Allen and Webb Head For a Frenzied Finish

"In so many ways, his was an accidental candidacy that was basically being written off in early August," said Robert D. Holsworth, the director of the Center for Public Policy at Virginia Commonwealth University. "He looked far better on paper than in person."

Allen, a popular former governor with an amiable charm, spent the first half of the year running two campaigns -- for reelection and for consideration as a presidential contender in 2008. He made several trips to presidential primary states, including Iowa and New Hampshire.

"The widespread assumption was this is the first step in a presidential campaign for 2008," said Mark Rozell, a professor of political science at George Mason University. Now, "no one talks seriously about George Allen being presidential timber."

That is largely because of what happened Aug. 11, when Allen was caught on video insulting a Webb volunteer of Indian descent. The video of the "macaca moment" instantly became a national sensation on the Internet, and Allen became the butt of late-night TV jokes.

Since then, Allen has struggled to deal with revelations about his Jewish heritage and to combat allegations that he used racial epithets as part of an ongoing pattern of insensitivity to minorities that began in high school. The controversies have sliced his lead in the polls and given Webb's long-shot candidacy hope.

"People haven't been talking about his record," Attorney General Robert F. McDonnell (R), an Allen ally, said last week on PBS's "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." "There's been a lot of focus . . . on some old controversies that have sort of dominated the airwaves and the media. The senator, I know, has been trying to return the focus to his positive record of accomplishment."

Allen has also been trying to shift the attacks to Webb. He organized a group of female Naval Academy graduates to criticize a 1979 magazine article Webb wrote about women in combat. And he pushed a story about sexually graphic sentences in some of Webb's novels.

Those attacks appear to have worked. In recent polls, Webb is doing worse among likely female voters. Still, Allen has never regained the strength he lost during the summer, and Webb, with the help of high-profile national Democrats such as Clinton, has raised enough money to be competitive at the end.

"He's got the right profile," state Del. Brian J. Moran (D-Alexandria) said of Webb. "And Allen has imploded. I think [Webb] is going to win."

In Winchester, Allen supporter Bob Bartley, 70, a retired builder, called the senator "an exceptionally good man" who, "like most wise people, has made a few mistakes. But despite them, the people of Virginia see through those mistakes and realize he has a very distinguished record."

Enthusiastic voters greeted both candidates Saturday.

At a barbecue in Max Meadows, Gay Nell Cochran got Webb to autograph his book "Born Fighting" for her husband. But Webb refused the $100 check Cochran offered, saying, "Don't even do it. Don't even do it. Just help get the vote."

Kaine said this year's election will prove the state has become more hospitable for Democrats.

"They can say, 'One win is a fluke. Two [wins], my race, it's a fluke,' " Kaine said as he looked at Warner, referring to the former governor's 2001 victory. "We win this one, it's not a fluke, Virginia is changing."

In Harrisonburg, a liberal blogger who was thrown to the ground by Allen supporters last week in Charlottesville again confronted the senator. Blogger Michael Stark was detained by sheriff's deputies after an Allen supporter said Stark pushed him.

A wild card in the Senate campaign could be whether the proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage will have any impact on the get-out-the-vote effort for both campaigns. Republicans had predicted that the ballot question would rally their conservative base for Allen, who has come out in favor of the amendment.

Allen has sought to use the amendment's presence to his advantage, consistently talking up his support for the ballot question and running radio ads in rural and suburban areas that reaffirm his position.

But several Democrats said that if black voters are drawn to the polls to support the amendment, they are likely to cross right over and vote for Webb. African Americans who supported the amendment in a Washington Post poll last month overwhelmingly support Webb.

Staff writers Tim Craig with Webb, Lisa Rein with Allen and Chris L. Jenkins in Washington contributed to this report.