Why I'm Not Impressed With Jim Webb

[journalist3072]

I am more than thrilled that the Democrats will have control of the Senate in January.

And if it took Jim Webb winning Virginia to make that happen, fine by me.

But, I don't think we should kid ourselves about the person that Jim Webb was before he joined the Democratic Party.

Take a look, for example, at some of his past comments on President Bill Clinton:

1997- He tells American Enterprise magazine "I cannot conjure up an ounce of respect for Bill Clinton when it comes to the military. Every time I see him salute a Marine, it infuriates me. I don't think Bill Clinton cares on iota about what happens in a military unit."

2000- He calls the Clinton Administration "the most corrupt administration in modern memory."

(Source: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGE2MzcxMDQ1M2VhZjQwYTZjMmM4Yzg0OTkwMTllMzg=)

Does he really share our values? I know that his fustration with the Iraq war was part of the reason he became a Democrat.

But what are his other values?

If the minimum wage comes up for another vote in the newly Democratic-controlled Senate, can we count on him?

If Bush has another opportunity to make another Supreme Court appointment, and he nominates someone else so outside the mainstream of American jurisprudence, can we count on Webb to say "No way; these aren't the type of values we want on the court!"

Just asking...

[stevedeshazer]

1. Hindsight is 20/20

My views sure have changed since 2000.

[SmokingJacket]

2. Most of them don't impress me, but so what?

They beat the shit out of those corrupt lying putz-face republicans. If he's anti-war, he's good enough, at least for now.

[phillysuse]

3. Webb is a populist

Webb is an economic populist and very concerned about the plight of those at the bottom of the economic ladder.
His values are those of inclusion and he is oriented towards the plight of the working white rural poor.

He's an independent with a Libertarian streak.

[benddem]

4. He's pro-choice

pro gay marriage. I wouldn't hold what he said about Clinton 13 years ago against him...any more than the fiction he wrote 35 years ago.

[mike_c]

5. controlling the legislative agenda through a majority was just the first...

...step in restoring democracy to America. Holding their feet to the fire is the necessary second step. I think we'll see a lot of scorched soles in the months to come.

[Horse with no Name]

Well

I am glad he won.
I am glad I didn't have to vote for him.

[cally]

18. That's how I feel about Webb

I'm glad I didn't have to vote for him but I'm glad he won. I also believe he will help veterans and be a great voice for Dems on the military.

[Faryn Balyncd]

6. ...and since 2000, the "most corrupt" record has been broken

[Raine]

7. Having a D after his name is good enough for me

...at least for now. :-)

[gardenista]

45. Now THAT, my friend, is a winning attitude

and that is NOT sarcasm. That is how the Rs have succeeded in controlling our government while being the most corrupt, lazy, destructive force ever in office.

Imagine what us Ds could do with that kind of unity and strength. We might even do some GOOD!

Now THAT is what being a D is about.

[Mr_Spock]

8. Dems control the Senate!!

WOOHOO!!

:applause:

Oh, Webb put us over the top! WOOHOOO!! :applause:

Is he a good Dem? How should I know - let's see what he does going forward...

[fearnobush]

9. He saw the light and defected from an evil empire - Lets give him a chance.

He beat Macaca for cryin' out load.

[Cha]

25. That's gotta be a good

thing. And I'm like another poster who said..let's go forward and see what he does now.

[Shakespeare]

10. By ALL means, let's trash him before he even gets a chance to do his job.

And, seriously, you'd rather have Allen?

Okay, whatever. :eyes:

[journalist3072]

15. No, I most definitely don't want that POS Allen in the Senate. I'm simply asking

Is Jim Webb the best we could do? Outside of being against the war in Iraq, what are his other values?

There will be many issues to come before the Senate during his first 6 years there, and I am just wondering can we rely on him to support our values, when it comes to things like increasing the minimum wage, judicial and other appointments, pay parity for military and civilian federal workers, etc.

Those are the types of things I am wondering about.

That is all.

Of course I'm happy to see Allen gone.

[theboss]

51. Mark Warner wasn't running

And you would have hated him too.

So, yea, in Virginia, Webb is the best you can do.

[eleny]

11. If he wants his legislation considered, he'll need to compromise

We've had to compromise accepting him into the Party and the Senate. He'll need to give and take, too. I think he'll be an asset for national security.

He's interested in the military, accountability of the executive and fairness for working people. Anderson Cooper is playing his Webb interview right now. This is what Webb said is important to him. Now let's see how well he plays with others. The Senate is not the Marine Corps.

[NightOwwl]

12. We've had control of the Senate for 5 hours...

and already the complaining begins. :eyes:

[fairfaxvadem]

13. well, he's on CNN right now being interviewed...

Jim Webb is SMART. The guy is mind-blowingly smart. He is exactly the type that needs to be in the Senate, and his position on the military, foreign policy and social issues are basically the same as John Kerry, who is NO dove, or Al Gore, who had committed to memory every aspect of our military capability, and who also was no dove.

I'll take him. Clinton is no longer President, and Webb has acknowledged how Senator Clinton has done very well on the Armed Services Committee.

He's a solid guy.

[roamer65]

38. Webb over "Macaca Man" is a no-brainer.

I agree with you. From what I have seen of him, he seems like a very smart, pragmatic guy. Maybe he can help us get out of Iraq. God knows we need a different approach.

[mondo joe]

14. Are you impressed with winning the Senate?

[journalist3072]

20. Absolutely! I am more than impressed, actually!

However, I was really thrown for a loop today when I read what he had said about Clinton some years ago.

And it got me to wondering whether his only reason for becoming a Democrat, was the Iraq war, and nothing else. I could not help but wonder whether he was a neo-con at heart when it comes to other issues.

That's all.

[mondo joe]

21. It's a big country and we need a big coalition.

He might be an old time con, but not a neo-con.

[MadMaddie]

30. I guess my question would be why the media is pulling comments

from 12 years ago? The Media is already starting to start the shit up again about Clinton etc....

He has a son in Iraq...

[txindy]

He may well have had an epiphany over these last six years.

I doubt seeing Junior saluting a Marine gave him happy thoughts, either. Sending thousands to their deaths with tens of thousands seriously injured wasn't going to do it for him, either.

I don't think people fully realized what they had with Clinton until Junior's stripes fully emerged.

[Elwood P Dowd]

16. Chicken wings taste better than chicken shit

Don't complain.

[Zynx]

17. I didn't like Clinton until I saw Bush.

[DUyellow]

19. Well Clinton didn't have a problem with him last week did he?

[sandnsea]

22. Definitely a wait and see

He may realize he was nothing but a bot and needs to re-evaluate many things. He's supposed to be more supportive of economic changes, but we'll see. I've personally got more faith in Tester. The good news is that neither one of them won thumping the bible.

[Blue_Tires]

23. i see it just the opposite---this is the blueprint

not only was Webb the right candidate in the right state, his race was run damn near flawlessly (whoever coordinated his campaign should be promoted asap)...

1. Webb's military service/experience and Reagan ties pretty much split Allen's support base (and Allen, despite his mistakes, was still pretty darn comfortable and popular before Webb came along
2. Everytime Allen's camp came up with smears, Webb immediately slammed them right back....

[Hippo_Tron]

28. Agreed, Webb's campaign was flawless and brutal to Allen

My favorite moments were when Allen tried to question Webb's patriotism on the flag burning amendment and Webb responding by saying that Allen was playing cowboy while he was fighting in Vietnam.

Also, I loved when Allen said that "Even the French thought there were WMDs" and Webb responded "Even the French fought in Vietnam".

Webb exposed Allen for the fraud that he is. He will make a great Senator.

[Hippo_Tron]

24. I think that Webb got a dose of perspective as soon as Bush took over

Back in 1997 the country had so few problems especially with the military and foreign policy, that Webb could call Clinton a bad commander-in-chief because he couldn't do the salute right. Now that Shrub has basically run the military into the ground, sent them into a war with no escape, and cut veterans benefits, I think that Webb now understands what a bad commander-in-chief reallly is.

[davidwparker]

26. How does a repub turned Dem differ from a DLC dem?

Let him casts some votes and we'll see.

[Tinksrival]

27. My huband thought the same of Clinton

He was Army. Bush has done wonders to soften my husbands perceptions of Clinton. But there are still reasons why he felt the way he did.

[Hippo_Tron]

31. Exactly what I was saying

Back in 1997 we could afford to bitch about Clinton's salute. Now that Bush has had 6 years to sufficiently ruin the country I don't think that Webb even gives a second thought to Clinton's salute anymore.

[kiahzero]

29. Quote from Webb

There were a lot of misperceptions about why I got into this race. I was watching on election night some of the analysts and one of the frequent things that was being said about this campaign was that I came to the Democratic party purely on issues regarding the Iraq war.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

I think I and a lot of people like me had aligned themselves with the Republican party on national security issues but were always concerned about issues of economic fairness and social justice.

[journalist3072]

35. OK, thank you for that. Much appreciated. eom

[hlthe2b]

32. At least he is smart enough to question his views and to

admit his mistakes with regard to the Repugs... Welcome to the Democratic Party, Senator Webb.

[Catherine Vincent]

33. I am sure he realizes he was wrong about Clinton now.

We'll have to wait and see. I think a lot of repukes AND Democrats were jealous of Clinton.

[mvd]

34. I looked up his stances here

http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/James_Webb.htm

It was better then I thought. No neo-con tendencies; he's even mellowed on national security. He's no Sheldon Whitehouse, but we could do worse.

[JCMach1]

41. Exactly... give him a chance he was one hell of a campaigner...

[Zambero]

36. I sense that the Clinton era is starting to look pretty good to him

He was no certainly admirer of Clinton's back then, but he knows full well that Bush has been a complete disaster. Iraq and zero oversight on the part of the GOP Congress was the last straw. I admire him for the fact that he was not content to stand by silently as a blindly loyal partisan which Bush-Cheney-Rummy et al fucked things up. It appears that he has reconciled his differences with Clinton, getting him to make campaign appearances in his behalf -- a pretty good sign that his transformation as a Democrat is complete.

[karleeque]

37. I agree ...

I was excited to see the Democrats win and I never even heard of Webb before the election. ut my first impression of him wasn't a good one. I've always been a good judge of character just by watching. He seems like a hot dog.

[newyawker99]

46. Hi karleeque!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Orangepeel]

39. he talked about raising the minimum wage in his victory speech today

so, yes, I think we can count on him there.

He started by saying he wanted to clear up some confusion about why he ran as a Democrat. That he didn't switch just because of the war. That he was a republican because he thought their position on national security used to better allign with his (I'm paraphrasing), but that he always agreed with the Democrats on issues of social justice. He then talked about the need to raise minimum wage and reduce the discrepancy between having record corporate profits but not having record real income.

on edit: I see that kiahzero has given the exact quote. Thanks!

[Superman Returns]

40. dumb dumb

lets eat our own. lets take this historic win and begin attacking each other. hey, lets start with the guy who got us the senate majority.

[fujiyama]

42. How much shit has gone down over 6 years?

Let alone 9?

He beat George Allen, a senator from a red state most thought couldn't be touched!

I'd say that's pretty damn impressive. I'm still in shock Allen has been beaten.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. Let's hope he continues to mature politically into a moderate

Many politicians have changed over time. We all do to some extent. The fact that he is a creative writer (and an excellent one at that) gives me hope that he will try to observe the world around him from more than just one point of view in making his decisions.

[Rainscents]

44. Clinton campaigned with night before the election...

I have no idea why you would even post this tread knowing, Clinton and Webb were together campaigning night before the election.

[WI_DEM]

47. before we judge him as a Senator lets see how he acts as a senator

I'm willing to give him a clean slate and see where he goes with it. I've seen him being interviewed on TV and he impresses me so far.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

48. We're A Big Tent...

eom

[Armstead]

49. Actually, Webb may be a lot MORE liberal on economic issues

He was one of the few candidates who actually used terms like economic and social justic and fairness.

I think (hope) Webb may surprise a lotm of people on other issues -- in a good way.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. That's What He Said In His Speech Yesterday.

eom

[theboss]

50. Why do modern Democrats seem to hate winning?

Maybe I was raised in a different era around different people. But my family growing up was full of activist Democrats from the old school who believed in one thing: winning the damn election. You can worry about all this other stuff later.

This is what I know about Webb. He is a little crazy. He is beholden to know one. He is deeply deeply against the War in Iraq. He is pro-choice. And he think the Republicans have been foolish with the budget.

And that pretty much describes me.

As long as he is right on these issues and caucuses with us, I don't care if ends up with a 40 percent rating from the ACLU.

He beat freakin' George Allen.