Webb Considers Independent Run

 

Jim WebbJim Webb has been a senator, Secretary of the Navy, combat Marine, filmmaker, and successful author. But his most unlikely role is campaigning to be the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016.

You could see a man of his experience running in the ’60s or even the ’90s. But today’s Democratic party boasts of its contempt for the traditional martial honor that Webb represents.

Though progressives showily insist that they adore our troops, you saw the instinctive contempt during the first Democratic debate. When the moderator asked candidates to list the enemy they are most proud of, Webb was the only person not to name one of his fellow Americans.

He pointed instead to the Vietnamese soldier who threw a grenade at Webb. Then a First Lieutenant, Webb shot the soldier, pushed away a fellow Marine, and flung his body between the grenade and his comrade.

Beltway journos gasped then giggled at Webb’s mention of combat experience, so much so that the candidate’s son felt the need to defend his honor in an op-ed. In 2016, people actually need to defend the honor of a war hero for being awarded the Navy Cross. If he had declared his biggest enemy was a white male veteran, the same critics would have applauded.

Belatedly recognizing that he is woefully out of step with a progressive party, and still suspicious of the GOP to which he once belonged, Webb is considering a run as an independent.

Democratic presidential candidate Jim Webb will consider an independent bid for president amid protests by the candidate that the Democratic Party rigged last week’s debate for Hillary Clinton.

Webb’s campaign emailed out details to a press conference for Tuesday at the National Press Club with the subject line: “Jim Webb to consider independent run.” During last week’s debate, he only had the chance to speak for 15 minutes compared to about 30 minutes for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, according to NPR.

“It was rigged in terms of who was going to get the time on the floor by the way that Anderson Cooper was selecting people to supposedly respond to something someone else said,” Webb told the audience last week at an event for the Council on Foreign Relations.

Granted, Webb hasn’t exactly been tearing it up in the polls. But in a year of outsiders, a military hero who has abandoned both parties and wants to represent forgotten blue collar workers could make a significant impact in a close race.

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  1. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    And the election just keeps getting weirder…

    • #1
  2. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    I love that guy. (Full disclosure, I know him—he was a friend of my father’s.)

    • #2
  3. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Webb was the only person not to name one of his fellow Americans.

    This.

    • #3
  4. Majestyk Member
    Majestyk
    @Majestyk

    I’d think about giving him $10, as that $10 will likely do $100 of damage to the Democrat nominee.

    • #4
  5. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    I will have to think about who he would actually draw votes from….maybe some blue collar Dems that are still left in the unions would take a look at him. If hell froze over and Trump wins the nomination I would. Overall I don’t think the media will allow him to hurt the Dems = zero coverage

    • #5
  6. HeartofAmerica Inactive
    HeartofAmerica
    @HeartofAmerica

    Kate Braestrup:I love that guy. (Full disclosure, I know him—he was a friend of my father’s.)

    Kate,I think Webb is a decent guy and I like his military and defense experience.

    But I’d like to know more about him and you seem to be a good candidate to provide that information. Mind sharing?

    • #6
  7. Douglas Inactive
    Douglas
    @Douglas

    Democrats would probably welcome this, as they would see it eating more into Republican votes than their own. They’re probably right.

    • #7
  8. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    HeartofAmerica:

    Kate Braestrup:I love that guy. (Full disclosure, I know him—he was a friend of my father’s.)

    Kate,I think Webb is a decent guy and I like his military and defense experience.

    But I’d like to know more about him and you seem to be a good candidate to provide that information. Mind sharing?

    What I know is that he is exactly what he appears to be. Cantankerous and brave. Not PC. One of the best, if not the best, novelist to come out of the Vietnam War, which argues an imagination.  The real deal when it comes to heroism.

    Also, I got into a big argument with him when I was an 11? 12? year old feminist, and rendered him speechless by saying “oh yeah? then why do men have nipples?”

    Which he thought was really cool.

    More recently, I went to visit him at his office as a Senator in DC, and he was really interested in my son’s forthcoming book. Also, he called my dad “the Vietnam War’s unsung Ernie Pyle.”

    Not exactly inside scoop. But I would definitely, definitely vote for him.

    • #8
  9. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    Douglas:Democrats would probably welcome this, as they would see it eating more into Republican votes than their own. They’re probably right.

    Would he?  I know the Dem party has moved far to the left but have they taken their voters with them?  All of them?

    • #9
  10. MikeHs Inactive
    MikeHs
    @MikeHs

    Jim Webb may be a great guy, but if he becomes president we still get all the Democrat domestic crap from the last 8 years, minus a few superficial changes and a somewhat different foreign policy.  I mean where would he find non-crazy, non-liberal democrats for staff and agency positions these days?

    • #10
  11. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Webb is a macaca.

    • #11
  12. James Of England Inactive
    James Of England
    @JamesOfEngland

    Kate Braestrup:

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Webb was the only person not to name one of his fellow Americans.

    THIS.

    Perhaps bold or italics might be a more CoC compliant way of communicating the same sound message? I correct in part to highlight my agreement.

    • #12
  13. billy Inactive
    billy
    @billy

    The left absolutely gushed over this man when he ran for the Senate back in ’06.

    • #13
  14. James Of England Inactive
    James Of England
    @JamesOfEngland

    billy:The left absolutely gushed over this man when he ran for the Senate back in ’06.

    And they had reason to; it’s not like he votes particularly conservatively.

    Sadly, while that might seem like he was an electoral asset for us if he ran third party, his electoral appeal seems likely to have little overlap with Clinton’s; people don’t vote on policy, and his tribal affiliations are all set to steal from us.

    • #14
  15. John Hendrix Thatcher
    John Hendrix
    @JohnHendrix

    Douglas:Democrats would probably welcome this, as they would see it eating more into Republican votes than their own. They’re probably right.

    I agree.

    • #15
  16. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    billy:The left absolutely gushed over this man when he ran for the Senate back in ’06.

    Indeed.  He was the beloved son of the Washington Post.

    • #16
  17. @thebaldtruth Inactive
    @thebaldtruth
    @thebaldtruth

    I will leave this Earth without ever having voted for Donald Trump.  Sorry, but he is not the lesser of two evils.  If the nominees of the major parties were Trump & Clinton I would enthusiastically vote for Jim Webb.

    • #17
  18. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    James Of England:

    Kate Braestrup:

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Webb was the only person not to name one of his fellow Americans.

    THIS.

    Perhaps bold or italics might be a more CoC compliant way of communicating the same sound message? I correct in part to highlight my agreement.

    Really? Are you not supposed to use capitals? Oh dear. (My daughter just told me that you’re not supposed to use periods at the ends of your sentences when you text-message people…sorry!)

    • #18
  19. billy Inactive
    billy
    @billy

    James Of England:

    billy:The left absolutely gushed over this man when he ran for the Senate back in ’06.

    And they had reason to; it’s not like he votes particularly conservatively.

    Sadly, while that might seem like he was an electoral asset for us if he ran third party, his electoral appeal seems likely to have little overlap with Clinton’s; people don’t vote on policy, and his tribal affiliations are all set to steal from us.

    I think the Left regards his voting as a happy bonus. His real value was that he was a highly-decorated war hero with a son headed to Iraq who adamantly opposed Bushitler’s illegal war for oil,

    • #19
  20. John Hendrix Thatcher
    John Hendrix
    @JohnHendrix

    Judge Mental:

    Douglas:Democrats would probably welcome this, as they would see it eating more into Republican votes than their own. They’re probably right.

    Would he? I know the Dem party has moved far to the left but have they taken their voters with them? All of them?

    Third party candidates drain votes from both main parties in the general election. I think that all Douglas is saying is that Webb is such a misfit in the Dem Party that he will attract fewer votes from that party than from the Republicans.

    • #20
  21. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    Jim Webb voted with Harry Reid 87% of the time.

    Including:

     

    • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare)

     

    • The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, or stimulus bill.

     

    • The repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” a policy barring openly gay men and women from the military.

     

    • The DREAM Act, which would grant citizenship to undocumented immigrants who serve in the military or attend college.

     

    • The Supreme Court nominations of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.

     

    • #21
  22. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    John Hendrix:

    Judge Mental:

    Douglas:Democrats would probably welcome this, as they would see it eating more into Republican votes than their own. They’re probably right.

    Would he? I know the Dem party has moved far to the left but have they taken their voters with them? All of them?

    Third party candidates drain votes from both main parties in the general election. I think that all Douglas is saying Webb is such a misfit in the Dem Party that he will attract fewer votes from that party than the Republicans.

    I understood what he meant; I was questioning the statement.  I think of my father… 82 yo, blue-collar union member… I’ve always thought of him as a Kennedy Democrat.  When Kennedy was elected, he was a young guy with four kids, hopeful for the bright future being promised.

    Obama was too far left for him and Obama was pretending to be a centrist.  I can’t see him voting for Sanders, maybe not Hillary if she keeps up with the leftward lurch.

    • #22
  23. Sandy Member
    Sandy
    @Sandy

    He isn’t really a party man, so founding his own Curmudgeon Party makes sense ideologically, but as a practical matter, what does he hope to gain?   Having read his book on the Scots-Irish in America, Born Fighting, I’m wondering if he’s just in it for the fight.  Any impact is better than no impact.

    • #23
  24. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    All those facts about Webb’s liberalism are reminding me a little of all the facts about Trump’s: they probably won’t matter.

    He would steal votes Republicans need.

    • #24
  25. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Leigh:All those facts about Webb’s liberalism are reminding me a little of all the facts about Trump’s: they probably won’t matter.

    He would steal votes Republicans need.

    On the other hand, he’s not an idiot.

    • #25
  26. Kate Braestrup Member
    Kate Braestrup
    @GrannyDude

    Or a crook.

    • #26
  27. John Hendrix Thatcher
    John Hendrix
    @JohnHendrix

    Judge Mental: I understood what he meant; I was questioning the statement. I think of my father… 82 yo, blue-collar union member… I’ve always thought of him as a Kennedy Democrat. When Kennedy was elected, he was a young guy with four kids, hopeful for the bright future being promised.

    Obama was too far left for him and Obama was pretending to be a centrist. I can’t see him voting for Sanders, maybe not Hillary if she keeps up with the leftward lurch.

    Ah, I see. I think you have a point.

    You make me wonder if your father had been voting for the Republican candidate since Clinton?

    I think that there is a certain subset of registered Democrats who have been voting for the Republican candidate for the last few presidential elections because they could not accept the Democratic nominee.  Arguably in 2016 some of these could vote for Webb instead of the Republican. But if these registered Democrats–who had been voting for the Republican nominee for the last few elections–vote for Webb this time then doesn’t it still mean that Webb is draining votes from the Republican vote?

    Or do I continue to miss your point.

    • #27
  28. Judge Mental Member
    Judge Mental
    @JudgeMental

    John Hendrix: Or do I continue to miss your point.

    You got mine.  As to yours, you might be correct, or then again, not.  I wouldn’t be willing to bet either way.

    • #28
  29. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    Kate Braestrup:

    Leigh:All those facts about Webb’s liberalism are reminding me a little of all the facts about Trump’s: they probably won’t matter.

    He would steal votes Republicans need.

    On the other hand, he’s not an idiot.

    I’d rather see Webb dealing with Iran than Trump, for sure.

    But I think the distaste for Bush in particular is strong enough that (assuming no Trump run) Webb would have some appeal. And seeing he’s quite possibly no more liberal than Trump, he could easily pick up some of those votes.

    On the other hand, he seems like an actually serious person. So if the Republican nominee were Trump, Webb could have appeal to conservatives who are serious about foreign policy, for instance.

    • #29
  30. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    Well it would certainly be somewhat more rational than his current course of action where he seemed to be under the impression his quest for the Democratic nomination was not clearly doomed to fail.

    The real question is still unanswered, why run at all?

    The motivation for him even attempting this run for the Presidency is rather unclear. The effort seems detached from all reality.

    • #30
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