Meet the Press Showdown . . . Advantage: Webb

A few thoughts on the awesome Senate debate on Meet the Press this a.m. First, Russert actually asked Allen some tough questions, including follow-ups or -throughs to keep Confederate Heritage from SoCal Man on point when he failed to actually, well, answer the question. If you watched, you know what I mean. Also, Confederate Heritage SoCal Man, also known as George Felix Allen, was on the defensive basically the whole hour, with a few exceptions. He does have a record of supporting the worst president ever something like 96 % of the time. That's a lot of tough questions to answer or . . . not answer, as Allen usually did (not). He would not, for example, say that he would have voted for the Iraq War, if he knew what he knows now, and he wouldn't take a position on the torture bill debate. It can't help a guy like Allen when he's forced to answer questions like he's a politician. At times, today, he sounded like a GOP John Kerry.

Second, Webb started kind of slow, but he warmed up pretty quickly and scored some good jabs. My personal favorite was in response to SoCal Felix's strange attack on Webb's position on the first Gulf War, in which, "even the French" agreed. Webb's comment was to the effect that George Allen didn't fight in Vietnam, but, well, "even the French" fought in Vietnam. Ouch. I actually believe that Allen visibly reacted to that one. Anyone else see it?

Webb really isn't much of a "politician" . . . especially in contrast to the dippy Allen, who remembers to smile. But Webb actually answered questions, sometimes with simple declaratives. Like "Yes," we could have spent the $ 300 billion we've spent in Iraq in a more productive way. (This is such a no-brainer that for Allen to dodge the question shows that one can't answer the question "no" without completely losing your credibility.)

It's a shame that so few people (with a vote in this race) watched the MTP debate, because if Virginians actually gave Webb a look, I think that they'd prefer him to the alternative. Webb is actually a throwback Southern Democrat . . . which makes me wonder if the Tenacious One has an opinion on Webb? Webb seems like a TMcD kind of candidate, to be honest.

Russert did ask Webb some hard questions, especially on women in combat and affirmative action. Although Webb's views on these issues wouldn't endear him to Northeastern liberals, I can't imagine that they will alienate many Virginia voters--especially the voters Webb needs to win. And Webb might just win. It's a distinct possibility at this point.