It’s official, Sen. George Allen has conceded.

I am proud of you, Virginia.

Macaca happens.

The Associated Press has just called the Virginia Senate race for Democrat Jim Webb.

Webb’s victory gives the Democrats the six seats they needed to regain control of the United States Senate. Congrats, Mr. Majority Leader Reid!

Here is a letter written in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch by political activist and military veteran Mike Stark. Stark was physically assaulted by George Allen’s thugs at a campaign event in Virginia.

Here’s the full text of the letter:

My name is Mike Stark. I am a law student at the University of Virginia, a marine, and a citizen journalist. Earlier today at a public event, I was attempting to ask Senator Allen a question about his sealed divorce record and his arrest in the 1970s, both of which are in the public domain. His people assaulted me, put me in a headlock, and wrestled me to the ground. Video footage is available here, from an NBC affiliate.

I demand that Senator Allen fire the staffers who beat up a constituent attempting to use his constitutional right to petition his government. I also want to know why Senator Allen would want his staffers to assault someone asking questions about matters of public record in the heat of a political campaign. Why are his divorce records sealed? Why was he arrested in the 1970s? And why did his campaign batter me when I asked him about these questions.

George Allen defends his support of the Iraq war by saying that our troops are defending the ideals America stands for. Indeed, he says our troops are defending our very freedom. What kind of country is it when a Senator’s constituent is assaulted for asking difficult and uncomfortable questions? What freedoms do we have left? Maybe we need to bring the troops home so that they can fight for freedom at George Allen’s campaign events. Demanding accountability should not be an offense worthy of assault.

I will be pressing charges against George Allen and his surrogates later today. George Allen, at any time, could have stopped the fray. All he had to do was say, “This is not how my campaign is run. Take your hands off that man.” He could have ignored my questions. Instead he and his thugs chose violence. I spent four years in the Marine Corps. I’ll be damned if I’ll let my country be taken from me by thugs that are afraid of taking responsibility for themselves.

It just isn’t the America I know and love. Somebody needs to take a stand against those that would bully and intimidate their fellow citizens. That stand begins right here, right now.

It’s late in the evening and we’re still recording, but this one’s too important to let slide for even a moment. Via Josh Marshall and dKos, the Washington Post has this article:

U.S. Senate candidate James Webb’s last name has been cut off on part of the electronic ballot used by voters in Alexandria, Falls Church and Charlottesville because of a computer glitch that also affects other candidates with long names, city officials said yesterday . . . Election officials attribute the mistake to an increase in the type size on the ballot. Although the larger type is easier to read, it also unintentionally shortens the longer names on the summary page of the ballot.

Thus, Democratic candidate Webb will appear with his first name and nickname only — or “James H. ‘Jim’ ” — on summary pages in Alexandria, Falls Church and Charlottesville, the only jurisdictions in Virginia that use balloting machines manufactured by Hart InterCivic of Austin.

Yes, that’s right. With two weeks to go before the election we learn that Jim “My Name Is Really Long” Webb will not have his name appear everywhere on the ballot in the three areas that make up his primary base of support. Meanwhile George Felix Allen, whose name is so much shorter, will be clearly identified. And sadly, Jean Jensen, secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections, says that it will only be fixed in time for the 2007 statewide elections.

While we eschew profanity on this site, I think Trapper John over at Kos summed it up correctly:

Is is too much to ask for voting machines that work as well as, I don’t know, a fucking toaster?

This morning, Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) debated Sen. Mike DeWine (R-OH) on NBC’s Meet The Press moderated by Tim Russert.

I thought Brown did a great job taking on DeWine. He kept him on the defensive and painted him as ineffective. He also hammered the Senator on his negative campaign and there were times when DeWine couldn’t defend his own record. DeWine spent much of the debate ducking Russert’s questions.

Here is the transcript.

Below, you’ll also find transcripts to the other Meet The Press debates from the past couple weeks.

OHIO: Sherrod Brown v. Mike DeWine

VIRGINIA: Jim Webb v. George Allen

PENNSYLVANIA: Bob Casey v. Rick Santorum

From Think Progress. This is huge.

Larry Sabato, who is one of the most respected political observers and professors in Virginia has confirmed that when he was a student with Sen. George Allen (R-VA) in the 1970’s, he heard Sen. Allen use a racial slur to refer to blacks. George Allen has repeatedly denied that he has ever used the “N” word.

George Allen is a liar, a bigot and a racist. He is going to go down for this. Vote Jim Webb.

This scandal has been brewing for a couple weeks now, ever since Sen. George Allen (R-VA) called a young staffer working for his opponent Macaca.

According to Salon and as reported by Political Wire:

“Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s.”

AmericaBLOG via Salon.com:

Virginia Sen. George Allen, explaining how news that his grandfather was Jewish is “just an interesting nuance to my background”:

“I still had a ham sandwich for lunch. And my mother made great pork chops.”

What a sensitive guy…