In August 2006, George Allen, Virginia's former governor and then U.S. senator, was riding about as high as it's possible for a seeker of elected office to get. The popular and personable Allen, son of a legendary football coach, was coasting to an easy re-election.

More importantly, some of the GOP's heavy hitters, including some of the same people who coalesced behind George W. Bush in 2000, had tabbed Allen for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. The National Journal's insider poll had him as the clear front-runner for that honor. Allen, it was said, had President Bush's "Aw shucks'' charm but without the baggage.

But then came a mystifying stumble. During a campaign rally, Allen pointed to a young Democratic "tracker," an opposition campaign worker detailed to videograph all of Allen's appearances, and said:

"This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent … Let's give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia."

The young man was Indian-American and hardly needed a welcome to Virginia, let alone America, since he had been born and raised there and was a graduate of Northern Virginia's top academic high school.

Most people seemed baffled by the term "macaca," but it turned out to be a racial slur derived from a particular species of African monkey. Allen's campaign, perhaps brimming with overconfidence, was slow to see the damage that offhand crack had caused and never did catch up with it. His aides seemed unable to grasp that the single ill-considered remark could derail what had been one of the most promising political careers in America.

Allen ended up losing to Democrat James Webb, a former Navy secretary. Webb has not yet said whether he's running for re-election in 2012, and news accounts indicate he's done little in the way of fundraising.

But Allen, 58, definitely is running, announcing his candidacy by e-mail and Web video, on a platform of ending President Barack Obama's health-care reform, passing a balanced-budget amendment and a line-item veto, and reducing energy costs. He has already assembled a seasoned campaign staff.

Allen, who worked on behalf of the energy industry while out of office, returns to a dramatically changed political landscape. His one announced opponent is the former head of the Virginia Tea Party Patriots, but he faces possible opposition from the state's term-limited Republican governor and its ambitious GOP attorney general.

American politics offers endless second chances, but no guarantees.

The article was published and distributed by Scripps Howard News Service (www.scrippsnews.com).