Senate Race Already Has One Loser: Va.'s Image
Gaffes Get Laughs But Cause Damage

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 2, 2006

RICHMOND -- Virginia is taking it on the chin these days.

Its legislature has become synonymous with inaction, having squabbled for eight months about taxes and roads, then returned for a special session last week only to abandon efforts to end congestion after less than 48 hours.

And its U.S. Senate race has become daily fodder for late-night talk show hosts, international gossip rags, partisan blogs and television comedians.

"In Virginia, it has its upside, being considered racist," joked Jon Stewart on Wednesday night on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," noting the latest allegations that Sen. George Allen (R) had once used a racial epithet.

The next night, Stewart was at it again, this time chuckling over Allen's excuse for once displaying a Confederate flag: that he was rebellious in his youth.

"Since when is hoisting a Confederate flag in Virginia rebellious?" Stewart asked, his incredulous expression prompting guffaws from the studio audience. After pointing out that Democrat James Webb once called a Naval Academy dorm a "horny woman's dream," Stewart said: "Well, Virginia. It's now up to you. Which of these two men will help you build a bridge to, let's say, the early- to mid-20th century?"

Allen even found himself parodied on "Saturday Night Live," where the Weekend Update crew made fun of him as a racist cowboy who makes up silly words. "I'm just a good old Virginia boy with Virginia values that I learned growing up in [an] affluent part of Southern California," the bogus Allen said.

None of it is a laughing matter for the participants, who are struggling to talk about issues amid the accusations and jokes. But the hoopla is also tarnishing Virginia's image as the commonwealth prepares to celebrate its 400th birthday next year.

For the state's top cheerleader, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), the daily drumbeat of bad news threatens to overshadow the state's accomplishments as a good place to live, conduct business and visit.

"When the 'macaca' incident happened, my main concern . . . is to do what we have done often and well since 1607, which is to be open to the world," Kaine said, referring to Allen's calling an Indian American Webb aide "macaca." "It's not doom and gloom and dire. But I'm also not going to say it's not frustrating."

In an interview the day after the General Assembly gave up on transportation, Kaine said his state's image is still good -- Governing Magazine has called the state the "best managed" in the nation, and 10 percent of the country's top secondary schools are in Virginia, according to an annual Newsweek survey.

But Kaine conceded that hearing the jokes and seeing the headlines every day stings.

"It does," he said. "Does people reading about [how] the legislature couldn't do something on transportation, is it frustrating? Does it hurt? Yep."

Virginia's reputation has always been a stately one, built on its long history as one of the nation's first colonies. It's known as the "mother of presidents," earning the nickname by producing four of the first five U.S. presidents.

That's what marketing professor Ronald Wilcox calls "perceptual association," the first thing that pops into people's heads when they hear a word or phrase.

"Say Corvette -- guy with midlife crisis, new girlfriend," explained Wilcox, a professor at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business Administration. "The brand for Virginia is history, democracy, birth of the nation. They are more regal."

That regality was nowhere in sight this week, as General Assembly members squabbled, argued, bickered and then threw up their hands.

"Going nowhere for now," screamed the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk wrote: "After nearly nine months of bickering and finger-pointing, state lawmakers called it quits for the year and headed home."

Wilcox said members of the General Assembly's inability to get along is not a problem for the state's image, despite constant headlines describing the legislative chaos. People expect no less, or more, from their representatives at home or in Congress, he said.

But the Senate race has definitely tarnished the brand, Wilcox said, if only temporarily.

"The stuff that makes you look bad is a lot funnier," he said, but "I think the political season is full of so many embarrassments. There's only a very small percentage of people three or four years from now that will remember this."

But at least for now, the state's reputation has become collateral damage in the daily barrage of news.

And not all of it is within this country.

"Race slur senator loses ground to Democrats," read the headline on the Times of London's Web site. "Senator's racial slur could hand Virginia to the Democrats," said the Financial Times of London. The French press agency wrote: "U.S. senator lambasted for remark deemed racist toward Asian man."

That kind of attention can be tough for Virginia, which is constantly trying to attract international investment. In fact, Virginia has been working -- with some success -- to attract Indian companies to rural southern Virginia, where jobs are scarce.

Kaine said his administration will continue to market the state aggressively.

"I embrace the fact that we are an internationalized, very diverse state. We want to turn that face to the world," he said. "Embracing the global economy means . . . embracing people, foreign commerce, people from different lands."

Meanwhile, the late-night comedians are not going to make it any easier. Last week, Jay Leno opened his monologue with another snarky reference to Virginia's Senate race.

"Welcome to 'The Tonight Show,' " Leno said. "You know, in the time it took me to walk out of here, Senator George Allen insulted five more ethnic groups."

Staff researchers Magda Jean-Louis and Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.