Before that they did in George Allen. I think the Washington ComPost did 100 articles badgering him over the silly “macaca” business, turning it into a racist slur on no basis whatsoever. (Of course, if Allen was unable to beat Webb, he would have been a bad bet to beat Hillary in 2008.)
Even though the candidates didn’t work out, the message is still clear. The question now, who is there to represent us?