Dems Say Allen's Out Of Money

Democrats detect a pattern in Sen. George Allen's campaign advertising schedule which suggests to them the incumbent is running out of money and is relying on an infusion from nat'l Republicans to reach parity with challenger James Webb. In turn, Allen's campaign accuses Democrats and Webb's campaign of fabricating the charge to dispirit conservatives and to fool the media into concluding that Allen is headed for defeat.

An independent review found that Allen has outspent Webb by $500K over the past five days. But Republicans said the NRSC had purchased additional airtime in the state today because the Allen campaign could not afford to pay on its own for an ad buy of adequate size. A Republican official said the NRSC "did not expect to be buying time in Virginia this late."