Allen and the N-word

The chickens are coming home to roost for Senator George Allen.

First it was "macaca" and "welcome to the real Virginia." Then is was "I may be Jewish after all, but I still like a good ham sandwich." And now it's N-wordgate.

The most recent revelation comes from a college football teammate of Allen's at UVa in the 1970's, who says Allen frequently used the word "nigger" and did such nice things as stuff a severed deer head into the mailbox of a black family selected at random. Another UVA acquaintance came forward to say that he, too, heard Allen use the N-word frequently.

Press reports say that at least two other college acquaintances of Allen have, anonymously, so far, confirmed that he frequently used the N-word. And, UVa political science professor Larry Sabato--a frequent go-to guy for the media when it comes to stories on Virginia politics--says he, too, heard Allen use the N-word.

You can bet your sweet bippy, as they used to say on '70's hit comedy show Rowan & Martin's laugh-in, that more stories of Allen's racist past will begin to pour forth. Why? Because they're true. There might also be some stories of Allen's more general party boy days at UVa.

Republicans should just be glad this all happened now, rather than in two years with Allen being a leading contender for the GOP presidential nomination (not gonna happen now). On Sunday, George Will, speaking as a regular panelist on George Stephanopoulos's ABC News talking head program, noted that presidential campaigns are ten times as difficult as Senate races and all but pronounced Allen's national ambitions as dead. And that was BEFORE N-word gate.

So what does Allen have to say about all this? He trotted out hatchetman Chris LaCivita, who evidently has succeeded hatchetman Dick Wadhams, to denounce the men who broke the story--R. Kendall Shelton, a radiologist in N.C., and Christopher Taylor, an antropologist at the University of Alabama.

According to LaCivita, Taylor is a "liberal activist" who "is not credible, period." Hmm. Let's see. LaCivita is clearly a conservative activist who, among other things, engineered the smear campaign against former Georgia Senator Max Cleland, and the Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry. No doubt he is planning something similar against Jim Webb ("bring it on" Chris). Our guess is that LaCivita views John McCain as a "liberal activist" too. LaCivita hasn't an ounce of credibility himself, so don't worry about what he has to say.

The interesting back story is LaCivita's sudden appearance on the scene as a spokesperson for Allen. Last week it was rumored that Allen had shaken up his staff after major supporters questioned the way Wadhams was running things. (Allen is the real problem, tho'--we don't think Wadhams told Allen to say "macaca"). The Allen camp denied the rumors, but now it looks like they're true.

Allen has also pulled together some supporters to say they've never heard him utter the N-word. Kind of like those women who said Clarence Thomas never harassed them.

We like the denials--they are likely to spur more former classmates to step forward with the truth.

Finally, what about the handful of black ministers who've rallied to Allen's support? If they're smart, they'll back off. This is going to get a lot uglier.