Filed from Richmond, the story (full version only available to premium subscribers) starts off with some facts well known to his Virginia fans:
On the face of it, James Webb seems an unlikely Senate candidate. A writer, three times married, he proudly recounts the deeds of his Scots-Irish ancestors who fought for the South in the civil war. In his youth, as a Naval Academy boxer, he bloodied Oliver North's nose...
No matter what you think of England, you have to admit the Brits know how to lead off a tale.
With that beginning alone, the reader is informed of Jim's novelty as a politician, his human side, a proud heritage and the heroic nature of his life story.
For those wanting to catch the entire article, I suggest you rush to your local newsstand and buy the June 17th - 23rd issue, which is ironically enough entitled "Inequality and the American Dream." Anybody needing a visual cue should look for a magazine with a red, white and blue flag motif with a layered cake in the background (the stripes serving as steps - the stars a somber, even ominous foreshadowing) and a number of small figures trying valiantly, some desperately to climb to another tier, all the while three figures, more smartly dressed than the rest, peer down from the ledge of an exaggeratedly high ledge.
Not one wanting to read too much into symbolism, it isn't difficult to see how several of the articles in this issue play neatly into Jim's message of economic populism. Even the lead article, which carries the same title as the cover and has the subtitle: "The world's most impressive economic machine needs a little adjusting," appears tailor-made to Jim's message.
In another article, titled "The rich, the poor and the growing gap between them," readers are informed of what many Americans already know: "the gap between the rich and the poor is bigger [in America] than in any other advanced country."
Continuing in this vein, the article goes on to explain how, "a jump in productivity growth in 1995" allowed American workers to share in the late 1990s Clinton economic boom.
But after 2000 something changed. The pace of productivity growth has been rising again, but now it seems to be lifting fewer boats. After you adjust for inflation, the wages of the typical American worker-the one at the very middle of the income distribution-have risen less than 1% since 2000. [While during the Clinton era] in the previous five years, they rose over 6%
Being one of the leading journalistic advocates of globalism, staff writers at The Economist are also fair in pointing out the perils the global economy frequently presents.
In returning to the article on the Virginia primary, Webb supporters will be excited to know that The Economist seems to take pleasure in knocking his opponent, George Allen, who they describe as:
A cheerful conservative partisan whose only experience in uniform was that of a below-average college football quarterback, Mr Allen had hoped for an easy re-election campaign so that he could focus on his ambitions for the Republican presidential nomination and all the trips to Iowa that it requires.Now he may have to stay home.
The article then continues to tell the story of Webb's most recent primary victory over Harris Miller, his conversion from a Reagan Democrat Navy Secretary to Virginia's Democratic Senatorial nominee, and his personal stake in this election and the current war on terror: his son's future deployment to Iraq.
The Economist also contrasts the difference between Webb and Allen's footwear nicely:
In a sign of solidarity with the young warrior (his son)-and a clever counterpoint to Mr Allen's Bush-style cowboy boots Mr Webb wears the sand-colored combat boots that are issued to American troops.
Thus it would seem that there are enough subtle clues that even the Limeys aren't ready to swallow Bush-Lite.
Maybe it's possible for a division of "Limey's for Webb" to join "Jim's Brigade" and help with placing yard signs all over the Virginia once the World Cup is finally over.
This won't be much of a stretch for rowdy British soccer (pardon me-football) fans, as they appear to have already adopted the motto Born Fighting and The Economist (mentioning the title of the book and his "scrappy forebears" from which it was inspired at end of the article) seems to enjoy as well.
All joking aside, the mere mention of Webb's race in The Economist places it on radar for those who suspect something unusual is happening here in Virginia again. It appears that the international investing class across the pond and their fellow American global economy travelers who are the magazine's target audience are finally waking up to the idea that things need to be shaken up before the working class grows too restless. Such a positive mention of the Virginia race is a clear sign that a seismic shift in politics is in the air and Jim Webb may be just the man to bring it about.