This Sunday morning bring two strong new endorsements by major Virginia newspapers of Jim Webb for U.S. Senate. First, the Roanoake Times, whose editorial has the subheading, "The country needs a change. Send an independent thinker like Webb to Washington, D.C.":
In Iraq and at home, America is on the wrong course, one mapped by the Bush administration and followed -- in lockstep, eyes forward, no questions asked -- by incumbent Republican Sen. George Allen.Voters would be wise to select a better representative.
Democratic challenger Jim Webb is as independent a thinker as Allen is an administration parrot. Plus, Webb is feisty and smart.
Virginia and the nation will be served better by far if the commonwealth's voters elect Webb to the Senate on Nov. 7.
[...]
A vote for Webb would be in the best interest of the overwhelming number of Virginians. He gets our enthusiastic support.
Nice. Now, the Hampton Roads Daily Press, which is endorsing Webb in a two-part series, today and tomorrow. Today focuses on "the war and national security," tomorrow on "other issues":
It's time for a change. That's a familiar political cry, heard regularly each turn of the election cycle, but it arrives with compelling force and reason in 2006....the nub of it is this: Allen and the Republican majority of which he is a part have had their chance, and we're not better off for it - not in terms of national security or fiscal soundness, and certainly not in terms of political health. Webb offers the best opportunity for new and better directions.
[...]
A single word suffices: incompetence. Not military incompetence. The troops have done all they've been asked to do and far more. We're talking about political incompetence.
It is that incompetence that Allen has sought to not only defend, but extend - though he has begun to change his tune. With the election drawing near, Allen put his arm around fellow Republican Sen. John Warner, a far more temperate and independent thinker on Iraq (and most subjects). Allen's blind "stay-the-course" rhetoric has been replaced with "mistakes have been made, and our progress has been far too slow."
[...]
But what constitutes "victory" in the Allen worldview?
He doesn't say. Since the war began in 2003, Allen has yet to present a thoughtful statement on the complexities of what has become an increasingly intolerable predicament.
That alone argues for his political retirement.
[...]
And that nails it down. Accountability argues for replacing George Allen. Replacing him with a man capable of thinking seriously and independently about Iraq argues for replacing him with Jim Webb.
Wow, that's one impressive endorsement for Jim Webb! As of this morning, by my count, the following newspapers have strongly endorsed Webb for Senate:
*The Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot
*The Washington Post
*The Richmond Free Press
*The Connection Newspapers
*The Times Community Newspapers
*The Cavalier Daily
I'm sure there are others. Please feel free to add to this ever-growing list.
Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
So Lowell, you can use your dkos diary for something else, and I will provide a link in a comment back to this story.
He's desperate!
All of these newspapers endorsements of Webb are so strong and enthusiastic. The few Allen has gotten are critical of him and almost apologetic for their endorsements.
Bottom line is that the more of the truth people see, not distortions in soundbites, the more all but the most blindly partisan recognize that Jim Webb belongs in the US Senate. Jim Webb will be a leader for our times.
Now everybody call their regional office to find out how they spend today canvassing, making phone calls, putting up signs, whatever. Link here
Our efforts can make the difference.
I'll be curious to see which direction they break.
The Roanoke Times endorses Al
Entitled "Webb Rises Above", here are some excerpts:
Do not be surprised when you arrive at the voting booth Nov. 7 to find more than just the Virginia Senate candidates on the ballot. The contest between freshman Republican U.S. Sen. George Allen and Democrat Jim Webb has consumed the media and the electorate's attention this campaign season, but three U.S. House races, three proposed state constitutional amendments and two county bond referendums are also deserving of thoughtful consideration with Election Day just two weeks away. We will address those races and issues shortly, but first we ask you to weigh that pivotal Senate race with us.
The Senate
Voters sided with George Allen six years ago based on his popularity as governor. He led parole reform efforts and instituted an educational accountability system that later became a national model. But once elected to the U.S. Senate, Allen seemed to stall. Major news from Capitol Hill centered on other members of Virginia's federal delegation who appeared to give Allen token credit for "assisting" in their efforts. He failed to pick up the torch on educational accountability at the national level, and his voice has clearly been lacking on the transportation front, which ought to steam Northern Virginians in particular, since it was under Allen's administration that the Virginia Department of Transportation began its slow decline.
Allen's 10-gallon cowboy persona has clearly worn thin in Northern Virginia, which is becoming "bluer" with each passing election, but his disgraceful display of intolerance earlier this fall - in which he hurled a racial slur at a young man of Indian descent volunteering for his challenger's campaign - during a stop in southern Virginia ought to be enough to push people in every corner of the commonwealth over the edge. That incident spiraled into a piling-on effect with intense scrutiny of Allen's recently discovered Jewish heritage and his alleged use of racial epithets during college.
Our support of Jim Webb is based on more than the fact that he is simply not George Allen. As another local newspaper noted, the former Republican-turned-Democrat appears to have reservations about both parties, and it is that independent streak that will serve him well when he arrives on Capitol Hill.
The decorated Vietnam War veteran offers a perspective about the current conflict in Iraq that has been lacking for some time.
Forget the I-told-you-so factor of Webb foreseeing back in 2002 that the U.S. was entering into the Iraq war with no clear exit strategy. Webb has at least been consistent in saying something needs to change, and he has a clear willingness and determination to look outside the box to find a workable solution for the American troops, their families and the Iraqi people.
Here's the other:
http://www.connectio...
Jim Webb for Senate
October 26, 2006
There’s no doubt that Jim Webb is not a natural candidate. That’s just one more reason to vote for him for Senate over George Allen.
Webb would make an excellent addition to the Senate, with intellectual capacity and experience to help unravel some of the critical problems that body will face in the coming years.
Recently converting from Republican to Democrat, Webb opposed the Iraq war from the beginning, vigorously and publicly arguing against it in the months before invasion.
But Webb has significant credentials. A former Marine, Webb served in Vietnam, and was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals and two Purple Hearts. During the Reagan administration, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense of Reserve Affairs and as Secretary of the Navy.
If elected, Webb might be the only senator with a son or daughter serving in combat in Iraq.
But Webb does not trumpet his own service or his son’s on the campaign trail, aside from wearing a pair of his son’s used combat boots.
Webb has written nonfiction books and six novels, and while his opponent would seek to make fun of Webb as a “fiction writer,” Webb’s accomplishments show no small amount of intellectual capacity and work ethic.
There are also powerful reasons to vote against George Allen.
Allen’s six years in the Senate lack legislative legacy or accomplishment. While this week he has tried to show that he is not in lockstep with President Bush on Iraq, he lacks ideas for any alternative to the current mess there.
And the past months have brought fresh, visceral evidence of Allen’s racial and ethnic insensitivity, reinforcing decades of racial insensitivity. If you haven’t watched the “macaca” video for yourself, you should. It compounds and confirms concern about Allen’s views, adds to evidence of Allen’s fascination with the Confederate flag and past display of a noose, a symbol of racial hatred and torture, in his office.
Virginia can’t afford racial insensitivity because of its past, and because of its future. History: Virginia’s past economy was built on slavery, and Virginia was a haven for segregation, closing schools rather than allow integration even into the early '60s. Future: Virginia is an increasingly diverse state, and its future economic and cultural development depends on embracing that diversity.
— Mary Kimm
I think both are worthy additions to the ever-growing list of publications endorsing Jim Webb for U.S. Senate!
Out of curiosity, and so that I know how the other side is faring... I'd like to see which papers (and where) endorsed the macaca (and, if possible, why on earth).
Also... A silly question, maybe, but, on the principle that "the only dumb questions are the ones not asked and answered"... :)
Poland has a mass-media "moratorium" on electioneering. Can't remember whether it's 24hrs or 48, but, immediately prior to Election Days (two now: Saturday and Sunday), there's a ban on press, radio and TV endorsements (of course, nobody goes around tearing off candidates' posters). Is there anything similiar in VA? In US?