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A new MSNBC/McClatchy poll shows Republican George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb in a dead heat for Allen’s Senate seat. Allen’s standing has crumbled in the wake of the “macaca” and other racial scandals.

I can’t remember another time in recent memory when a political “rising star” fell so quickly.

Republican George Allen’s re-election campaign for Senate is crumbling, along with his ambitions for president. First there was “macaca.” Then came his defensive response to a question about his Jewish heritage, and his subsequent ludicrous claim that he wasn’t aware of it until now. Now witnesses are emerging to say that Allen repeatedly used racial epithets against African Americans in his younger years, and even shoved the head of a deer into the mailbox of the nearest black person during a hunt.

We’re seeing the real George Allen emerge now, especially in the way defensive, condescending way he is dealing about the questions regarding his past. This is a guy who has been photographed proudly with white supremacists, who has hung a noose in his office, who has spoken lovingly of the Confederate flag.

George Allen is and has always been a racist, and he can’t escape evidence of his true feelings anymore. Oh, he can try to hide by sponsoring useless and ultimately fruitless legislation to apologize for lack of harsher federal response to lynchings, and by providing lukewarm support for a formal apology for slavery. These are nothing but cheap ploys to deflect questions about his true racist past and feelings.

Hopefully Virginia will come to its senses and boot this bozo out office come November.

A new poll, Mason-Dixon/Times-Dispatch, is showing that Democratic Senate challenger Jim Webb has closed the gap with Republican George Allen, no doubt due to the crumbling of Allen’s campaign in the wake of the “macaca” scandal last month.

The poll has 46% for Allen to 42% for Webb, with Webb in the margin of error. Allen has surrendered a 16% lead in this poll as compared to July. The race is now competitive and Democrats stand a good chance of picking up this seat, which would help secure a Democratic majority in the Senate. Even if Allen wins, his disastrous showing against an unknown Democratic opponent may very well doom his presidential aspirations.

Webb is underfunded and in serious need of financial contributions. You can contribute online by going here.

The criticism of George Allen’s “macaca” comments this week has been relentless. Contributing to that in no small measure has been the “YouTube” phenomenon and the increasing ease with which videos get shared. The video documenting Allen’s comments has been viewed almost 200,000 times as of today’s date.

Allen’s nightmarish week has translated into gains for his Democratic opponent Jim Webb. Traffic to Webb’s website has doubled in the last week, and there has been a resurgence of interest in his campaign. Webb, who is an inexperienced campaigner and is underfunded compared to Allen, needs all the help he can get. Now the question is whether Webb can capitalize on the momentum and keep it going.

Democrats need one more seat to gain control of the Senate. Will this one be it?

George Allen is trying hard to control the political damage to his senatorial and presidential ambitions in the wake of repeatedly calling an Indian American, S. R. Sidarth, at a recent rally a “macaca” while welcoming him to the “real world” of America and Virginia.

His “apology” for the comment is disingenuous and insincere.

He says that his comments “have been greatly misunderstood by members of the media.” How arrogant. Anyone watching the video can see plainly what he said, and how he subjected Sidarth to ridicule in front of a tittering audience. Does he think viewers are stupid?

He claims “macaca” was a play on “mohawk,” used to describe Sidarth’s haircut. How you get from “mohawk” to “macaca” is beyond me. The words have nothing to do with each other and do not rhyme.

His apology read, “I do apologize if he’s offended by that. That was no way the point.” In other words, he’s not sorry he made the comments, he’s only sorry Sidarth and the rest of the world were offended by them. In other words, what he’s really sorry about is the big pile of “macaca” he has stepped in that may become a huge thorn in his side for his presidential ambitions. Allen has a long history of racial insensitivity, from keeping a noose around his office to admiring the confederate flag. The “macaca” comment plays neatly into that perception.

His apology is as fake as his half-baked efforts to sponsor symbolic (read useless) anti-lynching legislation in Congress and to sponsor an official apology for slavery in his effort to distance himself from his past. Can’t he just come out and say “I’m sorry for the ‘macaca’ comment, it was insensitive of me to say it?” Why put the blame on others’ perceptions instead of taking ownership of what came out of his own mouth?

Maybe it’s because he’s just another self-entitled politician who thinks he can do no wrong. The damage to his presidential if not senatorial plans will likely inform him otherwise.

Outrage followed in the wake of the blogosphere’s explosion of commentary on Republican Senator Allen repeatedly calling S. R. Sidarth, the only non-white member of a rally, a “macaca” and “welcoming him to America.” Allen issued an apology on Monday night, but the damage was done.

What did Allen mean by “macaca?” The Washington Post speculates:

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs.

The fact that Allen’s mother is a Tunisian immigrant makes it highly likely he was aware of the term’s derogatory use as a racial slur.

The slur itself was bad enough, but Allen’s telling the audience to welcome the US-born Sidarth to America and “the real world” was incredibly condescending and makes you wonder what kind of “real world” America George Allen lives in.

What did Virginia Senator George Allen mean when he called a person of Indian descent a “macaca” during a recent rally? (View the video.) That’s what his opponent Jim Webb wants to know.

The individual, S. R. Sidarth, was videotaping the rally for the Webb campaign. Allen, who must have gotten annoyed with Sidarth’s presence, pointed out that “macaca over here”, and later “welcome[d him] to America and the real world of Virginia,” said “real world” consisting of an all-white Republican crowd except for Sidarth.

“Macaca” is the genus of macaque monkeys. Did George Allen really intend to call the only person of color at a rally a monkey?