Why not just shoot the guy instead of roughing him up?

The George Allen campaign is trying to turn this into a physical attack on the candidate, but the truth appears to be that Mike Stark, a student at the University of Virginia and a blogger, approached Allen after a campaign rally had concluded and asked him why he spat upon his first wife. Allen's thugs then tackled Stark to the floor, appearing to rough him up a bit in the process.

My guess is that Allen wins the on this - albeit it's a close call. People tend to think of students as rabble rousing nut cases to begin with, and the question isn't real pleasant either. With that combination, I suspect the press and the public will treat this as an attack on Allen that justified bringing in the goon squad. Hell, under Florida law, Allen could have had Stark shot to death and still walked away the winner.