Aw shit.

He's good - I like Webb and he has military chops. But damn, people, two Congressmen on the ticket? I get very nervous about that kind of ticket.

apologies -- movable type was down for a bit, so comments may not have posted.

testing...

Two words: Wes Clark.

Webb was on Letterman and his impressive creds were on display. Did I mention impressive?

When the general election begins, I think Obama should be proactive about announcing some of his key cabinet choices, some of whom might be plausible VP candidates. Let's face it: all of the good choices for VP cannot be selected, there being only one spot open. But some of them would be good cabinet choices, and announcing them ahead of time well help to round out the ticket and garner the collective support of all these people.

I am not going to name names, as I do have a private slate of favorites, but I think that the principle of a "presumptive cabinet" could work here.

I have a couple of serious reservation about Webb:

1) I fear he is too conservative. We need to be aware that because of the historic nature of Obama's candidacy his veep has to reach the CIC test at a higher level than other previous candidates (McCain's must as well because of his health/age). Do liberals really want a President Webb?

2) The female factor. Obama will need to woo women voters who voted fro Hillary. Webb has had trouble with charges of sexism etc. It also does not help that he is on his third marriage. How will that sit with Hillary supporters?

3) Generational-- if Obama wants to get past the Vietnam fights- do we really want Webb on the ticket? Do we risk going back to the same Vietnam argument? If Obama wants to pain McCain as part of the past- it would be better not to bring along the same past on the ticket....

Just my 2 cents....(maybe three)

I was really under the impression based upon his (Webb's) appearance on MTP last weekend that he had pretty much "shut the door" on this idea. I am paraphrasing but he pretty clearly stated that he would "highly discourage anyone from asking him to be VP." Maybe there was some ambiguity in there that I missed but it seemed pretty definitive to me.

Webb continues to interest and excite me, but I keep hearing he's got deadly stuff in his novels, woman hating stuff that will kill him.

Does anyone really know if this is dangerous, beyond the fact George Allen tried to use it against Webb in the senate race, or is it just one of those things everyone believes? Anyone read the books?

I keep getting drawn into the idea of VP Webb but then told it's a no go on account of this supposedly misogynist stuff.

He did get elected Senator, how bad could it be?

He voted against the immigration bill. I very seriously doubt he'll make it on the ticket.

Seriously think it's gonna be a governor. Richardson, Sebelius, Schweitzer, Kaine, Bredesen, Napolitano. Gonna be one of them. Personally, I'd like Richardson as Sec. of State. We'll see....

I am rather uncomfortable with the idea of Webb as VP. It is important for the Obama administration to speak with a strong, consistent message on foreign policy and national security policy - Obama's message. I think Webb is a bit too much of a maverick and controversial independent thinker, with a controversial paper trail, to fit comfortably as an obedient number two on the Obama ticket and in an Obama administration. This country doesn't need another Dick Cheney.

I also hate this idea that Obama needs to grab some military man or other national security type to establish "credibility" for Obama. Bush and MCCain decided to go after Obama this week on national security, and in my opinion they got their clocks cleaned by Obama. The public is ready for Obama's national security and foreign policy message. We don't need Webb messing that up with his own separate gospel.

Finally, with a bunch of miffed Clinton supporters on our hands, picking a former Republican and apparent male chauvinist probably isn't the way to go. I'm sure people will say one must distinguish between Webb's views, and the views of key characters in his novels, but that's asking a lot from the public.

I've been pulling for a Webb Obama ticket for a while.

UNSTOPPABLE!!!

Webb = Appalachian, War veteran, Fmr Sec of Navy for Chrissakes

Are you kidding? McCain is toast with Obama/Webb!!

Finally, with the philosopher warriors lead this nation again?

I think and believe that Obama needs to throw something to the feminists. The more rabid among them are going to be very upset as it is and they have a valid point, from their standpoint and I'm still woman enough (though I support Obama) to get that point pretty well, since I've felt twinges of the same things they've been feeling right from the start.

IMHO, George McGovern could win this election with Michael Dukakis as his running mate. There's no need to pick a VP candidate for the support he will bring in the GE. Pick one who will bring something else to the table, such as:

An LBJ-type who can get legislation through congress,
An experienced governor who can help with administrative matters,
An ex-military person who can keep the DOD generals in line (also applies to the SecDef).

Webb has a toupee!! Or some sort of mutant weave. I need someone hotter and with a lower fat content.

Sebelius is the one choice that would confound both Hillary supporters into voting for Obama and confound Republicans and Independents into not knowing who to vote for.

Tena & hyperRevue are making me think deeply about this. You have to wonder what helps Obama more: (a) a strong woman politico who is respected by diehard Clintonista women who will be disappointed that their historic ride ended or (b) blue collar men? Hillary's Campaign has worked very hard towards one end and that is to try to drive up Obama's negatives with women and very low income white men. Obama is not losing blue collar voters. Unions and skilled laborers have endorsed and support Obama. The Clinton Coalition is best represented by Appalachian lower middle class whites, unskilled labor and old women. Obama does not have to dumb down his campaign with empty rhetoric and false promises that the Clintons have made but instead get someone who the lower working classes in America will trust, respect and believe when he offers them hard truths and painful realities. The IRAQ WAR has impacted the US Economy severely and diverted resources from REBUILDING AMERICA & PUTTING AMERICANS BACK TO WORK. Workers will hqve a stake in an OBAMA Administration. OBAMA and his surrogates need to work with labor in getting that message out there as a NEW NEW DEAL that is imperative to our survival as a people. Our nation is crumbling, the lower middle classes are growing, not just in APPALACHIA. As progressives, we must really try to find a way to communicate to those who the economy has left behind without simply duping them for votes, which is what Hillary did.

Just a thought -- Obama needs to get a strong, smart VP plus all the major players of his future cabinet together ASAP. Obama's biggest weakness is his assumed inexperience. The sooner he gets a bunch of strong pros around him, the better. Webb, Edwards, Richardson, etc... Granpa McCain and his lobbiests would look pretty weak against Team Obama with their BARACKARATE! skillz.

Gov. Sibelius does seem like a good choice, but I hope her debate/campaigning skills are better than what she showed in the State of the Union response.
The only way to make the die-hard Hillary supporters happy (besides Obama dropping out) is to have her on the ticket. I'm not sure Gov Sibelius would attract many, but it may be enough; who knows.
Webb does have the bona fides that are nice to have, but some of these come with qualifiers.
Some Pluses:
SecNav...for only 10 mos (OK, he did resign on principle, which may negate some of the criticism).
Attack dog to Obama's cool, above the fray position (you know, good cop/bad cop).
Miltary experience (no downside there...he was highly decorated).
Stuck it to Bush that time when Bush asked about his son...man was that FREAKIN' SWEEEEET!!!

Some deltas:
Wrote that article on why women can't fight; he has since changed his positon, but this won't hold water for a lot of feminists.
Has only been in the Senate for a short time, two Senators being accused of inexperience is not the strongest ticket.
Not the smoothest speaker or debater...he has improved though.

I sincerely wish former Gov and future Senator Mark Warner could be the Veep. *sigh*

I think that organized women's groups are all aware that HRC's presidential candidacy is dead and cold, and also that she has burned any bridge to a future presidential candidacy.

The next move is to try to secure a place for a woman as the VP candidate. Fortunately, there are several women who would make a good VP selection.

And if they get their wish, maybe there won't be a replay of the 1980 Democratic campaign against a sitting Democratic president in 2012.

Cynthia Ruccia is symptomatic of the rabid Hillary supporters who have been duped or are simply unwilling to pull off HILLARY'S MASK OF DECEPTION. Hillary is a shape shifting political fraud who is a faux feminist and working class predator who feeds off planting vitrolic hate bombs towards the opposition in those communities while she poses as a victim. Hillary's ELITISM is that she thinks a few tears, some fake promises and posing as a victim of her husband's sexuallly predatory behavior (most of which she worked to cover up behind the scenes) makes her one of "YOU"--you being the working class housewife who's husband cheats on her and those with no health care or job security. A woman who can loan her campaign $16 Million dollars but takes campaign donations from children who sell their bicycles and brags about it. Hillary and Bill have never leveled with the American people about who they are and what they represent. America and Hillary's supporters need to be taught how to turn a page and find more honorable, less deceitful, less fraudulent, women of accomplishment and allow the morally compromised Clintons disappear into the wilderness of American political history. Their Legacy is a fraudulent one, it is one filled with missed opportunity wherein the Democratic Party was simply used as an instrumentality to innure to their own benefit, where principles, the office, the candidate and his/her soul are bought and sold.

Wesley Clark is like a pet rock, the resume sounds good in theory but the man is widely disrespected in so many communities and has little or no authority in or about anything.

Democratic Party was simply used as an instrumentality to innure to their own benefit, where principles, the office, the candidate and his/her soul are bought and sold.

that is just about the most specious argument I have ever heard. Has there been ANY preznit (since Grant) who left office poorer than they entered it? It's not for nothing that it's called the spoils system.

and what do you think "innure" means? I am pretty sure there's no such word as "innure," unless you're trying to cleverly say "In Your..." but then the meaning of the phrase is ALL WRONG.

"Inure" is the word with the closest spelling to the one used in the post. It means: "To habituate to something undesirable, especially by prolonged subjection; accustom"; as in in order to run for national office, one must be inured to corruption, deceit, and mendacity"...you can see it is utterly an inappropriate word choice for what the writer was apparently trying to say.

The big problem here is losing that seat in VA.

But that might have to be balanced against winning the White House.

Also, he can run while in the Senate, and won't have to give up the seat or anything, unless they win. Then we can figure out who to replace him.

But they might want to keep their options open, and also make sure these guys are fully vetted, no big surprises.

tokin librul, it is called rapid typing which leads to typos. Nevertheless you are correct: "INURE" My intent was to express extreme disappointment, as a former Clinton/Gore 1992 Team Member, in what the Clintons turned out to be, supremely morally bankrupt elitists. The Clintons have not helped grow a Democratic Party with a Farm System that leads to a bumper crop of future leaders. What they have instead done is tried to keep the game on hold/pause, enabled the Bush Presidency, supported the Neocons and now when Hillary cannnot fulfill the second part of the Clinton Dynasty, undermine the possibility that anyone else should ascend to throne. Know this, McCain was the second choice of the NEOCONS. Hillary was the first because she wants power so badly that she will do exactly what they want. Why else do you think the machines and the local political machine in NY helped her drive up the voting margins in the NY Primary by 82 districts, including Harlem and Brooklyn initially showing NO VOTES for OBAMA?

Webb could effectively neutralize both Hillary Clinton and John McCain.

Like Obama, Webb is in the midst of his 1st term in the Senate, so presumably he has developed some collegial ties and has an appreciation for the culture of Capitol Hill without being too steeped in it. Useful for "getting things done." It has been reported that he doesn't really get into the constituent activities expected of politicians (state party functions, chicken dinners and fundraisers, etc) so being asked to focus at the national level on issues closest to his heart full time could be appealing to him.

He has also served with Obama on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Veterans Affairs Committee, so they have some history of working together on foreign policy & military issues.

He has served in government as Secy of the Navy, so presumably he could navigate the corridors of the West Wing and the Pentagon in the President's behalf as well.

He is a reformed Republican, so presumably he would offer a sort of bilingual capability that would be useful in bringing the two sides together on various bipartisan initiatives.

On a more personal level, I think Obama would appreciate his experience and find much to respect and admire about the man - a very important ingredient in establishing their mutual trust. Like Obama, again, he is also an original author and a thinker, which is another characteristic the two men would have to respect in one another. After his election to the Senate, the Wall Street Journal published an article he wrote, "Class Struggle," - evidence of an economic populist philosophy that I think Obama shares.

His negatives were vetted to some extent during his Senate campaign. Social conservatives will find fault with his having been married 3 times and with some explicit stuff in his novels; some feminists will find fault with some of his former views regarding women's service in the military.

All in all, he could be an excellent choice for VP.

I think we should take a look at Lt.">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Newbold>Lt. Gen. Greg Newbold (USMC - Ret.)

He was Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs before the Iraq Debacle and resigned in protest. He charges Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Feith with a

"casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions – or bury the results."

He has a way with words.

Good back and forth here...

Why Jim Webb?

1) Webb is a white male, born in Missouri, a swing state (this helps Obama with his rural white voter problem);

2) Webb is a popular Senator from Virginia (a swing state and one with a good part in Appalachia where Obama needs to bring voters back to his column);

3) Webb is a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran (negates McCain);

4) Webb spent four years with the Reagan Administration as the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs and later as Secretary of the Navy (bi-partisan appeal, military cred, fits Obama's message of change);

5) Webb is a harsh critic of Bush and would be a very good attack dog considering his military credentials and propensity for straight, tough talk (negates McCain and keeps Obama's image intact);

6) Webb has mostly moderate positions which plays well in the general election (also pulls in the DLC wing, Hillary's wing of the Dem Party);

7) Webb had a son serve in Iraq. Furthermore, Webb is as consistent of a symbol of an anti-Iraq War sentiment as Obama (patriotism unquestionable, yet together they keep Iraq front and center in the general election debate);

8) Webb continues to champion a GI Bill in the Senate to bolster support for retuning veterans. McCain, busy campaigning and failing to understand the degree to which Webb quietly garnered bi-partisan support, chose to attack the bill (Webb has McCain on a leash—already!);

9) Finally, the first quote in the preface of his new book (a book which explicitly talks about changing Washington to support the working class and end partisan bickering...sound familiar?):

"I’m the only person in the history of Virginia elected to statewide office with a Union card, two Purple Hearts, and three tattoos."

Seriously, folks? This is a no-brainer.