Virginia Republican Senator George Allen is in a fight for his political life, which is not what one would normally expect from a candidate who was recently mentioned as Presidential timber. Senator Allen has been hammered in the media for some apparently patronizing remarks that he made to a minority student, but my sense is that the attitude reflected in this Washington Post article is a far bigger problem for Allen with voters than his impolite remarks to a student.
The article reports that last week ìthe Secret Service asked Virginia officials if they would be kind enough to shut down all of the HOV lanes on I-395 from 1 to 7 p.m. the next day so President Bush could get where he needed to be,î which was a fundraiser for Senator Allen. State traffic experts explained the likely results of closing the HOV lane to accomodate President Bush and Senator Allen:
There will be approximately 8,600 cars using the HOV lanes over a three hour period (4 to 7 pm). This equates to approximately 20,000 to 22,000 people. If the HOV lanes are closed, according to the Districtís estimate the back up of traffic in the general purpose lanes will not be cleared until 10 p.m.
Despite that effect, local officials apparently had quite a time talking the Secret Service out of the plan.
When a couple of politicians expose an attitude that they could not care less about how much they inconvenience 20,000 of their citizens so long as one of the politicians can get to a rubber-chicken fundraiser for the other one on time, that’s a pretty good signal that it’s time for a change.
Hat tip to Gene Healy for the link to the WaPo article.
Change to what? This isn’t an issue relative to anyone holding political office. The change I see that’s needed is a change in the attitude of the members of the Secret Service toward their fellow citizens.
Steve, are you suggesting that the Secret Service was not taking directions from the White House and/or the Allen campaign in regard to the arrangements that they were proposing?
The request to close the HOV lanes came from the White House/Secret Service, and not from Allen’s campaign. It would have certainly made Allen look bad.
Steve, although the formal request came from the Secret Service at the behest of the White House, it’s highly likely that the Allen campaign was in on the idea. That’s just the way things work in Washington.