Allen Concedes

Once those late votes came in from NoVa the writing was on the wall. George Allen has conceded, Jim Webb will take his senate seat, and the Democrats will have control of both houses of Congress.

This does not invalidate my argument about the GOP turning on a dime on the issue of recounts. Both George Allen and Conrad Burns were ready to fight for every last vote, which was their right to do and which I would have supported fully. That the gaps proved to be too much for any reasonable person to think they could overcome in a recount should be of no moment. In close elections recounts are an essential and necessary component of the democratic process. There is nothing ideological about calling for them, nor does it make a candidate a poor loser to want an accurate vote count after months of campaigning and years of preparation.