The Wrap-up

The Allen-Webb race has devolved into a spectacle whereby “the story of George Allen’s mother is far more compelling than that of Jim Webb’s son,” a marine lance corporal deployed in Ramadi, in al-Anbar province, the heart of the Sunni insurgency. Meanwhile, Jonathan Chait, of the New Republic, defends Allen against the unyielding storm of racism allegations, while the senator speaks directly to Virginians in a new, two-minute TV commercial.

Pejman Yousefzadeh, at TCS Daily, dissects the economic illogic of the conspiracy theories as to why gas prices are falling.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review scores a two-hour West Wing interview with White House press secretary Tony Snow.

With its usual eloquence and evidence, the WSJ editorial board argues for indexing capital gains for inflation. Related: ACU calls for the repeal of the inflation tax.

Will conservatives win if Republican lose? NR’s Romesh Ponnuru thinks so, and is buffered by a new analysis from PoliticalMoneyLine showing that, to date, the Club for Growth PAC is the third biggest (behind the NRCC and DCCC) in independent expenditures.