You don't need to know alot of politics to see that someone like George Allan is a bigot, or at the very least a total jerk. Unless the opposition were particularly unsavory, I'd vote against him just on the basis of his "character".

Even if you're not someone who reads the news daily, it's not hard to know what some of the major issues are. Going to your each candidate's webpage and clicking on "issues" typically gets you the basics. (Though, interestingly, neither of my U.S. congressional candidates, Republican and Democrat, listed their stance on abortion on their respective websites.) If there are certain issues you consider more important than others, vote according to those.