Good thing from a bad moment

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An editorial / By Dale McFeatters
Friday, November 17, 2006
Few political careers have fallen faster than Virginia Sen. George Allen's. In just under two months, he went from presidential prospect to senatorial has-been. He lost a race that people said he couldn't lose.

However, there is a redeeming moment to the campaign and it comes from an improbable source, S.R. Sidarth.

Sidarth, a college student, was a tracker of the campaign of Allen's Democratic rival, Jim Webb. A tracker follows the opposition campaign everywhere _ it is done openly _ in hopes of capturing the candidate in a misstep.

And Sidarth captured a beaut when Allen turned to him at a campaign event and singled out Sidarth, whom Allen knew, as "macaca or whatever his name is" and welcomed him to "America and the real world of Virginia."

Sidarth is of Indian descent and, unlike Allen, was actually born in Virginia. No one, including Allen himself, has been able to explain what he meant by "macaca."

It was a weird misstep for Allen, who, by most accounts, is a likeable, goodhearted guy. But it was one of those campaign moments that seem to crystallize people's vague misgivings about a candidate, and it broke Allen's momentum and magnified every misstep that followed. It proved fatal.

In this past Sunday's Washington Post, looking back on an experience he said he would not wish on anyone, Sidarth wrote: "Everywhere I went, though I was identifiably working on behalf of Allen's opponent, people treated me with dignity, respect and kindness. I cannot recall one event where food was served and I was not invited to join in the meal."

The following day, he went on, "even after Allen's comments had highlighted my outsider status, I was not allowed to depart without eating ..." And, he said, Allen's staff gave him accurate directions to the senator's next campaign event.

All else aside, this speaks highly of Allen and Sidarth's fellow Virginians. There was more than just one winner in that campaign.