Jim Webb for US Senate

[U2democrat]

AP just declared Jim Webb the winner of the Democratic primary here in Virginia, glad to see the man I voted for moving on!!! He'll oppose Sen. George Allen's reelection bid in November...a man most of us here know as someone who wants Bush's job, and is basically a Mini-Dubya (he even tries to be a cowboy).

WEBB FOR SENATE!!!!!!!!

 

[U2democrat]

By the way, Webb is pro gay marriage, against the Iraq war, against illegal wiretapping, fearful of the way this administration is treating the Constitution, etc. etc. He was Secretary of the Navy under Reagan and has written several books. He may have been a Republican in the past but what matters is how he stands now, which is the real right side of the issues

 

[deep]

This guy should give Allen a tougher race than Harris Miller would have.

 

[U2democrat]

Which is why I voted for him

 

[melon]

Webb is pro gay marriage

That's enough to convince me that he's no longer a Republican...heh.

Melon

 

[U2democrat]

That's enough to convince me that he's no longer a Republican...heh.

Melon

Yeah, pundits on TV talk about him as if he still leans Republican, which he doesn't in the least bit.

 

[ntalwar]

He has zero name recognition. He needs to work on that.

 

[U2democrat]

It'll be an extremely difficult uphill battle no doubt, but we're well aware of that and willing to fight.

 

[ntalwar]

Any idea why he has no money:

But he has virtually no campaign cash, while Allen has a $7.5 million bankroll that he could use without challenge this summer. Democrats said Webb can expect help from former governor Mark R. Warner (D) and others, but only if he demonstrates an ability to raise money on his own first.

"He's going to have to raise tons of money," Moran said. "He has to get some poll numbers that show he's truly competitive."

 

[U2democrat]

He's not a politician nor is he indepentently wealthy. The only reason he ran is because a bunch of grassroots bloggers started a movement, amazingly he took up their cry, ran, and even more amazingly won. His opponent in the primary, Harris Miller, is very wealthy and will help out a lot. As well as Mark Warner.

 

[U2democrat]

Jim Webb's son, Jimmy, is being deployed to Iraq on Tuesday.

Webb to forgo parades; visit son before Iraq deployment
By BOB LEWIS
AP Political Writer
August 31, 2006
RICHMOND, Va. -- Senate candidate Jim Webb will miss the Labor Day weekend parades, picnics and speeches that open the fall campaign stretch run to be with his son, who ships out with his Marine unit to Iraq next week.

Webb decided Thursday to skip the traditional holiday gatherings in Buena Vista, Covington and elsewhere that are normally must-attend events for those seeking statewide office.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jimmy Webb, 24, is deploying with his unit to combat duty, and the Democratic challenger to Sen. George Allen chose to visit his son until he leaves.

"I'm very proud of my son. Neither he nor I want him to be viewed differently than any of his fellow Marines. He's a tough young man and a fine Marine," Webb said in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press.

Because Webb knows combat firsthand as a Marine who fought in some of the bloodiest engagements of the Vietnam War, the experience is particularly painful. When asked about it in an AP interview, tears glazed his eyes and he was momentarily unable to speak.

Webb, 60, said he saw his father, a tough career military man, cry just once: the day he left for duty in Vietnam.

"I can look at it as a father and as a Marine, but, for better or for worse, I am just more visible than other fathers," Webb said.

"I'm going through the same mental and emotional process as thousands of other parents," he said.

Among those walking the parade route in Buena Vista this year will be his Republican opponent, Allen, and two fellow Democrats, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and former Gov. Mark R. Warner. Though the parades rarely yield real news, a top tier candidate's absence is conspicuous.

But in Webb's case, voters will understand, said Mark Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University.

"If you weren't there because you just wanted to get a few more days' of vacation out of the summer, then that would be a problem. But I think with this, most voters will look into their hearts and understand," Rozell said.

Bidding farewell to a child bound for combat also immunizes Webb from criticism for his absence from his opponent, he said.

"It would look pretty crass for an opponent to try and make an issue of it," he said.

May he come back alive and in one piece.

 

[financeguy]

Hope he wins.

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Hey, U2dem...I'm in Virginia and intend to vote for him. However, it looks like I'll be out of the country travelling on business during the election, so I gotta figure out how one goes about voting before hand.

 

[verte76]

I wish all the best for Jim Webb and his campaign! Work hard and you'll be proud of yourself even if you don't win.

 

[ntalwar]

Hey, U2dem...I'm in Virginia and intend to vote for him. However, it looks like I'll be out of the country travelling on business during the election, so I gotta figure out how one goes about voting before hand.

See the VA BOE site:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Absentee_Voting/Military_Overseas_Citizens/Index.html

 

[sulawesigirl4]

See the VA BOE site:
http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/Absentee_Voting/Military_Overseas_Citizens/Index.html

Thanks! I called the local office and got it all figured out. Downloaded the absentee ballot application and whatnot. I just have to make a note to myself to go in to their office and vote in October before I leave on my travel. I could do it by mail but since it's my first time voting in Virginia, I don't want to leave anything to chance.

I feel like such a good citizen!

 

[U2democrat]

This photo was taken at the Meet the Press debate between Webb and Allen and it pretty much sums things up:


Fake Cowboy vs. Real Combat Boots

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Uh, what about all that crap he said about women in the military? I read about it online and I watched the Meet The Press debate.

 

[U2democrat]

Right...what he said was horrible, don't get me wrong I don't look up to Jim Webb the way I do most Democratic politicians, but he'd be a hell of a lot better than Allen, who himself has said negative things toward women in the military.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

So he's just the lesser of two evils, it's sad when you have to vote for someone who has made such sexist comments in order to defeat someone who has made racist (I consider them racist) comments and has a very questionable background regarding race and race relations

 

[U2democrat]

I'm hoping Webb has changed his opinion on women since then...he's changed his views in other aspects. I've been doing more work for the house races in the area (such as Phillip Kellam in the 2nd...ranked as the 15th hottest race in the country) than I have been for the Webb campaign.

Come to think of it, I really haven't done any work for the Webb campaign because they're so damn disorganized and have their priorities all out of whack It really is a terribly run campaign, even top politicians with close ties to the campaign will say so. Webb's only lucky that Allen keeps sticking his foot in his mouth, otherwise Allen would be 20 points ahead.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I just wanted to post this somewhere- Bush wants everyone to answer his questions in a scripted way that doesn't challenge his actions, doesn't he? Rude much?


http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/112906.html


President Bush has pledged to work with the new Democratic majorities in Congress, but he has already gotten off on the wrong foot with Jim Webb, whose surprise victory over Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) tipped the Senate to the Democrats.

Webb, a decorated former Marine officer, hammered Allen and Bush over the unpopular war in Iraq while wearing his son’s old combat boots on the campaign trail. It seems the president may have some lingering resentment.

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

“Jim did have a conversation with Bush at that dinner,” said Webb’s spokeswoman Kristian Denny Todd. “Basically, he asked about Jim’s son, Jim expressed the fact that he wanted to have him home.” Todd did not want to escalate matters by commenting on Bush’s response, saying, “It was a private conversation.”

A White House spokeswoman declined to give Bush’s version of the conversation.

 

[redhotswami]

Heh, he should've responded by asking about the (nonexistent) ongoing conversations w/ the twins and the military recruiters.

 

[deep]

Uh, what about all that crap he said about women in the military? I read about it online and I watched the Meet The Press debate.

what year was that 1979?? was he in his 20s?

the whole country was saying a lot worse things back then


call it the lesser of 2 evils if you want

How recently has Webb made sexist remarks?

Allen said Macaca, in what October 2006?

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

George Will says Webb is the rude one

Already Too Busy for Civility

By George F. Will
Thursday, November 30, 2006; A23

That was certainly swift. Washington has a way of quickly acculturating people, especially those who are most susceptible to derangement by the derivative dignity of office. But Jim Webb, Democratic senator-elect from Virginia, has become a pompous poseur and an abuser of the English language before actually becoming a senator.

Wednesday's Post reported that at a White House reception for newly elected members of Congress, Webb "tried to avoid President Bush," refusing to pass through the reception line or have his picture taken with the president. When Bush asked Webb, whose son is a Marine in Iraq, "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "I'd like to get them [sic] out of Iraq." When the president again asked "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "That's between me and my boy." Webb told The Post:

"I'm not particularly interested in having a picture of me and George W. Bush on my wall. No offense to the institution of the presidency, and I'm certainly looking forward to working with him and his administration. [But] leaders do some symbolic things to try to convey who they are and what the message is."

Webb certainly has conveyed what he is: a boor. Never mind the patent disrespect for the presidency. Webb's more gross offense was calculated rudeness toward another human being -- one who, disregarding many hard things Webb had said about him during the campaign, asked a civil and caring question, as one parent to another. When -- if ever -- Webb grows weary of admiring his new grandeur as a "leader" who carefully calibrates the "symbolic things" he does to convey messages, he might consider this: In a republic, people decline to be led by leaders who are insufferably full of themselves.

Even before his studied truculence in response to the president's hospitality, Webb was going out of his way to make waves. A week after the election, he published a column in the Wall Street Journal that began this way:

"The most important -- and unfortunately the least debated -- issue in politics today is our society's steady drift toward a class-based system, the likes of which we have not seen since the 19th century. America's top tier has grown infinitely richer and more removed over the past 25 years. It is not unfair to say that they are literally living in a different country."

Well.

In his novels and his political commentary, Webb has been a writer of genuine distinction, using language with care and precision. But just days after winning an election, he was turning out slapdash prose that would be rejected by a reasonably demanding high school teacher.

Never mind Webb's careless and absurd assertion that the nation's incessantly discussed wealth gap is "the least debated" issue in American politics.

And never mind his use of the word "literally," although even with private schools and a large share of the nation's wealth, the "top tier" -- whatever cohort he intends to denote by that phrase; he is suddenly too inflamed by social injustice to tarry over the task of defining his terms -- does not "literally" live in another country.

And never mind the cavalier historical judgments -- although is he sure that America is less egalitarian today than it was, say, 50 years ago, when only about 7 percent of American adults had college degrees? (Twenty-eight percent do today.) Or 80 years ago, when more than 80 percent of American adults did not have high school diplomas (85 percent have them today), and only about 46 percent owned their own homes, compared with 69 percent today?

But notice, in the second sentence of Webb's column, the word "infinitely." Earth to Webb: Words have meanings that not even senators can alter. And he has been elected to be a senator, not Humpty Dumpty in "Through the Looking Glass." ("When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less.") America's national economic statistics are excellent; Webb could actually tell us how much richer the "top tier" has become, relative to other cohorts, over a particular span. But that would require him to actually say whom he is talking about, and that takes time and effort, and senators -- Webb is a natural -- often are too busy for accuracy.

Based on Webb's behavior before being sworn in, one shudders to think what he will be like after that. He already has become what Washington did not need another of, a subtraction from the city's civility and clear speaking.

 

[U2democrat]

People are going to have differing opinions on the exchange, there's been a lot of talk on the Virginia political blogs about it with other insights over who was more rude...Webb or Bush.

I'm glad somebody stood up to the president