The Congressional Desk provides information, news releases, and announcements obtained from governmental or political communication and public relations offices.Congressional Desk
October 30, 2006
In a desperate attempt to shred Jim WebbGÇÖs character one week before the election, George Allen has taken excerpts from various works of fiction authored by Webb and presented them out of context to fool the public into believing Webb does not have the temperament to be Senator. These campaign tactics speak ill of AllenGÇÖs own character and further reveal AllenGÇÖs pathetic desperation and bullying behavior. Below you will find excerpts from Republicans and Democrats who find AllenGÇÖs attacks baseless and appalling:
The Best
GARRETT EPPS, AUTHOR OF GÇ£THE SHAD TREATMENTGÇ¥: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACK IS GÇ£DELUSIONAL.GÇ¥ "To attribute something like that to a novel is really insane," Epps said. He's a Richmond native who teaches at the University of Oregon law school and who wrote the definitive Virginia political novel, "The Shad Treatment." "It verges on the delusional," Epps added FridayGǪEpps finds all this a bit odd. "Saying that you know a writer by what his characters do in a book is ridiculous," he said. "It would be as if I were afraid that Thomas Harris would eat my heart with a nice cabernet because he wrote 'Silence of the Lambs.' " Epps referred to his own novel as another example. "When I wrote 'The Shad Treatment,' it was about 1973 Virginia," he said. "I had a character who was corrupt. Characters who were racist. Who beat up people in parking lots. "Am I corrupt? No. Am I racist? No. Do I beat people up in parking lots? Certainly not." Epps wondered why the campaign bothered because he wondered why anyone was taking all this seriouslyGǪHe laughed at Allen's references to Webb as a "fiction novelist and Hollywood screenwriter." "Allen needs to look up the form: fiction, novel," Epps said, pointing at the redundancy. "That's hilarious. Has he read a book?" (Garrett Epps, Daily Press, 10/18/06)
JOHN PODHORETZ: ALLEN MAKES ME EMBARRASSED TO BE A CONSERVATIVE. GÇ£Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be on the Right. The outbreak of cynical Babbitry on the part of the George Allen campaign in using sentences from novels written by James Webb against Webb makes this day one of those days.GÇ¥-- http://corner.nation... 5:18 PM, 10/27/2006
LANNY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL COUNSEL TO PRESIDENT CLINTON: ALLEN IS DESPERATE. GÇ£George Allen put this out because he is desperate. He has no record to talk about and this is the only thing he can do.GÇ¥ [CNBC, On the Money, 10/27/06]
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What Journalists and Pundits are Saying:
BILL PRESS: THIS IS GOTCHA POLITICS. GÇ£I believe this is gotcha politics, itGÇÖs George Allen's desperate attempt to change the subject at the last-minute. I don't think the people of Virginia care what's in a novel, they recognize it's a novel. They want to know where he stands on the war, where he stands on tax cuts, where he stands on the important issues facing people of Virginia.GÇ¥ [CNBC, On the Money, 10/27/06]
JAMES CARVILLE: ALLEN USING A BOOK-BURNING TACTIC. I'm not altogether certain this is going to work for Senator Allen. I'm not sure this whole thing is not going to backfire. Book burning is not the greatest tactic in American politics in 2006. I think it's going to draw attention to the fact that Webb is one of the most decorated veterans out of Vietnam War. [CNN, America 360, 10/27/06]
DONNA BRAZILE: 25 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE AND THIS IS WHAT ALLEN CHOOSES TO DEBATE ELEVEN DAYS BEFORE THE ELECTION?! GÇ£Twenty-five years in public service and George Allen, you know, eleven days before the campaign is talking about one chapter in a book, not talking about a strategy for Iraq, not talking about job creation, not talking about keeping Americans safe and secure. He's talking about a racy chapter. That is outrageous!GÇ¥ [CNN, Situation Room, 10/27/06]
JOHN HARWOOD: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACKS OVER THE TOP, ITGÇÖS GÇ£KITCHEN SINK TIME.GÇ¥ The following is an excerpt from MSNBCGÇÖs GÇ£Hardball:GÇ¥
CHRIS MATTHEWS: The Allen campaign after weeks of campaigning against Jim Webb, the former Secretary of the Navy, the former combat veteran, going back to his writings in fiction and saying they show he's a bad person? Is that desperate or what the hell is that stuff?
JOHN HARWOOD: Honestly, I think that's a little over the top. It's as if the Webb people went after Allen as somebody whoGÇÖs violent because he used to knock people around on the football field. Novelists include sex scenes and thatGÇÖs sort of the way it goes. And Webb was a serious novelist who got good reviews for Fields of Fire and some of his other works, so I think for the campaign as one of our colleagues wrote, this is GÇ£kitchen sink timeGÇ¥ in the campaign where people are throwing up anything they can, and this is an example of that. [MSNBC, Hardball, 10/27/06]
ROBERT HOLSWORTH, POLITICAL SCIENTIST AT VCU: Holsworth said Allen's attack of the books is a "high-risk" strategy."It may have the political effect of motivating his social-conservative base to turn out at the polls, but it also has the potential of turning off a lot of people who say, 'Hey, these are works of art,' " Holsworth said. (Virginian-Pilot, 10/28/2006)
CHRIS MATTHEWS: DONGÇÖT BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE ON TV. GÇ£Dirt ball. Desperate to survive. Candidates do what works, dirt works. Let's play GÇÿHardball.GÇÖ Good evening and welcome to GÇÿHardball.GÇÖ Does the end justify the means? The negative ads being placed across the country should be rated R or X. The election swims in the gutter. With only 11 days to go don't believe what you see on television. A shift in power is what is at stake here. Republicans control 55 seats in the senate, Democrats control 45. If they pick up six new seats they win control of the senate. If the Democrats pick up 15 seats in the house, they win control there. Today the hot Senate race in Virginia got hotter, maybe steamier.GÇ¥ [MSNBC, Hardball, 10/27/06]
CHRIS MATTHEWS: CALLS ALLEN TACTICS DIRTY AND SLEAZY The following is an excerpt from MSNBCGÇÖs GÇ£Hardball:GÇ¥
MATTHEWS: Do dirty ads work?
JARDING: They can. They donGÇÖt always work, sometimes they backfire. And I think they will back-fire this case. They tend to backfire when you run them late, when it looks like desperation. In this case in Virginia, the polls have gone the other way, we now have the first poll out, the L.A. Times poll shows Jim Webb is ahead for the first time 47% - 44%, and all of a sudden the Allen campaign goes into a panic and they throe this kind of stuff out there.
MATTHEWS: Is this all they got or is more coming next week?
JARDING: Who knows what they will do. Desperate campaigns do separate things. By the way it doesn't appear to have very muchGǪ.
MATTHEWS: They have had this material since the day Jim Webb announced and they have chosen to use it now with the risk that it implies because everybody in Northern Virginia in this area reads books, they think, they know how politics is played. They are very aware of politics in the Washington area and they will know some sleazy ad man put on the sleazy ad to win this election.
JARDING: I think they will know that. [MSNBC, Hardball, 10/27/06]
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What Authors are saying:
MARGARET SOLTAN, ENGLISH PROFESSOR AT GWU: ALLEN HAS GÇ£NO CULTURE.GÇ¥ GÇ£Margaret R. Soltan, an English professor at George Washington University, said voters should not regard Webb's novels as indicative of his views, any more than voters in England should have been deterred by some of Winston Churchill's more shocking writing. "To think along those lines exposes you as a person who has no culture," she said.GÇ¥ (WAPO, 10/28/2006)
JOHN GRISHAM: GÇ£Best-selling author John Grisham, who with Stephen King held a fundraiser for Webb in Charlottesville, said Friday in an interview: "This is a clear sign of a desperate campaign if they plow through novels trying to find evidence of character. I seriously doubt George Allen is much of a reader, but if he would read more, maybe he would understand the difference between fiction and nonfiction." (WAPO, 10/28/2006)
JOHN CASEY, A NOVELIST AND PROFESSOR OF CREATIVE WRITING AT UVA: Characters in Fiction books do not mirror their authors. He GÇ£said authors should not be confused with their characters. "If a character slaps his girlfriend, it doesn't mean that the author slapped his girlfriend," said Casey, who won a National Book Award in 1989 for his novel "Spartina."GÇ¥ (The Virginian-Pilot, 10/28/2006)
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What Republicans are Saying:
MARSHAL WHITMAN, FORMER MCCAIN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: WEBB HAS WRITTEN CLASSIC BOOKS AND SHOULD BE CELEBRATED NOT ATTACKED. GÇ£The Moose offers his two cents on the latest Allen-Webb controversy. This is truly the silly season in American politics. Wake the Moose when it is over. The latest brouhaha centers over some lurid passages in novels that Jim Webb penned a while back. While the Moose has some differences over Webb's policy views, he has long been a fan of Webb's writings. He writes as a Marine who was there. His writing is vivid and an expression of someone who has fought and defended this great country. Webb is entitled to patriotic license. In the past, other public figures and politicians, including Lynne Cheney and Newt Gingrich have also written novels with racy scenes. The books were quickly forgotten. In contrast, Jim Webb has written at least one classic about war that will long be read and remembered. In another age, Webb would be celebrated for his literary talent rather than attacked for it. Jim Webb, thank you for your service to our country. And Senator Allen should call off his minions for this puerile attack. It is even beneath him.GÇ¥( http://bullmooseblog... ;10/27/2006)
MICHELLE MALKIN: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACK IS GÇ£SILLY.GÇ¥
GÇó GÇ£But they are no more proof of Webb's immorality and unfitness for office than the passages in "Sisters" are proof that Lynne Cheney hates men or that the passages in "The Apprentice" are proof that Scooter Libby endorses sex between children and bearsGÇ¥ 10/27/2006, October 27, 2006 11:53 AM
GÇó Michelle Malkin said GÇ£I think this charge is particularly silly and I happen to be somebody who supports Republicans. Condemning it is something more conservatives should doGǪIt looks desperate, it looks pathetic and it looks so immature.GÇ¥ [Fox News, 10/27/06]
RICH LOWRY, EDITOR OF THE CONSERVATIVE NATIONAL REVIEW: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACKS ARE GÇ£ABSURDGÇ¥: GÇ£The Allen campaign is now attacking Webb's novels! How absurd...GÇ¥ [National Review Blog, 10/26/06]
KATHRYN JEAN LOPEZ: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACK IS GÇ£LAME AND UNBECOMING.GÇ¥ GÇ£Kathryn Jean Lopez at the National Review's The Corner finds the Allen salvo against fiction "lame and unbecoming," though she also wonders how graphic the excerpts would have been in the Washington Post [note: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.] had a Republican penned them. As it happens, a prominent Republican didn't mind reading them: "Would this be a bad time to mention that John McCain wrote a blurb for [Lost Soldiers]?" Lopez adds.GÇ¥ (Slate.com, 10/27/2006)
ALLAH PUNDIT AT HOT AIR: ALLEN ATTACK IS PARTICULARLY NASTY. GÇ£Fellow righty Allah Pundit at Hot Air sees using a candidate's literature against him as the nadir of a particularly nasty election year: "The story's about Vietnam; maybe he's describing some obscure cultural practice that he encountered there. Or, just maybe, he made it up. Have we actually reached the point where Senate seats now turn on the sex scandals of fictional characters?" (slate.com, 10/27/2006)
SCOTT GALUPO, WASHINGTON TIMES BLOG: ALLENGÇÖS ATTACKS ARE GÇ£SILLYGÇ¥ AND GÇ£DEMEANING.GÇ¥ GÇ£George Allen is an opportunistic philistine. What other conclusion to draw from the senator's outrageous cherry-picking of "underage sex scenes" in his opponent James Webb's novels? Just imagine the "war room" scenario: of campaign underlings combing Webb's books for naughty bits; of the "gotcha" smiles that lit up said underlings' faces as they informed their boss they had yet more ammo with which to outflank Webb from the leftGǪThis latest salvo would be silly, if it weren't so demeaning -- not to women, as Allen would very much like us to believe of Webb's fiction writing, but rather to the basic idea of narrative artGǪWhat I know for sure is that is I can't now vote for Allen in good conscience.GÇ¥ http://www.washingto...
JOSEPH FARAH: EXCERPTS ARE A GÇ£NON-STORY.GÇ¥ GÇ£When Matt Drudge published the press release from Virginia Sen. George Allen's campaign about lurid and sexually explicit excerpts from Jim Webb's novels, some WND readers asked why we didn't jump all over the story. I'll tell you why. For weeks, operatives within the Allen campaign were shopping this "story." We were offered all the excerpts if we wanted it as an exclusive. I turned it down flat. Why? Because it's a non-story.GÇ¥ http://www.worldnetd...
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This is all Allen manufactured:
JOSEPH FARAH: Allen pushed the story for weeks. GÇ£When Matt Drudge published the press release from Virginia Sen. George Allen's campaign about lurid and sexually explicit excerpts from Jim Webb's novels, some WND readers asked why we didn't jump all over the story. I'll tell you why. For weeks, operatives within the Allen campaign were shopping this "story." We were offered all the excerpts if we wanted it as an exclusive. I turned it down flat. Why? Because it's a non-story.GÇ¥ http://www.worldnetd...
VIRGINIAN-PILOT: Allen sent out a 47 page document in August. GÇ£The Allen campaign has been studying Webb's books for some time. In late August, the campaign compiled a 47-page report that listed all literary mentions Webb had made about sex, women, blacks, Jews, Catholics, the media and veterans. The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Virginian-Pilot, also contained grids dissecting the major characters in most of the novels. In defending his criticisms of Webb, Allen said: "He can explain why he wrote these passages or created these passages. It's up to the people of Virginia to judge my record. I'm very proud of my record, and I've always said this campaign ought to be based on issues, ideas and a proven record of performance."GÇ¥ (Virginian-Pilot, 10/28/2006)
WASHINGTON POST: Excerpts were provided by Allen operatives. GÇ£Allen campaign officials provided excerpts from the books -- some of them depicting acts of incest and graphic sexuality -- to the Drudge Report Web site Thursday night. Matt Drudge's Internet blog often breaks or promotes stories with sensational angles, most recently the scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.). Allen's aides, who have been trying to get other news organizations to write about the excerpts for weeks, issued statements saying the fictional scenes in Webb's novels reflect poorly on Webb's character and fitness for office.GÇ¥ (WAPO, 10/28/2006)
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