As Election Day barrels down on Virginia politics, incumbent U.S. Sen. Charles S. Robb (D) has pulled into a virtual dead heat with Republican nominee George Allen, a new Washington Post survey reported Sunday.
The poll showed former Governor Allen leading Robb 48 percent to 46 percent among likely voters, a gap well within the survey's margin of error.
Both candidates have stepped up their campaigning efforts as the race enters its home stretch.
An August poll showed Allen leading Robb by 8 percent among likely voters, but since then Robb has gained ground by energizing core Democratic supporters with rigorous campaigning and a $10 million television advertising blitz.
"Different polls will tell you different things, but the most important poll is on November 7th," said Allen spokesman Tim Murtaugh.
Robb also scored a major political boost when he secured the endorsement of popular former Governor L. Douglas Wilder (D) on Saturday.
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In many ways, the race is a study in personal and ideological contrasts between the gregarious, conservative Allen and the often reserved, socially progressive Robb.
Both men have established themselves solidy on the opposing sides of divisive social issues such as abortion, gun control and education.
"You can tell a lot about what a candidate's going to do in office by looking at their record. George Allen has a positive record that empowers families and taxpayers all over the state," Murtaugh said.
"The differences are huge. Senator Robb supports a woman's right to choose and supports responsible gun control and Governor Allen doesn't," said Robb spokesman Mo Elleithee.
Robb is the last Democrat to hold statewide office in the Commonwealth, where Allen's victory in the 1993 governor's race boosted a Republican resurgence that elected Gov. James S. Gilmore III in 1997 and reclaimed a majority in the General Assembly in 1999.
With Robb stuck in Washington while President Clinton and Congress wrangle over the federal budget, Allen has barnstormed across the Commonwealth, shoring up support in traditionally Republican areas like the Shennandoah Valley and making inroads in Robb strongholds like the Northern Virginia suburbs.
"We want to reach out to families everywhere in Virginia and cut through the Robb campaign's fog of negative attack ads," Murtaugh said.
"It's disappointing that someone who was in the Senate for 12 years can't run on his own record and has to tear down Gov. Allen," he said.
Sen. Robb's team plans an intense week of campaigning before the election.
"It's tough with the Senate in session, but we want to promote our message of getting the resources we need to invest in education, the military, a targeted tax cut and prescription drug benefits for the elderly," Elleithee said.
All of Robb's social goals would be "impossible with Allen's fiscal proposals. They'd all be eaten up by a huge, untargeted tax cut," he said.
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