Recent developments concerning Senate Democratic candidate Jim Webb and Republican incumbent Sen. George Allen, R-Va., have added a new twist to what polls indicate to be an extremely close race.
These developments emerged just four days before Republican Allen and Webb are scheduled to debate Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press," hosted by Tim Russert.
Allegations came from five female graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy who said an article published by Webb in 1979 promoted abuse and harassment of female cadets at the Academy.
The article, titled "Women Can't Fight," was written while Webb held an instructor position at the Academy, and was published in Washingtonian magazine. It discussed fighting in the Vietnam War, and opposed sending women into combat. In addition, it described women's dorms in the Naval Academy, implemented only three years prior, as "a horny woman's dream," which the female USNA graduates stated caused problems for them during their time there.
Webb has issued a statement apologizing for any unnecessary hardships that his article may have caused for women at the USNA.
In response to the controversy, Adam Justus, the official Charlottesville Jim Webb campaign representative, stated, "If you look at his [Webb's] record while he was Secretary of the Navy, you would see that he opened up more opportunities for women in the Navy than any previous secretary."
Webb campaign spokesperson Jessica Smith added that Webb "wrote the article in the 1970s; it was a different time," and that "he has since changed his mind, and his position has evolved over the years."
This controversy comes at the same time as television ads aired by an independent veterans group, which accuse Senator Allen of voting against an amendment putting $1 billion towards high-quality body armor for troops in Iraq, and imply that he let the troops down with that decision.
College Republicans chairperson Amber VerValin said that Allen had a "very good record of supporting the troops."
"Right before we took Baghdad (when the amendment was proposed), the troops had plenty of body armor," she said.
Representatives from the Allen campaign were unable to release a statement with regards to the Webb article, body armor controversy or the upcoming debate.
According to Politics Prof. Larry Sabato, this debate is "not a critical moment, but could become one if one of the candidates makes a mistake."
Sabato also pointed out the importance of the debate being broadcast on a Sunday morning.
"If the debate is to be watched, it must be aired during primetime on a weekday," he said.
A Mason-Dixon poll conducted Monday found the two candidates in a virtual tie for the first time in the campaign. The poll shows Allen holding a slight lead over Webb, 46 percent to 42 percent, but with a four-point margin of error.
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