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.