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Allen denies making racially-charged remarkBy Mark Preston About TMGThe Morning Grind is brought to you every weekday morning by CNN's Political Unit.
Comments, questions or tips, please e-mail us at morning.grind@cnn.com
On CNN TVRelatedYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. George Allen (R-Virginia) denied he used a racially-charged remark last week to describe a campaign worker for his Democratic opponent, saying in a statement released Tuesday afternoon that his comments "have been greatly misunderstood by members of the media." Allen referred to S.R. Sidarth, a volunteer on Democrat Jim Webb's Senate campaign, as "Macaca" on two occasions during an event on Friday in Breaks, located in the southwest corner of Virginia. In an e-mail sent to political supporters Monday, the Webb campaign questioned whether Allen was using a racial slur to describe Sidarth, who is of Indian descent, as a monkey. Sidarth was taping Allen with a hand-held video camera, a standard campaign practice that is often used by opponents for research purposes, as the senator campaigned throughout the state for a second term. He captured Allen's comments on camera and the Webb campaign provided a link to the video in the e-mail sent out Monday. "This fellow here, over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is," said Allen, who at times pointed directly at the camera. "He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great." After suggesting Webb has not visited many parts of the state and has no intention of doing so, as well as criticizing his opponent for meeting with "a bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," the senator turned back to the camera and addressed Sidarth. "Let's give a welcome to Macaca, here," Allen said. "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." Macaca is a class of monkey, including the rhesus monkey. In the four-paragraph statement issued Tuesday, Allen said, "In singling out the Webb campaign's cameraman, I was trying to make the point that Jim Webb had never been to that part of Virginia -- and I encouraged him to bring the tape back to Jim and welcome him to the real world of Virginia and America, outside the Beltway, where he has rarely visited. "I also made up a nickname for the cameraman, which was in no way intended to be racially derogatory. Any insinuations to the contrary are completely false." And Allen said it "was certainly not my intent" to offend anyone by the remark. "On every stop on my Listening Tour, I have talked about one of my missions for this country -- to make it a land of opportunity for all," Allen said in the statement. "I have worked very hard in the Senate to reach out to all Americans -- regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender. And I look forward to continuing to advocate this important mission for America's future. As for Sidarth, Allen said, "I never want to embarrass or demean anyone and I apologize if my comments offended this young man. Even though he has signed onto my opponent's campaign, I look forward to seeing him on the trail ahead." In an interview with CNN's Andrea Koppel just a few hours before Allen released his statement, Sidarth said he had introduced himself to Allen days prior to the incident. "He was doing that because he could, because he could get away with it," Sidarth said. "I think he was just trying to, trying to point out the fact that I was a person of color, in a crowd that was not otherwise." In a follow-up interview after Allen released the statement, Sidarth told the Grind he did not view it as an adequate apology. "First of all, if he is going to single me out in a crowd of 100 people he ought to apologize to me personally," Sidarth said. Added Webb campaign manager Jessica Vanden Berg, "From my perspective, if a U.S. Senator wanted to directly apologize to somebody he would do so. Sidarth has not been apologized to." In addition, Vanden Berg said Webb's "family and roots are in southwestern Virginia," and he has lived in Falls Church "for a number of years. During Webb's campaign, she said, "he has traveled extensively throughout Virginia. "So to say that Jim doesn't know Virginia is a lie," Vanden Berg added. Bush heads to Pennsylvania for SwannPresident Bush heads to Pennsylvania today to attend a fundraiser for GOP gubernatorial nominee Lynn Swann, but the former Pittsburgh Steelers great trails incumbent Gov. Ed Rendell (D) by 19 percentage points, a new poll released this morning shows. The Quinnipiac University poll shows Rendell leading Swann 57 percent to 38 percent among likely voters with 4 percent undecided. "Lynn Swann is taking a big political gamble by inviting President Bush to campaign for him in Pennsylvania, but it's probably a risk he has to take," said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement accompanying the poll. "Swann needs President Bush to help win back those Republicans who are backing Rendell. Also, the President can help raise the kind of money Swann needs to take on a well-financed Democratic incumbent." A Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday showed that Bush's approval rating in Pennsylvania is 33 percent, while 64 percent disapprove of his job performance. Former President Ford hospitalizedFormer President Gerald Ford (R), who has been in frail health in recent years, was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for "testing and evaluation," his office said in a statement Tuesday night. Details about the former president's condition were not released. But Ford, 93, has been hospitalized four times since December, including late last month, when he was admitted for two days to a hospital in Vail, Colorado after suffering shortness of breath. In January, he spent 11 days in a hospital near his home in Rancho Mirage, California being treated for pneumonia. In December, he was admitted to the same hospital for unspecified tests. Ford was hospitalized in 2003 after suffering a dizzy spell while playing golf in 96-degree heat. He also suffered a mild stroke during the 2000 Republican National Convention. Ford became president in August 1974, after the Watergate scandal forced then-President Richard Nixon from office. He sought election in his own right in the 1976 election but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter. Frist's Empty NextLooking for another reason why Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) is seriously considering running for president? The two-term senator is already retiring at the end of the year, giving up one of the most powerful political postings in the country. And he revealed to his political supporters in an e-mail Tuesday night that his wife, Karyn, "got a little teary-eyed last night when she started thinking about us being 'empty nesters.'" It seems as though the Frist's youngest son, Bryan, is heading off to college "in a couple of weeks." The couple's oldest son, Harrison, works in New York, while their middle son, Jonathan, is a sophomore in college. With no curfews to enforce, dinners to cook or laundry to clean, the Frist's appear to have enough time on their hands to travel to exotic locations frequented by recent retirees such as Ames, Iowa; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Columbia, South Carolina. DAYAHEAD/Events making news todayThe Morning Grind
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