If Jim Webb is a "conservative Democrat" we need more of 'em

[Armstead]

He may have been a Republican, but James Webb has raised the bar for Democratic Politicians on the core issue of the day -- Wealth and Class.

He raised it in the campaign, even though it got drowned out by the macacca flap. I saw him mention it on Hardball back then, and it sounded like a breath of fresh air while other Democrats were tripping around the edges or trying to prove they were more manly on Iraq.

He has said that Iraq was not the only reason he wanted to run for Senate. Even more important than that, is his belief that the needs of the working and middle class need to be represented again in national politics.

Then, after his election, he went into the Belly of the Beast -- The Wall Street Journal -- and wrote an editorial bringing the issue of Class and Wealth to the forefront. And again today on Meet the Press.

His statements were not starling. But they were startling in the context of Vanilla Corporate Politics. He recognized that, yes, there really is a growing gap between the ultra-wealthy minority and the rest of us. And he acknowledged that the Middle Class is under threat as more and more people are pushed down into the ranks of the Working Poor....And he said that the corporate leaders either have no clue about this, or do not care about it.

And that the issue of workers rights is a global issue, and that working people around then world are being screwed by "free trade" globalization.

IMO, is that is a "conservative Democrat," then I say let there be more of them.

[fooj]

1. I like what I hear.

He was great on MTP this morning. Tester was a breath of fresh air, as well. He's the real thing, IMO.

[Armstead]

13. Tester too...

He agreed with Web on those points.

I singled Webb out because he seems the most impassioned about it.

[fooj]

14. He articulated his points wonderfully.

[Ninja Jordan]

2. Agreed. I'd prefer a whole Congress full of them

[davidwparker]

3. I agree. I just watched the posted MTP videos. I like that he is looking

out for the middle class.

[JDPriestly]

4. The Democratic Party is not really that left.

Even on this website, the arguments between the so-called "left" and the so-called "right" of the Democratic Party are about how aggressively to deal with the far-right. The major issues on which there are really big differences are how fast to get out of Iraq, whether to impeach the president right away, bankruptcy reform and abortion. Most Democrats agree about human rights, government surveillance, the rich/poor divide, wages being too low, the need for real health care reform, the need for stricter environmental protections, taxes, education, economic development, the government role in research and development of new technologies, protecting natural resources, investment in public health, the need to reinstate trust-busting, media reform and many, many other issues.

Might I add, I liked Webb and Tester too.

[caledesi]

20. Webb is so intelligent. This is great. Both Webb and Tester

"look" like rethugs, must piss freepers off. (I know Web was a repub).

Checked freeperville. They are pissed. Check this out:

______________________________________________________________
To: Redmen4ever
All these gun-lovin', Jesus-lovin', fiscal conservative Democrats who won in the South and West by being Republicans should have their feet held to the fire daily by those back home. My guess is that they'll be voting with Ted Kennedy in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi in the House just like every other Democrat socialist. Keep your eyes on these charlatans and catalog their votes for the next time they run. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

______________________________________________________________

LOL!

Hello ignorant freepers? Do you corner the market on guns, Jesus and fiscal responsibility? Dean was right all along. His 50-state strategy was genius (w/ $ to spare; eat your heart out Carville).

Also, these freeps saying that Dems were running as rethugs is stupid. Ok, then how do you idiots explain the fact that the Dems didn't lose ONE incumbent? Hello??

I just saw the MTP vid at www.crooksandliars.com They were both great.

We are the real "big tent" party. Get over it.

[ginnyinWI]

23. I think we're entering into an era of populism

These two Sens-Elect are the evidence. (Paul Krugman wrote about this recently.) And I think populism beats corporatism, even in the South and especially in the West. As long as their message can get through the media spin and to the people.

[caledesi]

27. Excellent point! nt

[More Than A Feeling]

5. We got ourselves another future contenda' for the presidency!

Heh, the Republican cupboard is looking really bare, while our cup runneth over with potential. Webb, Obama (could also try this cycle), Schweitzer, Spitzer...and those are just the guys who might fight for a bite at the apple in 2010 or 2012.

[William769]

6. Jim Webb will be great for the Democratic party.

[Fovea]

7. With his WSJ piece on Class Warfare

Jim Webb has just grabbed the live wire of American politics in the 21st C.
I hope he is wearing rubber boots.

OTOH, good gods and little fishes, this is what the American political dialogue needed to look like
for a long time.

[Armstead]

12. I agree -- We'd have been much better off if...

more Democrats had been calling bullshit on thge corporatist "free trade" con job in the 1990's.

[Mythsaje]

8. Good!

That corporatist bullshit needs to be blasted right between the eyes.

[SharonRB]

9. That editorial was printed in the Detroit Free Press

today, and it was a wonderful piece. We definitely need more like him.

[left of center]

10. Webb is addressing the elephant in the room!

Globalization is quickly destroying our middle class. It shouldn't even be a Republican or Democrat issue, but rather one of common sense survival. We need people like Webb to tell his former party to shut the hell up whenever they try to distract us from serious issues like this by pushing the buttons of greed and bigotry with tax cuts and social issues!

We need people to govern, NOT play games!

[OHdem10]

11. Webb, Va Tester Montana and

some others in this new group of Congressmen can
most accurately described as Culturally Conservative Progressive.

This is where a great many people in the US are on
the political scene. Often because of where they were born
and raised they tend to be culturally Conservative.

Economics and all other areas they are Progressive.

We have made an early mistake by permitting the GOP
to sell the idea that the Country is Conservative.
Yes, Cultural Issues--God Guns and Gays.
But Economics , Foreign Policy Environmental issues
are what matter to me.

The Conservatives Economics etc. Minimal Government
Most tolerate the Social Safety Net but believe in
their hearts SS, Medicare, Medicaid etc should not
be governmental programs.

It takes more than the Cultural Issues to make a conservative.

Yes we need to encourage more people who share Webb's
outlook into the party.

[951-Riverside]

15. Its amazing Ray Nagin is flamed for being ex-puke while Jim Webb is praised

...Just making an observation. :)

[Armstead]

18. I've never flamed Nagin for that

Alweays happy when members of the Party of Darkness finally see the light.

[Leopolds Ghost]

16. kick

[LostinVA]

17. I actually don't think he is a conservative Dem on most issues

On many social issues, he's quite the progressive.

[Armstead]

19. That's how the Media and Beltway Establishment label him

I mentioned him becaue it shows how the label is being misused.

[LostinVA]

22. Ah -- I misunderstood -- sorry!

[ulysses]

21. much agreed.

I can work with this kind of "conservative Dem". :thumbsup:

[Norquist Nemesis]

24. "He may have been a Republican"

Wasn't he a Democrat before he was a Republican? I thought he gave credit to St. Ronnie for switching parties the first time around.

[Armstead]

26. He says he became a Repub because of National Security issues

He has said that he always shared the domestic views of Democrats but became a Republican because of National Security issues.

Maybe so. But it illustrates the problem more recently. How many social liberals were driven into the hands of the right wing after 9-11 for the same reason?...And more importrantly, our experience since then has proven that any claim by the GOP that they are "stronger" on national security is overshadowed by their incompetance at it.

[Skidmore]

25. Webb and Tester need to give seminars to some of our more

entrenched legislators on the left. Some some of them have forgotten what is important.

[Hidden Stillness]

28. Webb is a Populist

One thing to keep in mind is that the media always, always converts any and all trends, evidence, occurences, quotes and anything else, to their neverending claim that "this means the country is becoming more conservative." It doesn't matter how ridiculous it is--as when Americans voted for Democrats from Coast to Coast, trouncing Republicans, and most of the most conservative Republicans lost, and NO incumbent Democrat lost, and now there are more women Governors, etc., etc. The country is "more conservative," and yet voted for Democrats and NOT Republicans? Uh, yeah, uh, that's because, uh, the Democrats are all, uh--conservatives! They are "more conservative" than Republicans are! This is what academic/commercial advertising world "framing" comes to, when it is at its end. It doesn't even make sense anymore, and is embarrassing. That is also why all of the "raise the minimum wage" proposals passed overwhelmingly, and all of the "restrict abortion rights" proposals lost, right? The pendulum has swung back, and now it is a (moderately) liberal/Democratic/middle class-poor era again, the only time when we make any progress. The only propaganda that the increasingly obstructive corporate media allows to get out, though, is "We are all so conservative," "We are all Republicans," "We love capitalism, 'free' markets, we hate government"--no matter what.

The day after the election, I think it was, I even heard on the version of BBC News carried on PBS stations here, that Jim Webb was "not a liberal at all," was "a gun nut (!)," and that this election was not a sign that America was now finally repudiating neo-cons, and becoming sanely liberal again. The BBC once was one of the great news organizations, but something has happened to it, and every now and then they are just as full of crap as the corporations here. Then I listened to Webb's victory speech, carried on C-SPAN. There were comments about "economic fairness," a "progressive tax structure," where rich people would pay their fair share, getting the corporate lobbyists and corruption out of Government, and I was so hugely impressed, so thrilled, that I now not only realized that there was no phony "conservative tide," as we have to listen to all the time, but that Webb was actually fabulous, and has a chance of being truly great, as does our whole country again.

I found a website that has graded Webb's known positions on issues--some incomplete; apparently before the election--and they seem pretty good to me: pro-choice, pro-Affirmative Action, anti-ANWR-drilling, anti-Social Security commercialization, taxing corporations and rich people, etc., etc. http://www.ontheissues.org/Senate/James_Webb.htm

[Armstead]

29. It has been like a battering ram for 30 years

I can remember in the 80's and 90's, when the whole values system was torn apart by the spin from Corporate Media and the beltwat Establishment (of both parties).

It was Orwellian as corporation after corporation merged to "protect competition" and lowered wages and slashed workforces "to protect workers."

It has been unrelenting bullshit for 30 years. So it is refreshing to finally see more politicians like Webb bringing out the Awful Truth that lay beneath that crap.

[Beaverhausen]

30. Webb and Tester were great on MTP yesterday

finally watched the rerun last night. They were great.

what I can't understand is how the race was so close between Webb and Allen- are there that many stupid people in Virginia?

[TheWraith]

31. Webb is what used to be known as a moderate Republican...

...and is now known as a moderate Democrat. One of the small benefits to the Republican party moving just to the right of the Kaiser.

[eridani]

32. Interesting how the DLC types always want to conflate--

--culturally conservative populists with their friends the corporate whores, no?