Sen. George Allen got on the phone yesterday and offered a
personal apology to S.R. Sidarth for calling him "Macaca" at a campagin rally.
"His main point was he was sorry he offended me," Sidarth, a fourth-year University of Virginia student, said in an interview later. "He realized how much he offended me from the comments I made in the media."
The call followed a series of public mea culpas , including one heard across the country Tuesday on a conservative radio talk show hosted by commentator Sean Hannity.
"I take full responsibility. I'm not offering any excuses because I said it, and no one else said it," a somber-sounding Allen told Hannity's audience of more than 12 million listeners. "It's a mistake. I apologize, and from my heart, I'm very, very sorry for it."
It would be a lot easier to take Sen. Allen at his word if it wasn't for the fact that his campaign is now playing up his abject shame for revealing his racist tendencies as an attempt to take political advantage of it.
As the senator was apologizing, his campaign manager continued to blame Webb, the media and the senator's "leftist" foes for the controversy.
"It's great to have the president in Virginia, raising substantial amounts of money so we can fight off the scurrilous attacks by our opponent and his leftist allies," campaign manager Dick Wadhams said in an interview.
Last weekend, Wadhams sent a memo to GOP supporters in which he accused the media of creating a "feeding frenzy" over the incident and called it a "desperate attempt to revive a campaign that was fast-sinking -- the Webb campaign."
Asked whether that message is consistent with Allen's apologies, Wadhams said, "I think the memo speaks for itself."
Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report, said the Allen campaign is pursuing a two-pronged strategy aimed at convincing some voters that Allen is sorry while motivating his base with attacks against liberals and the media.
"They need a better foil," Cook said. "They need to shift this into 'We're the persecuted.' It was a very, very calculated move."
You have to admit it's an original tactic: Vote for George Allen because you feel sorry for the poor persecuted racist bastard.
