[Gene Randall, Cnn Anchor:] Along with the presidential campaign, House and Senate races are being hard-fought as well this year. One of the most closely watched Senate races is in Virginia. That is where the incumbent Democrat Charles Robb is in a tight contest with another former governor of Virginia, Republican George Allen. Our congressional correspondent Chris Black takes a look at the election, which will help decide which party controls the Senate.
[Unidentified Male:] On your mark, get set, go.
[Chris Black, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Senator Chuck Robb of Virginia is struggling in his own marathon. A come-from-behind race against his own low-key style and a gregarious opponent: the popular former Republican Governor George Allen. Just months ago, Robb looked like a certain loser. But polls show he has closed the gap with the help of an onslaught of television advertising aimed at key voting blocks, like women.
[Sen. Chuck Robb , Virginia:] I've always supported a woman's right to choose.
[Black:] In the choosing days of the campaign, Robb's future hinges not only on the turnout of women, but also African Americans, who makeup 15 percent of the state's voters. Robb raised the stakes by attacking Allen for racial insensitivity.
[Robb:] I am proud to stand with those who speak out and oppose bigotry, hatred, intolerance.
[Black:] But Allen is fighting back.
[George Allen  Virginia Senate Candidate:] We reach out to everyone reach out to all people if they pay taxes, work for a living, if they care about their families.
[Black:] Allen has effectively cut into Robb's political base in northern Virginia, making more than 60 appearances there since Labor Day. He calls Robb a do-nothing senator. A charge that some say has been effective.
[Mark Rozell, Catholic University:] Robb has not done a very good job of articulating exactly why his incumbency is so important to Virginia and what it is that Virginians will lose if Chuck Robb is not going to be their senator any more.
[Black:] The moderate-to-liberal Robb says Allen is hiding his conservative positions on issues like gun safety.
[Robb:] The problem here is just getting enough people who are not familiar with your record to know that there are important differences and the choice they make will make a difference in their lives.
[Black:] Chuck Robb has another problem: since he lived here as governor, Virginia has become a lot more Republican, leaving Robb the only Democrat holding state-wide office. [voice-over]: And with George W. Bush polling strongly here, Allen is expecting some presidential coattails.
[Allen:] I think that the people of Virginia are much more, in their hearts and their minds, much more comfortable with George Allen and George Bush than they are with Chuck Robb and Al Gore.
[Black:] Robb is hoping to convince Virginians to split their tickets, urging them to give him the handsome Marine who married Linda Bird Johnson, the president's daughter, 33 years ago, a third term in the U.S. Senate. Chris Black, CNN, Richmond, Virginia.