What if there had been no macaca?

[Carbon Soul]

This morning I got to thinking about George Allen, the former governor and senator from Virginia who was briefly a contender for the Republican candidacy for President. Then he called a kid a "macaca", which apparently means monkey in another language but with racist undertones, and he's driven out of the race before it had really begun.

Let's pretend that moment never happened. Let's take it a bit farther and consider what might have happened if he had run.

I think he had a very solid shot at earning the candidacy. He's relatively conservative, pro-life, pro death penalty, all that good stuff the base eats up. Since the base is already fired up, it leaves room for John McCain to be VP instead of Sarah Palin, which I think would've been a better role for him than actually being CIC.

The fact that he's been both a governor and senator would be useful in pointing out Obama's relative inexperience. Not that this was the best argument in the world, just that the Republicans seemed dead-set on using it.

Virginia would have definitely stayed red, as would a few other states, although I dare not venture a guess as to which ones since there are people here who know that stuff better than I.

So, how do you think a Allen/McCain ticket would've faired against Obama/Biden (or would someone else have been chosen for the Dem VP slot)? How different would things have been?

[Khampelf]

I don't think McCain would have been happy with the 'second seat'. Plus, Allen didn't have the name recognition McCain had. I believe he would have stuck the same foot in the same mouth at a different time.

[The Second Stone]

It is more than just racist overtones, macaca is an "n" word equivalent. And he said it. Yeah, if hadn't engaged in half a dozen other racist incidents that came to light he might not have been tagged a racist. But Allen is a racist. His own mother was afraid to tell him that she was Jewish.

[Control-Z]

I don't think George Allen would have gotten that far anyway. He's too much of a goober. Not that that's a bad thing, but he wouldn't poll well nationally.

[Carbon Soul]

It is more than just racist overtones, macaca is an "n" word equivalent. And he said it. Yeah, if hadn't engaged in half a dozen other racist incidents that came to light he might not have been tagged a racist. But Allen is a racist. His own mother was afraid to tell him that she was Jewish.

That may be, but I don't really want to discuss the macaca thing anymore. I'm wondering how people think he may have done if he had gotten the nomination instead of McCain. I think it would've been a much more interesting, and likely much closer, race.

[The Second Stone]

There was a lot more racist stuff in his past, macaca just brought it to the forefront. The racist stuff would have done him in anyway. The only way he got the job in the first place is that the research had not been done because he was just George Allen's (famous football coach) little boy. Worse case of nepotism than W. He was domed. Now if you postulate that he was not a racist with a long history of dropping dead deer heads in front of the homes of black people, then he might have been re-elected.

[FirstAndMain]

I read the title as "What if there had been no mascara?" and was eager to respond.