CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A first-year law student at the University of Virginia confronted Sen. George Allen at a campaign rally Tuesday at a Charlottesville hotel and yelled a question about his first wife before being wrestled away.
The student, identified as Mike Stark by the Daily Progress of Charlottesville, has a blog on which he identifies his behavior as “Roger and Me,” so named for Michael Moore’s film about chasing General Motors CEO Roger Smith.
The confrontation happened in front of reporters and photographers after Allen, a Virginia Republican, spoke to a group of supporters with one week left in his race with Democratic challenger Jim Webb.
Allen was appearing with wife Susan and Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and had just finished his stump speech before a crowd of about 150.
Witnesses said Stark yelled “Why did you spit on your first wife?” at the senator.
Allen was married for three years to Anne Patrice Rubel. He has been married to Susan Allen for 20 years.
Video of the incident showed that Stark was wrestled away from the scene by an Allen staff member, then wrestled to the floor by a former Albemarle County Republican Party official.
Stark is described as a 38-year-old former Marine. He said he has no affiliation with either campaign.
No charges were filed.
Webb, who is scheduled to campaign in Williamsburg Wednesday, spent his Tuesday in southwest Virginia, campaigning with former Gov. Mark Warner and trying to cut into Allen’s historical advantage there.
He’ll get some help with that. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has committed another $1.3 million to campaign ads for the race’s final week in an attempt to capitalize on a race that recent polls say the party can win.
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To watch the video, see the Daily Press political blog, The Shad Plank:
http://blogs.dailypress.com/the(underscore)shad(underscore)plank/
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(c) 2006, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.).
Visit dailypress.com, the World Wide Web site of the Daily Press at http://dailypress.com and on America Online at keyword “dailypress.”
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
AP-NY-10-31-06 1838EST
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