Online clips of Allen-Webb debate spark a row

The latest battleground being staked out by Virginia Sen. George Allen and his Democratic challenger James H. Webb Jr. is debate footage.

The men met Oct. 9 for a televised debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Virginia. The nonpartisan group says both men agreed not to use clips from the debate for campaign purposes.

Sounds like a pretty standard agreement. Until you involve the Internet.

Clips from the debate, including a full-length video of the entire discussion, surfaced on the Web within hours of its conclusion.

But the League of Women Voters is taking issue with the most recent clip from the debate, which was broadcast statewide.

“We kid ourselves if we don’t say that we need more revenues,” Mr. Webb said during the debate, and it appears in a 30-second Allen ad saying the Democrat would raise taxes if elected.

The group said that it “publicly protests” the campaign ad, and that Mr. Allen, a Republican, violated the agreement. The group asked the Allen campaign to pull the ad or edit out the clip, but “it is our understanding and observation that this request was not honored.”

“We’re not going to take our ad down,” said Allen campaign manager Dick Wadhams. “The Webb campaign was the first to violate the agreement. … That rendered it null and void.”

Mr. Wadhams said a paid Webb blogger posting clips from the debate at the pro-Webb RaisingKaine.com and on YouTube.com is the same as using the footage in a campaign spot.

He also said the league was “silent” about Mr. Webb’s misuse of the footage on the Internet.

The group said that the Web site featuring debate footage “was not the official campaign site of either candidate” and that Mr. Webb’s campaign removed links to RaisingKaine and YouTube from its official site when asked.

Mr. Wadhams said it’s a moot point. “Frankly, in this day and age of the Internet, it’s virtually impossible to enforce such an agreement,” he said.

The Webb campaign sent its own press release saying the Allen campaign had broken its promise.

There are two weeks left in the campaign.

• Roasted

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