests,” claimed Radtke.
Donner also seized upon Kaine’s criticism of Allen on spending.
“In consistently hammering Allen on his record of profligate spending during his six years in the US Senate, Kaine sounded like a tea partier in pointing out Allen’s votes in favor of the Medicare prescription drug program and other massive federal programs, along with raising the debt ceiling four times to the tune of $3.1 trillion,” wrote Donner in a statement. “If the Democrat in this race can position himself to the right of George Allen on the issue of runaway spending and the size and scope of government, what hope is there of winning this US Senate seat?”
Donner went on to compliment Kaine by saying the former governor “was sharp, comfortable and confident, while Allen, in my view, looked stiff and rehearsed, and lacked any semblance of passion.”
It is not surprising that both Donner and Radtke, who fail to break 10 percent and are more the 50 percent behind Allen in the polls, were critical of Allen’s performance. But we are certainly in the silly season when both of them come across as cheerleaders for the Democratic party’s presumptive nominee.
It’s a decent warning for Allen – and one he should take seriously and remedy. But the criticism is hardly unexpected from his challengers, given the state of their campaigns.
But we are certainly getting to desperate times and desperate measures for these challengers. It will be interesting to see how long they last and how long they attempt to destroy the one candidate standing between Tim Kaine and the U.S. Senate.
