Good for you, Jim Webb. Were I still a resident of NoVA, I would have voted for you.
“Last week I communicated to Senator Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country,” Webb said in an issued statement. “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for Vice President.”
I would like to think that this is in part due to the fact that Sen. Webb is a “blue-dog” democrat, a moderate Democrat who supports the right to keep and bear arms – the kind of Democrat who believes that supporting the troops is more than a lapel pin and lip service.
Now, what I don’t think is that this is a sign that all Democrats are put off by Obama’s far left liberalism or his constant flip-flopping on issues. However, I do think that it shows that among moderates, there is a bit of distaste for this Obama character, and in that case it is likely for the reasons stated above. I mean, if this Obama guy is so freakin’ awesome, how come one of the best democrat senators in a a long time was so quick to distance himself from him?
As somebody who watched the ’06 midterm and have followed Sen. Webb’s position since then, honestly he’s not really a “blue dog” at all, voting along party lines the majority of the time. He’s also failed on the major issue of illegal immigration that plagues the region, following the Democrat’s lead on open-borders, except on the big immigration bill back in ’07, but then again when you basically have a voter-rebellion on your hands, even old Sen. Warner got the message.
He’s also been highly disrespectful and rude to the President (http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2006/11/testy_exchange_.html), and is part of the “pull the troop out of Iraq now no matter what the cost” crowd. Last I checked he also fell under the pro-choice label, about the only thing he’s a “blue-dog” on is gun rights, and even then, he’s done some very stupid things with guns and his aids (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,261368,00.html (first link I found to the old story)).
Ahab, not every politician wants to climb the ladder, so to speak. It’s possible that he’s happy where he is.
Or, more likely, he’s well aware that sexism was a big problem for him in his campaign. Considering he turned off even Democratic women with his arguments that women who want to serve the country with military service must have something wrong with them, I suspect more than a few people have told him he better stay off the national stage.
Given the fact that quite a few Hillary supporters are saying they will stay home, Obama’s effort to reach out to someone with an anti-woman background like Webb would only send a bigger “f*ck you” message to Hillary supporters.