George Allen is Done

He's finished. Put a skewer in him.

He may get re-elected to the Senate, but his presidential aspirations blew away with this remark yesterday:

"This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. . . Let's give a welcome to macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."



the washington post follows up:

"Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs."

It sounds like the Allen Campaign handled the firestorm with tact:

"But the apology, which came hours after Allen's campaign manager dismissed the issue with an expletive and insisted the senator has "nothing to apologize for," did little to mollify Webb's campaign or Sidarth, who said he suspects Allen singled him out because his was the only nonwhite face among about 100 Republican supporters . . ."Not many people in southwest Virginia would think it is derogatory," Griffith said. "I didn't have a clue what it meant, and I doubt Allen did, either."

Ah, but why would Allen say a word that was meaningless to him? For more on that we go to Tapped:

"Ryan Lizza makes a great point on George Allen’s "Macaque" slur. As of now, it's a weird term that few of us know, and Allen is seeking to capitalize on it by claiming that "I don't know what it means." Why'd he use a word he doesn't know? Because it sounds vaguely like "mohawk," a word that doesn't describe the target's haircut, but sounds enough like "macaque" that the Allen campaign has decided to make it the alibi (left unexplained is why Allen didn't just use the word "mohawk"). Here's the thing, as Lizza notes: Allen is one of the few people who actually would know the term "macaque." It's a French slur for North Africans. Allen's mother is French Tunisian -- yes, a North African -- and Allen speaks French. You stay classy, George."

The aforementioned Ryan Lizza of The New Republic is no stranger to George Allen's race issues.

The Washington Post, probably the most influential newspaper politics-wise, is all over this in an editorial entitled "George Allen's America."

The Washington Post is also all over this:


"They legislate and look good doing it! Sartorial multi-tasking was apparently enough to land Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden on Esquire's list of "The Best Dressed Men in the World 2006."

For the third year, the magazine selected 20 men "who get it exactly right." Obama was cited for his sober but well-tailored suits and "impeccable ties" -- but was outranked on the list by Biden, who was praised for power dressing that "unmistakably says 'authority' ": strong suits, bold ties, pocket squares, cuff links and chunky watches.

"This is unexpected and undeserved," Biden said Friday. "My dad was an elegant dresser, and he used to say, 'Anybody who can buy off the rack can't be that sophisticated.' "