cannabisnews.com: Former Virginia Governor Announces Senate Campaign





Former Virginia Governor Announces Senate Campaign
Posted by FoM on April 13, 1999 at 16:20:15 PT
Source: SF Gate
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Former Republican Gov. George F. Allen announced Tuesday that he will challenge Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb in 2000, saying the nation's leaders lack the ``moral authority'' to fight crime and drugs. 
Allen, who often describes himself as a ``Jeffersonian conservative,'' chose Thomas Jefferson's hometown and the 256th anniversary of his birth to announce his bid. Allen, 47, abolished parole while governor from 1994 to 1998 and said he will focus on crime and the war against drugs during his Senate bid. ``What we lack now in our current national leadership is the moral authority and courage to wage that war and fight it to win, and that must change,'' he said. Allen turned aside a reporter's question about which leaders he had in mind. In the early 1990s, Robb faced allegations, which he denied, that when he was governor he attended parties where cocaine was used. He acknowledged receiving a nude massage from a former Miss Virginia USA. Robb barely survived a Republican challenge in 1994 from Iran-Contra figure Oliver North in a particularly nasty race. Robb has not yet said whether he will seek re-election, and Allen never mentioned the two-term Democrat's name Tuesday. But Robb has been raising money for the race. No other Republican has expressed interest. Robb spokesman John Dibiase said the senator is focused on the war in Kosovo and had nothing to say about Allen's candidacy. Dibiase said Allen should have delayed his Senate campaign announcement until after America is no longer bombing Yugoslavia. ``That's amazing,'' Allen responded. ``If that's the worst thing they can say about me they really are stretching.'' Allen said he started the campaign early because it will be an enormous task to unseat a senator. A race between Allen and Robb would be closely watched nationwide as Republicans try to keep their majority in the Senate. Polls on an Allen-vs.-Robb race consistently showed the challenger with a lead. Senate Republicans have a 55-45 majority. Thirty-three Senate seats are up for re-election in 2000, five of them without incumbents. Two of the five are being vacated by Republicans, three by Democrats. Allen, the namesake son of the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams football coach, led this decade's Republican resurgence in Virginia. Robb is the only Democrat holding statewide elected office in Virginia. 
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