Bill clinton didn't have national exposure initially and look what happened. I think senator Allen would be a terrific candidate. He has name recognition from his father. I understand he was a great governor.
Allen was a wonderful governor. Unfortunately, his successor (Jim Gilmore) was a disaster who forced a stupid tax cut through and wound up looking like a fool because of it. Before you get carried away, I believe in all tax cuts. But this one was an elimination of automobile property taxes, it was an insignificant tax cut and when the state had budget problems (the Virginia Constitution requires a balanced budget), Gilmore refused to bend on this. This basically eliminated any chance of the GOP candidate being elected governor in 2001 (a Virginia governor can serve unlimited terms, but he cannot succeed himself).
I think that Ross Perot may have somethin to do w/ the election of my former Governor Bill Clinton, wouldn't it?