Warners on the Stump

Allen has turned to John Warner in the final days of the campaign, hoping his courtly colleague in the Senate will help him earn support among moderates and critics of the Iraq war.

"We make a good team, and we've worked together successfully on many issues that are important to you," Allen said in last night's two-minute ad featuring Warner, which ran in the Washington area on WJLA (Channel 7).

John Warner has deep support among independents in Virginia, in part based on his opposition to Republican Oliver North's candidacy in 1994 and his own battle with conservative James C. Miller in the GOP primary of 1996. Warner has also become an individualist in the Senate, often joining Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to challenge President Bush on such issues as torture and judges.

Allen is clearly hoping that some of that middle-of-the-road image rubs off on him.

"George is honorable, thoughtful and a principled man," Warner said in the ad last night, which showed them in Allen's Fairfax County home. "George has my vote. I ask you to keep him as my partner in the Senate."

But John Warner also has impeccable military credentials. His recent comments that the Iraq effort was "drifting sideways" make him a favorite of those who oppose President Bush's "stay the course" position on the war. Allen has aligned himself with the president's position.

For Allen, being close to John Warner provides a way to distance himself from Bush.

"I have given my straightforward, outspoken views about the challenges that face not only our nation but the whole world in Iraq," Warner said in the commercial. "Iraq's government and its people must now show greater and greater strength against those who want to destabilize the country and seize its oil and to finance future acts of terror."

Allen's aides said his voting record mirrors that of John Warner's. They said that Allen has cast only 154 votes, out of 1,937, that were different from Warner's.

Still, on issues, Allen and John Warner are hardly indistinguishable. In February, the National Journal said the pair was the Senate's top "odd couple" among senators from the same state and party. In the article, Allen received a score of 86 for his support of issues important to conservatives; Warner received a score of 60.

Mark Warner seized on that point in questions with reporters after appearing with Webb.

"On issues like stem cell [research], issues like the situation on Iraq, it seems like the senator's positions are actually closer to Jim Webb's than they are" to Allen's, Mark Warner said.

Mark Warner will campaign this week with Webb in Hampton Roads. Next week, the two plan a series of campaign stops in the rural communities south of Richmond, the Shenandoah Valley and southwest Virginia.

John Warner will join Allen in the final 21 days of the election, according to Allen campaign aides.

Neither side would say whether they will use the Warners in future TV commercials.