Women's Vote Could Tip Close Contest
2006-10-23
Source: Washington Post
email this
print this
del.icio.us
digg this
rss feedTheir biographies exude machismo: James Webb, the Marine firing his M50 antitank rifles in the jungles of Vietnam, and George Allen, the tobacco-chewing cowboy who as governor once stirred GOP delegates with this line about Democrats: "Let's enjoy knocking their soft teeth down their whining throats."
But Webb, the former Navy secretary, and Allen, the first-term Republican senator, are trying to soften their tough-guy personas as they appeal to the 1.9 million women who represent more than half of Virginia voters. The candidates are virtually tied among likely female voters, a recent Washington Post poll shows.
Allen put his Democratic challenger on the defensive early in the campaign over a magazine article Webb penned 27 years ago that questioned a woman's place at the U.S. Naval Academy and on the battlefield. Webb, who led a Marine rifle platoon in Vietnam, has tried to convince Virginia women that his controversial words reflected a turbulent era, not personal hostility.
Webb has hesitated to address Allen's record on women. But in Allen's 23 years in politics, some votes and policies have dogged him. As governor in the 1990s, Allen said he would accept an invitation to a males-only country club but changed his mind amid criticism. He also opposed coeducation at the Virginia Military Institute. In Congress, he opposed federal legislation giving women unpaid leave after the birth of a child.
Both candidates say their positions have evolved. Webb says that he opened up doors to women as President Ronald Reagan's Navy secretary in the 1980s and that his policies in that era have had a lasting -- and positive -- effect on women's role in the military. Allen argues that when the courts ordered that women be admitted to VMI, he ensured that women were welcomed at the state institution. He also says his policies on crime, education and other issues appeal to women and families.
Whoever can move female voters onto his side may very well win the race, which recent polls show is virtually even. Successful Virginia Democrats, such as Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and his predecessor Mark R. Warner, have held leads among women heading into Election Day, according to preelection polling. Webb might have to win over more women than recent polls suggest he has if he is to win his challenge against Allen.
Click here to see the full article.
