What GOP Candidates Can Learn From George Allen’s ’06 Defeat
Adapted from an AgapePress article by Jeff Johnson and Chad Groening (11/13/06)
The leader of a Virginia-based pro-family organization says he is not surprised former U.S. Senator George Allen (R-VA) was narrowly defeated in his 2006 re-election bid. The Republican incumbent lost his race by only 9,300 votes. While most pundits believe Allen’s now infamous “macaca” quip foiled his re-election bid, Family Policy Network President Joe Glover believes there was another reason for his failure to return to the U.S. Senate. 
Glover says Allen alienated too many people in his conservative base during his short tenure Washington, D.C. Despite calling himself a conservative, Allen supported “hate crimes” designation for homosexuals and failed to support [a federal] marriage amendment until just days before it was considered by the Senate in 2004. According to the Virginia State Board of Elections, Allen garnered 1.42 million votes when he was elected in 2000, but only earned 1.17 million votes in 2006.
Comparing Allen’s loss in 2006 with his victory in 2000, Glover said, “Obviously, there were 250,000 people who voted for Allen in 2000 that lacked interest in him this time, so they must have felt betrayed.” He added, “Maybe some other Republicans should think about that the next time they’re tempted to abandon their principles in office.”
Glover said, “If you’re going to run as a pro-family candidate, stick with your base. And if you’re going to run as a conservative, then support conservative policies like the federal marriage amendment and opposing hate crimes designation for homosexuals.”
Allen upset some voters with his apparent departure from, or lack of support for conservative values. Glover [said he wonders if] the senator and other Republicans .. understand that if they will stick to the values of those voters who make up their conservative base, then “they’ll stick with you.”
DISCLAIMER: FPN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. It does not endorse, support or oppose political candidates, campaigns or parties. Also, the quotes on this page contain updated numbers from the original article to reflect official election results, which were updated and certified by elections officials since the original version of this article was posted. Original article from AgapePress – Copyright, 2006.
RELATED INFORMATION:
FPN Paper: The Truth About George Allen and Homosexuality
http://familypolicy.net/us-p-184
FAMILY NEWS IN FOCUS – Allen tries to explain HIS ’04 hate crimes betrayal:
– AUDIO: http://familypolicy.net/files/AllenHC-FNIF.asf
– ARCHIVE: http://family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0032751.cfm
WASHINGTON TIMES – Allen’s ’04 Hate Crimes vote (1/2 way down page):
http://washingtontimes.com/national/20040628-110203-1578r.htm
CWFA – Allen’s broken campaign promise on hate crimes:
http://www.cwfa.org/articles/5883/CFI/family/index.htm
Virginians respond to Allen’s ’04 hate crimes vote on FPN Blog:
http://familypolicy.net/va-p-136
FPN’s original release concerning Allen’s Hate Crimes vote:
http://familypolicy.net/va-p-5
Sen. Allen’s withdrawal of ‘Hate Crimes’ support too little, too late for grassroots:
Reversal reports: Crosswalk.com, NewsMAX.com
(Broken) original promise from George Allen in 2000, re: adding “”sexual orientation”” to hate crimes:
