 In a survey of 175 Washington insiders by "National Journal", released in April 2005, Allen was the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.In an insider survey by "National Journal" a year later, in May 2006, Allen had dropped to second place, and John McCain held a 3-to-1 lead over Allen.After the November 2006 election, it was widely assumed that Allen was no longer a viable candidate for the Republican nomination, principally because of the damage caused by the incidents that caused his double-digit lead in the polls to turn to a narrow defeat that contributed to the Republicans' loss of control of the Senate.