By Elyse Moody
Virginia’s junior U.S. senator, George Allen (R), recently ventured into new territory: literature. The Allen reelection campaign’s latest mudslinging misstep attempts to use opponent Jim Webb's (D) own novels against him, and smart voters should not be misled by Allen's invalid accusations. Webb's novels are fictional accounts of the Vietnam War - not memoirs. He shouldn't have to defend himself against critics like Allen who can’t separate fact from fiction.
Either Allen's staff couldn't resist reading between the lines, or they can’t tell a novel from a newspaper. Eleven days before Tuesday’s election, the Allen campaign provided the Drudge Report with material attacking Webb’s novels - not his political platform. The statement included what it termed "lurid" passages from several of Webb's novels, and it tied his fictional descriptions of women and sex to the misogynistic image Allen's advertisements attempt to paint of Webb. From this angle, it assailed Webb’s suitability as a candidate and cited his fictional writings to support its criticisms.
"How can women trust [Webb] to represent their views in the Senate when chauvinistic attitudes and sexually exploitive references run throughout his fiction and non-fiction writings?" the statement demanded.
However, Webb's novels include these "attitudes" and "references" because they existed in Vietnam - not because he approves of them. Yes, some of the women in the passages occupy sexually compromising positions as strippers or powerless orderlies. As an author of realistic fiction, Webb cannot simply ignore how war affects women because the descriptions might be politically incorrect. These images are part of the Vietnam that Webb experienced, and they speak eloquently of its injustices. Yet, as Webb well knows, novelists merely describe war; politicians must look for ways to eradicate it.
Webb refuses to let Allen pigeonhole him as a chauvinistic ex-soldier. As the Washington Post reported, the novels' realism provides Webb with a ready defense: "I have lived in the real world," Webb said. "And I have reported the real world in my writings." He also insists that he has changed his mind since 1979 about women's place at the Naval Academy. Finally, at Edgar Allen Poe Middle School in Annandale last week, Webb shifted the blame onto Allen, saying that Allen is the candidate whose ethics have fallen by the wayside in this campaign. Webb added that taking small excerpts from a fictional text and using them to question "my ethics, my profession, my character…is a line that should never be crossed."
Webb's supporters believe that Allen has clearly crossed this ethical line. As Gov. Tim Kaine (D) told the Washington Post, Republicans "never know when to stop … they always go over the top and it always backfires." This case is no exception: Allen's blunder pointed to Webb's strongest point as a candidate. The passages that Allen condemned illustrate how war destroys countries and degrades people. Webb's first-hand knowledge informs his perspective on the war in Iraq. After reading these disturbing, realistic descriptions, voters should understand the logic behind Webb's two-pronged plan to pull out of Iraq.
Webb's passionate defense of his novels' integrity has raised some important questions: What does literature have to do with running the country? What does a guy who spent Vietnam on a ranch know about war? And, most importantly, with the two candidates tied neck-and-neck, will Allen's misstep give Webb the edge he needs to win? Voters who buy into Allen's smear tactics may use these passages to confirm their opinion of Webb. And staunch supporters of Webb will certainly write Allen's attack off as invalid and desperate. However, if undecided swing voters recall only the pathetic image of George Allen highlighting nasty passages in a novel as his best defense, Webb's slight lead at present could easily earn him a seat in the Senate on election day.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisor: Prof. Doug Cumming
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd