GEORGE ALLEN'S CORE

George Allen is running for his political life from accusations that he is ashamed of his Jewish heritage and a closet racist, including declarations by some of his former football teammates at the University of Virginia that he "used the n-word." So he issues a press release in which four more teammates dispute those charges. Let's see who those teammates are:

Before the latest two revelations on Monday, the Allen campaign put out a press release with the accounts of four former college football teammates of Allen's and a former football team trainer. The trainer and two other teammates claimed that Shelton had received the nickname "Wizard" only because of his athletic abilities. All four of the teammates said they had never known Allen to use racial slurs or demonstrate racial intolerance.

One of the teammates in the press release, Doug Jones, is listed on the Virginia Republican Party Web site as the "Unit Operations Co-Chair for the Allen campaign in Fairfax County." When Allen was the governor of Virginia, he appointed a second teammate cited in the press release, Charles M. Hale Jr., to the Virginia Board of Mining Examiners, according to state records. As governor, Allen also gave an appointment to the wife of George Korte, a third teammate in the press release. According to state records, Allen appointed Holly Korte to the Virginia Board of Social Services. And he appointed Joe Gieck, the former trainer, to the Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Fine, disinterested parties these guys are, huh?

Marc Fisher in WaPo asks, "Where have all these George Allen critics been for the last two decades?" He acknowledges that all this is a distraction from the "real issues" in the Virginia Senatorial race, then adds, "But picking a senator is about both policy and personality; we decide on people based not only on what they believe in, but on who they are, because we need to know how they are likely to decide on issues that haven't even come along yet.

"Where, I want to know, is that unflappable, likable, confident George Allen I had come to enjoy over the years? Why has he permitted these potentially tangential issues to take over his campaign? Here's my bottom line question: If that affable, amiable guy is the real George Allen, then why, in this testing time, have we instead seen a guy who is flitting from story to story, a man who is snappish, smart-alecky, and utterly insensitive? Have we somehow stumbled to the core and found a man with no center?"

Tags: George Allen