Jim Webb plans on running to the left of HRC for the 2016 nomination

[FSogol]

"Jim Webb, former senator from Va., takes on his party’s hawks. And maybe Clinton."

SNIP

Still, as the national debate turns increasingly toward questions of U.S. military involvement abroad, Webb — a Vietnam veteran who has carved out a profile as an antiwar warrior — may be uniquely positioned as a disruptive force on issues where many Democrats consider Clinton compromised.

“Remember, one of the reasons Obama did so well in Iowa was because he said he would end the wars,” said Marcos Rubinstein, who directed antiwar Democrat Dennis Kucinich’s 2008 presidential campaign in Iowa. “That is why he was able to beat Clinton, and Iowa remains full of Democrats who are looking for a peaceful message.”

In a race against Clinton, the party’s ultimate insider, Webb, 68, would be an acerbic iconoclast who would avoid the ways of modern presidential politics. As a lawmaker, he refused to raise money in the traditional fashion, and he declined the social invitations and cable-news bookings that have come to define the daily routine for many of his former colleagues.

Whole article by Robert Costa here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jim-webb-former-senator-from-va-takes-on-his-partys-hawks-and-maybe-clinton/2014/09/28/ba12f572-43f1-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html?tid=pm_pop

[Chakab]

1. Looking forward to watching Hillary crash and burn again.

Based on what we've seen in the past few months, it's clear that she hasn't learned anything since '08.

[FSogol]

2. Not looking forward to any Democrat crashing and burning, but I think having a bunch of

potential candidates in the race is a good thing.
You may be right about the HRC camp not learning from their mistakes.

[Robbins]

3. I agree

If Webb Is only one with guts to take her on then I will support her.

When Bill Clinton Is speaking in defense of companys moving headquarters overseas to avoid paying taxes the two of them learned
nothing.

She keeps giving me plenty of reasons not to vote for her.

As a Dem In Missouri my vote probally won't matter so I can vote with a clear conscence.

[FSogol]

6. Martin O'Malley will run also. I expect others are kicking the idea around. n/t

[Peacetrain]

32. I talked to Martin O'Malley a couple of months ago

when he was in Iowa.. and he is thinking about it.. that is a fact

[NV Whino]

4. Doesn't take much to be left of Hillary.

[hifiguy]

21. No shit.

Palling around with Goldman execs and Kissinger the War Criminal is reprehensible and unDemocratic in the extreme.

[mattclearing]

50. Apparently. n/t

[Tarheel_Dem]

5. All former Republicans duking it out for the Democratic nomination? Clinton, Webb & Warren. n/t

[FSogol]

7. Warren said she isn't running. Martin O'Malley was never a repub. n/t

[morningfog]

10. And Sanders, the soon-to-be-former Independent.

[irisblue]

8. Jim Webb is more liberal then HRC?

Serious question for Virginia DUers.

[FSogol]

9. He is attempting to move left. His time in the Senate was spend on

prison reform and drug policy and left because he was disappointed by Congress's inaction and the overriding need to be constantly fund-raising.

[leftstreet]

12. How hard can it be?

He'd sure get a lot of attention though

[drray23]

13. i dont think he is

Webb is closer to center. He was in the Reagan administration for years culminating as secretary of the navy. The only thing he ran for was to beat allen for senate. He did not run again after his term ended.

He has zero charisma and is a pretty bad campaigner. He is however a deep thinker and noted author. I just do not see him credibly running for president.

[MADem]

30. He has a woman problem, too.

I don't think his Q scores are too hot on that score. His personal life includes not one, but two, divorces. He wrote a rather nasty little treatise about women in the military way back when that pissed a LOT of people off. I know some female flag/general officers who could QUOTE from that thing, with justifiable venom in their tone, too.

When he was ASD and SECNAV, he could be a high handed asshole. There's just no nice way to put it. He could be very rude indeed. I know there are people out there who, if they're batting for the other team, wouldn't hesitate to "swift boat" the guy over behavior from thirty or more years ago.

When he ran for Senate, he put a lot of that angry/women stuff to bed, but presidential campaigns are different. He won't be dealing with an insular Virginia, pro-military, pro-defense establishment, electorate. He's going to have to show a lot more nuance, and he might spend a lot of time batting away this allegation or that one--and if he shows ANY temper, the media will have their 'gotcha' moment.

I don't think he'll catch much of a breeze, either, but ya never know.

[FSogol]

53. Agree. I don't see him doing better than 3rd in any primary. n/t

[irisblue]

15. I know wikipedia isn't the final source

but reading his page does give me some pause.

[Blue_Tires]

17. No...If anything, he's slightly farther right...

Webb certainly wasn't more liberal than HRC when he was in the senate....

But moving to the left of Hillary doesn't take a whole lot of distance...

[wyldwolf]

25. LOL, no.

[Nye Bevan]

44. "Running to the left of" is entirely different to "more liberal than".

As most of us can probably remember from when John Edwards ran.

[marions ghost]

11. I would consider him as a candidate

I'd vote for Sanders over him most likely, but I am willing to look at any candidate who says they will run "to the left of Hillary." Let him bring it.

Running to the left of Hillary--does that mean governing to the left of Hillary also?

[brooklynite]

14. What makes you think Clinton will run on a pro-military action campaign?

And what makes you think Democrats will support a 1-term Senator and former Reagan Administration official most of them have never heard of?

[FSogol]

16. I don't see where I promoted Webb or said I thought he would win.

I merely posted an article that confirms early reports that Webb plans on running and will attempt to move left.

[Ken Burch]

20. Because that's what her whole career has been about.

She's the leader of the militarist wing of the party...and still likes to pretend that war can somehow be good for women and kids, especially the poor.

HRC has never cared about the powerless of the world. You CAN'T care about them and be willing to send in the Marines at the same time.

[brooklynite]

29. Setting aside cliches for the moment...

...point to evidence of "leading" the "militarist" wing of the Party and suggesting in any way that "war can somehow be good".

No hurry...she won't be announcing until 2015.

[Ken Burch]

34. Her interview last month about all the countries she thought we SHOULD have intervened in.

We all read it.

That interview means she still believes in the "civilizing mission/take up the white man's burden" bullshit.

[brooklynite]

39. like that neo-con Barack Obama?

[Ken Burch]

42. Don't assume I'm letting Obama off the hook.

It isn't ALWAYS "Obama vs. Clinton".

2008 was six years ago.

[TBF]

18. Webb's another centrist -

we've had enough of that.

[Ken Burch]

19. Glad to hear it. You can't BE a hawk on foreign policy and still be progressive on anything else.

Or at least not on anything that matters.

(with the proviso "if he actually MEANS it, of course&quot .

[kentuck]

22. My guess is...

that Webb would run to protect her left flank? She really doesn't know how many on the left actually support her? So it would be like an insurance policy. If Webb picked up a significant number of voters on the "left", then there would be someone on the "left" of her that could be added to the ticket in 2016? That would add balance to the ticket.

[FSogol]

24. Webb is a grouchy contrarian that doesn't fit into political labels well and doesn't seem to play

games. Whatever your thoughts on him as a candidate are, he is not part of some grand conspiracy helping the Clinton campaign.

Martin O'Malley seemed to be running for Clinton's VP spot, but the draft Warren movement and her lack of active work in Iowa made him think that he can win in 2016 so he'll announce after the midterms.

[wyldwolf]

23. From 'the left' you mean national defense because Jim Webb was one of the biggest conservatives...

... in the senate.

I'm really looking forward to watching the anti-Clinton troops try to spin Jim 'PNAC' Webb.

[FSogol]

26. Laughibly wrong. Webb wrote against the Iraq war.

How did HRC vote?

[wyldwolf]

27. What's 'laughably' wrong? I didn't mention Iraq

I said the only thing he *might* be further left on... MIGHT be... is national defense.

So is this how you're going to spin Jim 'PNAC, Reagan is my hero' Webb? By replying with something irrelevant?

[The Traveler]

28. You can't label Webb as PNAC

He is far removed from neo-con territory.

He doesn't have my support, but there is no need to libel him.

Trav

[wyldwolf]

31. He signed the document.

[JoePhilly]

35. ahemmm ...

... which document?

Based on the data here, Webb signed only one PNAC related document, about Taiwan.

http://www.publiceye.org/pnac_chart/pnac.html

The most concerning signatures would be on the Iraq and Terror related letters. Webb is also not a signer on their list of principles. The folks on that list are scary.

Anyway, I'm not so sure he'd be considered a member of PNAC.

(Biden also signed a PNAC letter, regarding the EU)

[FSogol]

38. Agreed: "He doesn't have my support, but there is no need to libel him."

However, like all the candidates in the Democratic primary, I will listen to what he has to say.

[FSogol]

36. This....

"Jim Webb was one of the biggest conservatives in the senate" statement is laughably wrong. So is your PNAC claim.

And Iraq still seems to be in the news in regards to national defense.

I don't plan on spinning anything, I don't even consider myself a Webb supporter and haven't posted a single word promoting the guy. You on the other hand read about some Democrat running against Ms. Inevitable and go on the attack. Better come to terms with Democrats running against HRC. More will be getting into the race.

[JoePhilly]

33. Anyone else notice the guy quoted in the OP (Rubinstein) is wrong.

Obama did not run on ending the wars. He ran on ending the Iraq war, and adding troops in Afghanistan.

Now, either they guy is a dope who didn't follow politics closely back then, or he's trying to build a narrative using a false lead in line that he hopes people will gloss over and miss.

I'm not sure which it is, but the use of a false frame line to then set up some other point is a pretty common propaganda technique.

[FSogol]

37. Macro Rubinstein was Dennis Kucinich's campaign manager.

AAR, "ending the wars" is probably just splitting hairs. The surge's intent was to increase troops to bring the conflict to an end quicker.

[JoePhilly]

54. I knew who he was ... and he was still wrong.

I think potentially on purpose.

And in your response, you are wrong.

"The surge" was an increase in troop levels in Iraq. It was done by Bush in 2007, and Obama had been against it as a Senator.

As a candidate Obama ran on ending the Iraq war, and returning the focus to Afghanistan and increasing troop levels there.

That was never called "the Surge".

I point out Rubinstein's "mistake" because there are lots of folks on the left who run around screaming that Obama promised to end both wars as a candidate, and that's simply false.

This particular characterization is used by some on the left (and I suspect Rubinstein) to attack Obama for breaking a promise he never actually made.

[FSogol]

55. Google "surge in troops" on DU. n/t

[JoePhilly]

57. Google it on the internet ... its about 2007.

You are proving my point.

The fact that some on DU misuse the term, demonstrates that some on DU didn't pay attention when Obama was a candidate, or in 2007 when the surge in Iraq occurred.

Obama did not run on ending the Afghanistan war ... he ran on expanding it.

Yet there are some, on DU in particular, who think and claim, that he did. Rubinstein is also doing it.

[brooklynite]

40. Does this mean people have gotten Elizabeth Warren out of their system?

Moving on to other dream alternatives?

[FSogol]

41. LOL, I doubt Webb is anyone's dream. n/t

[Ken Burch]

43. Warren isn't a "dream alternative".

There's nothing silly with wanting a Democratic nominee that isn't a globalist hawk.

And those who support her don't deserve your dismissiveness.

Nothing good would come of having HRC sew up the nom by March '16.

[Nye Bevan]

45. A "globalist hawk" would be someone who said that destroying ISIS is our #1 priority, right?

http://thehill.com/policy/international/216559-warren-destroying-isis-should-be-our-no-1-priority

[Ken Burch]

47. I don't back Obama on that.

and this isn't "Obama vs. Clinton", so give that meme a rest.

ISIS would be there if HRC had been president for the last six years, and you damn well know it.

[PAProgressive28]

48. And someone who voted to NOT arm the rebels

Something Hillary strongly advised.

Warren isn't running but Bernie is.

[brooklynite]

46. She -IS- a dream alternative...

...in that she's been emphatically clear that she's not running.

Now, you're certainly welcome to "dream" all you want, but since I had lunch with her two weeks ago and you didn't, I'm perhaps in a better position to gauge her thoughts on the matter.

[Ken Burch]

49. The use of the term "dream alternative" is condescending.

And Bobby Kennedy was still saying HE wouldn't run as late as February of '68.

[brooklynite]

51. The "dream" connotation comes from the fact that...

...everyone I encounter throwing her name around seems completely disinterested in doing any of the hard work to convince her to run.

Perhaps you'd care to share with us the letter you've written?

The email you've sent?

The personal plea you've made?

[Dawgs]

56. Nope. She's as strong, and popular, as ever.

She will run and be the nominee.

[brooklynite]

52. Let's just review that "Left of HRC" philosophy

Reauthorization of FISA (2012): Yes

Approving the Keystone Pipeline Project: Yes

Patriot Act Extension: Yes

Sounds like a great launching point...

[JoePhilly]

58. Shussh ...

You're ruining the search for that perfect liberal alternative to Hillary.

[Bluenorthwest]

59. He's going to have his right wing work cut out for him. In 2010 Webb was the only Democrat

on the Senate Armed Services Committee to vote against the repeal of DADT. Even Susan Collins voted Yes, Webb voted no.
"Gay rights groups and liberal activists slammed Virginia Sen. James Webb Friday, one day after he was the only Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee to vote against a repeal of the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy.

The Armed Services panel voted 16-12 to add language repealing the policy to the defense authorization bill, with Webb joining 11 Republicans in opposition and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) joining 15 Democrats in favor. Earlier Thursday, the full House also voted to end the policy."
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/virginiapolitics/2010/05/webb_disappoints_gay_rights_gr.html