An American comeback?

Former Virginia Republican governor and U.S. Senator George Allen officially began his political comeback last week, announcing his intent to regain his old Senate seat in an e-mailed video that promises "an American comeback."

His 2-minute, 45-second video, sent to supporters, champions sharp cuts in federal spending, an end to Democratic health reforms and a domestic energy policy more dependent on coal.

Allen, who lost his Senate seat in a 2006 campaign riddled with embarrassments, said he will run a more disciplined campaign focused on issues straight out of the tea party playbook.

"I have support from the tea party, and in fact they've come to me. The tea party has little groups all over the state and many of them have come to me and invited me to speak," Allen said.

If Allen is the GOP candidate, his chances improved significantly with the news today that Democratic Sen. Jim Webb, who defeated Allen by about 9,000 votes, has announced that he will not run next year.

In an e-mail announcement, Webb said that after much thought and consideration, he had decided to return to the private sector. He offered no additional details about his plans but said he intends to remain involved in issues that affect the future and well-being of the country.

The news makes it that much more difficult for Democrats in the U.S. Senate to defend their 53-47 majority. The party must contest 23 Senate seats next year, including two held by independents. Many are in swing states where Republicans hope to mount strong challenges.

Allen, 58, enters the race weeks after Virginia tea party leader Jamie Radtke declared her candidacy and with conservative Del. Bob Marshall, who finished a close second for a Senate nomination in 2008, angling toward another race next year.

Radtke issued a statement challenging Allen to explain votes he cast for earmarks to appropriations bills, deficit spending, and endorsements of Republican moderates such as Arlen Specter.

Marshall said in an interview he may run because there's "a roaring silence among the candidates already announced on social issues like (Congress' repeal) of don't-ask, don't-tell," a measure that would allow gays to serve openly in the military.

That silence is evident on Allen's official campaign website (georgeallen.com), which focuses on his anti-Obamacare stance and economic principles.

According to National Right to Life records, Allen had a 100% pro-life voting record during his time in the Senate from 2001-2006. The Family Research Council's Vote Scorecards for his time in the Senate earned high marks also, with an average score of 90%. He was a co-sponsor of the 2006 Federal Marriage Amendment, but in 2004 he supported controversial hate-crime legislation.

However, some conservatives are skeptical. Pat McSweeney, who supports Radtke, was the chairman of Republican Party of Virginia while George Allen was governor. "Unfortunately George, after his election to Senate, abandoned positions he had taken during his campaign," McSweeney said.

Allen's past positions on sovereignty, debt, and spending have "greatly troubled" conservatives in Virginia, McSweeney said, and despite his voting record, "on abortion he has never had a satisfactory position."

In the days before his announcement, Allen toured Virginia with the conservative Americans For Prosperity, advancing its mandate for deep spending cuts and a drastically reduced federal role in American governance.

He also promised support for constitutional amendments that would allow states to veto federal laws, give the president line-item veto authority and require balanced federal budgets.

"Friends, it's time for an American comeback,"Allen said in a professionally-produced video aimed at his party's conservative activists who showed in last fall's GOP takeover of the U.S. House that they can help sway elections. "People are frustrated that Washington continues to ignore us."

Unlike his two previous U.S. Senate races, the GOP nomination this time is not Allen's for the asking.

Allen lost five years ago after what he concedes was a sloppy campaign. He was a rising Republican star preoccupied with a 2008 presidential run who had brought in a new campaign team, not the longtime advisers and aides who had guided his previous triumphs.

He stumbled in August 2006 by calling a Jim Webb campaign volunteer of Indian ancestry a "macaca," a term some cultures consider an ethnic disparagement. Posted on YouTube, video of the comment became an online hit and was grist for news reports and television comedians for weeks.

At a debate a few weeks later, he chafed at a question about his mother's Jewish heritage, accusing a panelist of "making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs." Her father, Felix Lumbroso, was a resistance fighter whom the Nazis imprisoned in her native Tunisia during World War II.

Allen said he's prepared to address those missteps in his new campaign.

"On the issue of macaca, that was a college kid who was there doing his job and I should not have drawn him into it. I regret it and I have apologized to him for it. I regret that it took away from the very serious issues of that campaign, and this campaign will be fought on those issues,"Allen told the AP in a telephone interview as the video was released.

"On a personal level, that was very hard on us, on (wife) Susan, on my children, hearing all that stuff that was being said about me, and so as a person, as a parent and as a husband, I'm going to do a much better job this time," Allen said.

Allen remains popular among the state's GOP establishment and party activists, and his desire to win back his old seat has been widely acknowledged among them for months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.