Now THIS is interesting: Ronald Reagan's former Secretary of the Navy may run against George Allen for Senate next year. Here's what James Webb - a 1968 Naval Academy graduate and a highly decorated Marine infantry officer in Vietnam -- has to say on taking on Allen in 2006:
Are you interested in running for political office?I have been talking to people about running for the Senate next year against George Allen, as a Democrat from Virginia. I have a very good life. I'm not sure that I'm going to do that or not but I have been talking to people. Thinking about it.
Interesting. So who is James Webb? Here are some tidbits from his website (yes, he has a very nice website):
*"James Webb is descended principally from the Scotch-Irish settlers who came to this country from Northern Ireland in the 18th century and became pioneers in the Virginia mountains."
*" Both sides of Mr. Webb's family have a strong citizen-soldier military tradition that predates the Revolutionary War."
*"At the Naval Academy he was a four-year member of the Brigade Honor Committee, a varsity boxer, and was one of six finalists in the interviewing process for Brigade Commander during his senior year."
*Webb was "First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer's Basic School in Quantico, Virginia."
*In Vietnam, he earned "the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts."
*Webb has a JD from Georgetown University and has "won the Horan award for excellence in legal writing."
*Webb has written six best-selling novels and also has won an Emmy Award as a journalist.
In other words, James H. Webb is brilliant, an American hero, and a Renaissance man with deep family roots in Virginia (he currently lives in Arlington, just down the street -- appropriately enough -- from the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington Cemetery). His website describes him as having "earned a reputation for blunt honesty and intellectual independence that is rare in American public life." His political views are a bit difficult to determine, although he HAS spoken out against the Iraq war, at least since September 2002, when he asked the question, "Do we really want to occupy Iraq for the next 30 years?"
Will James Webb run in 2006 as a Democrat against Sen. George Allen? I don't know, but it certainly sounds like he's strongly considering it. I'd love to learn more about Webb's positions on thie issues, but in the meantime, I'll just say I'm extremely impressed with his life story. If nothing else, the prospect of a "fighting Democrat," James Webb for Senate candidacy should scare the living daylights out of George Allen.
The bottom line is this: James Webb is George Allen's worst nightmare come to life. Run Jim Run!
Hat tip to Kos and Taegan Goddard's Political Wire on this one