Below are the dates for numerous Senate debates on NBC’s Meet the Press. Tune in, y’all!

via First Read:

September 3:
Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (R) and Bob Casey (D)

September 13:
Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) vs. Jim Webb (D)

October 1:
Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine (R) vs. Rep. Sherrod Brown (D)

October 8:
Missouri Sen. Jim Talent (R) vs. Claire McCaskill (D)

October 15:
Minnesota candidates Amy Klobuchar (D) and Mark Kennedy (R)

October 29:
Maryland Senate nominees (still TBD)

George Allen, the racist Virginia Senator who was caught on camera hurling racial slurs at an opponent’s young staffer has now personally called his victim to apologize.

From the New York Times:

Senator George Allen of Virginia personally apologized to a volunteer for his opponent’s campaign on Wednesday for a perceived racial insult, addressing a misstep that has complicated his re-election campaign and raised doubts about his potential as a Republican presidential contender in 2008.

A few hours before he appeared with President Bush at a fund-raising event, Mr. Allen telephoned the volunteer, S. R. Sidarth, to say he was sorry for mockingly referring to him as “macaca” at an Aug. 11 campaign event. Mr. Sidarth, a 20-year-old college student, caught the moment on video as part of his job of recording Mr. Allen’s public appearances, and it quickly became a sensation on television and the Internet.

What did Allen say in his apology?

“He apologized for his comments,” said Mr. Sidarth, who is an American of Indian descent, in a telephone interview from the University of Virginia, where he has resumed his classes. “He took the blame for saying them, and he said he didn’t realize how offended I was until he heard my comments from the media.”

George Allen is not only an empty suit, he’s a bigot and he doesn’t deserve to be a member of the United States Senate. His racist past and this latest debacle have certainly disqualified him from being President or Senator.

The latest polls have shown support for Allen is dropping and the netroots community - particularly DoubleSpeak - has hit him from every angle.

Beating Allen should be a priority for every American. There is no room for ANY racism in America and especially in the United States Senate.

Jim Webb in 2006.

It appears that Former Deputy Secretary of State, Robert Zoellick, will go work for Presidential candidate John McCain.

From Time Magazine:

Former Deputy Secretary of State Robert B. Zoellick is planning to go to work fulltime next year for the presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain, overseeing development of domestic and foreign policy, Republican officials tell TIME.

The Arizona Senator has said he will not make a firm decision about whether to pursue the Republican presidential nomination until after November’s midterm elections. But his advisers are already doing heavy outreach to key early states in the nominating process like New Hampshire and South Carolina, and the Senator is traveling like a candidate. Now, the GOP officials disclosed, McCain’s advisers are making plans to launch a formal campaign in the first quarter of 2007 if he decides to go ahead.

Zoellick, who was U.S. Trade Ambassador in President Bush’s first term and is headed for Wall Street until he joins McCain, will be one of the top members of the prospective campaign’s senior staff. The officials say the arrangement was worked out about three months ago and came about because of mutual admiration between the Senator and Ambassador Zoellick, and through the involvement of Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) of Utah, who’s an active McCain supporter and is close friends with Zoellick. McCain already has strong views and a large stable of advisers on foreign policy, so Zoellick will manage that process. The domestic side will involve more policy development.

John McCain is putting together his team for the race and it will include Howard Dean’s webmaster in 2004 Nicco Mele from the firm EchoDitto.

Gov. Frank Murkowski (R-AK) was defeated last night in a primary. Oh, so sad.

From The Anchorage Daily News:

Former Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin knocked embattled incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski out of office in the Republican primary race for governor Tuesday, setting the stage for a general election showdown with former two-term Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles and for a potential shake-up in her own party.

Knowles was the incumbent and came in third.

Read more…

It looks like Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle may yet fend off Republican Governor Mark Green in November. A recent independent poll by Rasmussen shows Doyle up by a 49%-41% margin.

Mark Green’s first ad was undeniably cute, and may even be effective. Yet the ad was purely defensive, and taking beaming pride in one’s own lawn-mowing abilities isn’t a great rationale for being a state’s chief executive. Jim Doyle may not be the most popular governor in America, but Mark Green will need to run a more clearly-defined campaign to convince America’s Dairyland to get rid of Doyle.

Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (D, maybe R - CT) post-primary lead over Ned Lamont is shrinking.

From Reuters:

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman’s lead over anti-war challenger Ned Lamont has narrowed to a razor-thin margin, two polls showed on Wednesday.

The 2000 vice presidential candidate lost the Democratic primary vote in Connecticut to Lamont this month, but is running for re-election as an independent in a contest that has exposed deep divisions over the unpopular Iraq war.

An American Research Group poll conducted Thursday through Monday said the race was a statistical tie, putting Lieberman’s support among 790 likely voters at 44 percent versus 42 percent for Lamont, a political novice and wealthy cable TV executive.

Republican Alan Schlesinger, a former state legislator, had 3 percent. The poll had a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Virginia Republican Senator George Allen is hurting. In fact, a new SurveyUSA poll clearly defines just how much his recent racist remarks have hurt him in hid bid for the Presidency, errr, the U.S. Senate in Virginia.

From the poll:

GOP Allen’s Once Large Lead Evaporates: In an election for the United States Senate in Virginia today, 8/21/06, incumbent Republican George Allen edges Democrat challenger James Webb 48% to 45%, according to an exclusive SurveyUSA poll conducted for W*USA-TV in Washington, DC.

Since an identical SurveyUSA poll released 6/28/06, Allen has lost 8 points and Webb has gained 8 points. Allen’s lead has shrunk from 19 points to 3 points.

Interviewing for this poll began 8/18/06, one week after Allen singled out a Webb campaign worker at an Allen rally. Allen has lost support across all demographic groups, but in particular, among younger voters. He has gone from Plus 23 to Minus 17, a swing of 40 points. In Southeastern VA, Allen has gone from a 2:1 lead to a tie, a 31-point swing.

The polls really started to move in Webb’s favor when DoubleSpeak released it’s first web ad hitting George Allen hard for his bigotry. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here.