Politics & Government

Allen Makes Reston Town Center Campaign Visit

U.S. Senate candidate and his wife, Susan, visit voters at women's outreach event at American Tap Room.

Women supporters of Republican Senate candidate George Allen gathered at a campaign event organized by Virginia Voices at the American Tap Room in Reston Saturday afternoon.

Talk centered on a variety of issues — taxes; jobs; energy; religious freedom; planned increases for the Dulles Toll Road to help pay for the Silver Line; the economy; Allen's Democratic opponent, Tim Kaine; and of course, the presidential election.  

Virginia Voices is the campaign’s listening initiative. Also there to speak: Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th); Del. Barbara Comstock (R-McLean); Pete Snyder, chair of VA Victory 2012, Susan Allen, the candidate's wife; and Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.).

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"There is a lot at stake," Allen told the crowd, reminding them that the election is 45 days away. "We have a vision of the future that is a lot better than these days. When you talk to your neighbors or people at church, don't talk about red states and blue, Republicans or Democrats. Talk about our ideas and how they will positively affect their lives. Our ideas will create more jobs.

"Anyone who drives a car or cares about the future of their families ought to be on our side," said Allen. "When we have Mitt Romney in the White House, we will have someone saying 'yes' to Virginia instead of saying 'no.' "

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Allen pointed out how sequestration was likely to affect jobs in Virginia. He also pointed to his record as governor - how he added 300,000 jobs during his term (1994-'98), while 100,000 disappeared under Kaine (2006-'10).

"Look at someone's past record," he said. "When [Kaine] was governor, he wanted to raise taxes on buying a used car and on people making as little as $17,000. He is best known for closing the rest areas on I-95."

In a respons to that statement, Lily Adams, a Kaine campaign spokeswoman, said "George Allen is right that we should judge candidates based on their past records," and she pointed out some of the impact of Allen's term.

"Virginians are still recovering from the spending he voted for in Washington that created massive deficits and added trillions to our national debt," she said. "And now that he' s running for reelection, George Allen has failed to lay out a plan to avert sequestration,  unlike Tim Kaine who has shared specific solutions to stop these cuts that would do damage Virginia's economy."  

Allen, along with Susan Allen, encouraged the women in the crowd to give a few minutes of their time to the campaign - or to at least grab a yard sign or bumper sticker to spread the word.

"People are going to be saying 'look at those women in Virginia, look at how they are voting,' " Allen said. "They are statues of liberty."


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