User talk:Mytwocents/George Allen

George Felix Allen (born March 8, 1952) is a Republican United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia. The son of former NFL head coach George Allen, he was born in Whittier, California. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress. Allen lost his Senatorial re-election campaign during the Virginia United States Senate election, 2006.

Family and early years
Allen's father, George Herbert Allen, was a legendary NFL coach who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. During the 2006 senatorial campaign it was revealed that Allen's mother, Henrietta Lumbroso, comes from a prominent Sephardic Jewish family from Tunisia. He has a younger sister, Jennifer, and two brothers. The family lived in Southern California until 1957, when they moved to the suburbs of Chicago after George Sr. got a job with the Chicago Bears. The family moved back to Southern California (Palos Verdes) in 1966 after Allen's father was named head coach of the Los Angeles Rams.

Education
Allen graduated in 1970 from Palos Verdes High School, where he was a member of the falconry club and the car club. He was also quarterback of the varsity football team. He was once suspended for painting graffiti on school walls along with other students.

Allen attended the University of California, Los Angeles for a year before transferring to the University of Virginia, in 1971, where he received a B.A. degree with distinction in history in 1974. He was class president in his senior year at UVA.

After graduating, Allen completed a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1977. In 1976 he was the chairman of the "Young Virginians for Ronald Reagan". Allen was a supporter of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War, although he did not serve in that conflict, taking a student deferment instead.

Personal
Allen married Anne Patrice Rubel in June 1979. They divorced in 1983. In 1986 Allen married Susan Brown. The couple have three children: Tyler, Forrest, and Brooke. The Allens are residents of Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Allen is a member of the Presbyterian Church. He is fond of using football metaphors, a tendency which has been remarked upon by journalists and commentators. Allen has been chewing tobacco since he was introduced to it in high school by his father's football players.

Virginia state delegate
After earning his law degree, Allen served as clerk for a federal judge and then opened a law office in Charlottesville. Allen's first race for the Virginia House of Delegates was in 1979, two years after he graduated from law school. He placed third in a field of four candidates. Allen states that he lost because he wasn't himself and was listening to the advice of his campaign manager who suggested he wear wingtips instead of his usual cowboy boots. He ran again in 1981 with the cowboy boots and won the election. The seat he held was the same one held by Thomas Jefferson. He was a delegate from 1982 to 1991, representing a district in Albemarle County. In his Charlottesville law office, Allen had a noose hanging from a ficus tree in his office, a decoration critics have charged was racially insensitive, but which Allen has explained as a symbol of his tough stance on law-and-order issues and as "really more of a lasso."

U.S. House of Representatives
On November 5, 1991, Allen won a special election to fill the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for Virginia's 7th District. Incumbent congressman D. French Slaughter, Jr. had resigned due to a series of strokes. Allen's opponent was Slaughter's cousin, Kay Slaughter. Allen won with 63 percent of the vote.

Allen's career in the House was short-lived; in the 1990s round of redistricting, Allen's district, which stretched from the fringes of the Washington suburbs to Charlottesville and included much of the Shenandoah Valley, was eliminated even though Virginia gained a congressional seat as a result of the 1990 Census.

Allen's district was split among three neighboring districts. While his home in Earlysville was placed in the 5th District of Lewis F. Payne, Jr., most of his district was placed in the 10th District of Frank Wolf. Allen moved to Mount Vernon and prepared to challenge Wolf in a primary, but instead chose to seek the Governors office of Virginia. He left the House in January 1993.

Governor
In November 1993, Allen was elected the 67th Governor of Virginia, serving from 1994 to 1998. His opponent in the 1993 election Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, had an early 29 point lead, in public opinion polls and a million dollar fundraising advantage. However, Allen struck a hot button with voters across party and racial lines with his campaign proposal to abolish parole for violent felons. This response to a surge of crime in the state connected with voters, in contrast to Terry's proposal to increase gun control as a remedy. Allen overcame the deficit and won with 58.3% of the vote, the largest margin (+17.4 points) since Albertis S. Harrison Jr. defeated H. Clyde Pearson with a margin of +27.7 points in 1961.

Allen could not run for re-election because Virginia's constitution does not allow a governor to succeed himself; as of 2006 Virginia is the only state that has such a provision.

Law partner
In February 1998, Allen became a Richmond-based partner at the law firm McGuire Woods Battle & Booth (now McGuireWoods LLP), as head of its business expansion and relocation team. At the time, Allen said "I think it's healthy to get out of government. If you stay in too long, you lose track of reality and the real world." According to a disclosure form Allen filed on May 12, 2000, he was paid $450,000 by the firm between January 1999 and April 2000.

Board member
While out of office, Allen became a director at two Virginia high-tech companies and advised a third, all government contractors that he had assisted while governor.

Xybernaut
In mid-1998, Allen joined the board of Xybernaut, a company selling mobile, flip-screen computers. The firm never made a profit&mdash;it posted 33 consecutive quarterly losses after it went public in 1996. In September 1999, Allen and the rest of the company's board dismissed the company's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, which had issued a report with a "going concern" paragraph that questioned the company’s financial health.

Allen made almost no money from the stock, according to his communications director, John Reid. According to the Associated Press, Allen steered compensation from his board service, other than stock options, to his law firm. He was granted options worth $1.5 million at their peak. Allen listed them on his disclosure forms for 2002 and 2003, but never exercised them.

Allen's law firm, McGuire Woods and its employees were, as of July 21, 2006, the top contributor to Allen's 2006 Senatorial campaign.

Commonwealth Biotechnologies
Allen joined Commonwealth's board of directors about two months after leaving the governor's office in January 1998. "I learned a lot on their board and enjoyed working with 'em, and they seem to be doing all right, I guess," Allen said in October 2006.

Commonwealth granted Allen options on 15,000 shares of company stock at $7.50 a share in May 1999. Allen steered other compensation from his board service to his law firm, McGuire Woods. As of late 2006, Allen had not cashed in any options; the stock as of that date was well under $5 per share, making the options valueless for the moment. Commonwealth reported its first full year of profitability in 2005.

Com-Net Ericsson
Allen became a member of the advisory board of Com-Net Ericsson in February 2000. The advisory board's responsibility was to meet at least twice a year and provide advice and service. Allen terminated his service on the board before the end of 2000. He was paid approximately $300,000 for his services.

United States Senate
Allen was elected to the Senate in November 2000, defeating the Democratic incumbent, Chuck Robb. George Allen was the only Republican to unseat a Democratic incumbent that year. Allen is a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Allen was appointed in the last Congress to serve as the chairman of the High Tech Task Force. Allen was elected as a member of the Senate Republican leadership as Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002, and oversaw a net gain of four seats for the Republicans in the 2004 Senate elections. His successor as NRSC chair is Senator Elizabeth Dole. Below are some bills that Allen introduced or authored in the Senate Introduced Constitutional Amendment to balance the budget Introduced Line Item Veto Introduced Paycheck Penalty Legislation, which withholds salaries from Congress until a budget is passed by beginning of the fiscal year Introduced National Innovation Act, which promotes growth of American science and engineering by grants, scholarships and training Introduced "Long-Term Care Act" which would allow people to use their 401(k) accounts to pay for long term care insurance Introduced "Flexibility for Champion Schools Act" which would allow states with higher education standards to lower their standards to match federal standards Co-authored the Internet Tax Nondiscrimination Act, which extends the ban on various Internet taxes until 2007 Allen played a minor role as a Confederate officer in the 2003 film Gods and Generals, a movie which included many cameos of politicians such as Senator Robert Byrd and former Senator Phil Gramm. His role included singing "Southern Rights Hoorah!" (Video)

2006 re-election campaign
Allen's current term in the Senate expires in January 2007. He sought re-election in 2006. Allen won the Republican nomination on August 11, 2006, and faced two opponents in the general election: the Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of the Navy James H. Webb, and Gail Parker, a retired Air Force officer and retired civilian Pentagon budget analyst who ran on the Independent Green Party ballot line. While the Virginia State Board of Elections still withheld its certification of the election results as of nightfall on November 8, Allen appeared in the initial count to fall short of winning re-election. Webb held a lead of approximately a third of a percent – 8,805 votes – for most of November 8; by the afternoon, he had named a transition team to plan the staffing of his Senate office. On November 9, 2006, Senator Allen held a press conference in Alexandria, announcing he had conceded the race to challenger James Webb, and would not seek a recount, even though legally able to do so.

Ownership of Barr Labs stock
It was reported on August 8 2006 that Allen owned stock in Barr Pharmaceuticals, maker of the Plan B "morning after pill." The Webb campaign criticized Allen for holding stock in a company that makes a product that many of his supporters oppose. Allen responded by saying that he holds the stock because Barr has created jobs in Virginia, and by pointing to his consistently pro-life voting record. Allen is described as an "abortion opponent"; as governor he pushed successfully for parental notification of teenagers' abortions, and in the Senate, he opposed the approval of Plan B for over-the-counter sales. Allen opposes the use of public funding for elective abortions.

Macaca controversy

 * Main article: Virginia United States Senate election, 2006 - Macaca controversy

On August 11 2006, at a campaign stop in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, Allen twice used the word macaca to refer to S.R. Sidarth, who was filming the event as a "tracker" for the opposing Webb campaign. Sidarth is of Indian ancestry, but was born and raised in Fairfax County, Virginia. Macaca is considered a racial slur in francophone African nations, which led to speculation that Allen may have heard the epithet from his mother, a Francophone who grew up in French-colonial Tunisia.

Allegations of Allen's use of racial slur in college
On September 24, 2006, Salon.com Washington correspondent Michael Scherer reported that the magazine had interviewed nineteen of his teammates and that "[t]hree former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used the racial epithet 'nigger' and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s." However, seven teammates have stated they do not recall any racist behavior on Allen's part. Four of these have made statements that were released by the Allen campaign. Allen dismissed the claims as "ludicrously false."

Mother's religious and ethnic background

 * ''Main article: Virginia United States Senate election, 2006 - Allen's remarks about his Jewish heritage

On August 25, 2006, the Jewish periodical The Forward reported that in all likelihood, Allen's mother Etty Allen, neé Henrietta Lumbroso, was Jewish. At a debate on September 18, 2006, WUSA-TV reporter Peggy Fox noted to Allen, "It has been reported that your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish." The next day, Allen issued a statement confirming his mother's Jewish ancestry. Allen's mother feared retribution against her family if her religious and ethnic background became public, and had originally asked Allen to keep that information private.

Confederate flag affinity
Allen has a long history of interest in the Confederate flag, in spite of his never having lived in the South until his transfer from UCLA to the University of Virginia as a sophomore in college.

Allegedly, Allen has displayed the Confederate flag, in some way, from 1967 to 2000. Allen wore a Confederate flag pin for his high school senior class photo. He displayed a Confederate flag in his family's living room until 1992. Allen has stated that the flag was a part of a collection of flags. In 1993, Allen's first statewide TV campaign ad for governor included a Confederate flag. Greg Stevens, the political consultant who made the 1993 TV ad, confirmed its inclusion. Allen has confirmed that the pin in his high school yearbook was a Confederate flag. Allen has said "it is possible" that he had a Confederate flag on his car in high school.

Minority groups, especially African-Americans, in Virginia criticized Allen for his policies and his embrace of the Confederate flag, which the NAACP condemned as a symbol of racism and hate. Allen also opposed a state holiday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. The state holiday in favor of Martin Luther King Jr. was initially attached to Lee-Jackson day, a day honoring Robert Lee and Stonewall Jackson. There was much controversy in Virginia about combining the days. Governor Jim Gilmore proposed splitting the days into a Lee-Jackson day and a Martin Luther King day.

In 1995, 1996, and 1997, Allen proclaimed April as Confederate History and Heritage Month and called the Civil War "a four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights." The proclamation did not mention slavery, and his successor, Republican Governor James Gilmore, changed the proclamation and wrote a version that denounced slavery.

Allen's sister's memoir
In 2000, Allen's younger sister Jennifer Allen Richard wrote in her memoir Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter (Random House Publishing, 2000) that Allen attacked his younger siblings during his childhood. The memoir claims that Allen held her by her feet over Niagara Falls, struck her boyfriend in the head with a pool cue, threw his brother Bruce through a glass sliding door, tackled his brother Gregory, breaking his collarbone, and dragged Jennifer upstairs by her hair. In the book, she wrote, "George hoped someday to become a dentist…George said he saw dentistry as a perfect profession&mdash;getting paid to make people suffer."

In May 2006, Richard qualified some of the claims made in the book. With regards to the pool cue incident, she claimed it was a joke and that "Allen was simply testing her boyfriend's reflexes." With regards to the dentist quote, Jennifer claims that the book was a "novelization of the past" and written from the perspective of a young girl "surrounded by older brothers and a larger-than-life father." She claims to have a great relationship with her brother and noted that Allen stepped in for their father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

2008 presidential bid
In a survey of 175 Washington insiders conducted by National Journal's "The Hotline" and released April 29, 2005, Allen was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.

In a subsequent insider survey by National Journal in May 2006, Allen had dropped to second place, and John McCain held a 3-1 lead over Allen.

Allen has traveled frequently to Iowa (the first state with a presidential caucus) and New Hampshire (the first state with a presidential primary) and is widely assumed to be preparing a run for president. His defeat in his 2006 Senate re-election bid, however, would be a major liability should he choose to run.