Some might see this as jockeying for a VP slot, rather than a direct shot at Hillary
Flow of money will probably be the test of Webb's staying power
According to a report picked-up on the AP, "... Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb has formed an exploratory committee to consider a Democratic presidential campaign in 2016. *** It's the first official step in what could be a challenge to Hillary Rodham Clinton if she seeks the White House again. *** Webb announced a website for his exploratory committee in a message posted from his Twitter account late Wednesday. He says many Americans believe the U.S. is 'at a serious crossroads' and the solutions 'are not simply political, but those of leadership.'..." (See "Jim Webb forms exploratory committee for White House" 11-20-14, WUSA-9 [http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/2014/11/20/jim-webb-exploratory-committee-white-house-presidential-campaign-va/19312571/]).
Not long ago when Jim Webb first mentioned a possible run for the White House, at least one longtime Democrat commentator said, "Democrats uneasy about a Hillary coronation may have help on the way from former Virginia Senator James Webb... , who[has given speeches that sound like they are from] a populist perspective, slightly right of center where Webb, a former Republican, is most at home and often straddles the two parties.... [Also in the recent past] Webb served up a scathing critique of the administration’s foreign policy, calling it 'a tangled mess of what can only be called situational ethics.' He said there hasn’t been a clear statement of principles since the end of the Cold War, and 'not surprisingly the American people have become more cynical about their leadership in both parties.'... [But he also] warned against getting entangled on the ground in the “ongoing nightmare” that is Syria...." (See "Wait a Minute, Clinton Coronators—Here Comes Jim Webb" by Eleanor Clift, 9/26/14, The Daily Beast [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/24/wait-a-minute-clinton-coronators-here-comes-jim-webb.html]). Clift also noted that "For Webb, there is an opening for someone with a strong military background and no real ties to the Obama administration that would constrain him from an unvarnished assessment of the Democratic Party’s policies and performance. The author of 11 books, Webb’s new memoir, I Heard My Country Calling, may have stoked the fires of his political ambition once again..."
For Webb. money is very much the key to unlock any showing by him in 2014. "Dr. Bob Roberts, political science professor at James Madison University, said in order for Webb to even make it to the primaries, he must use the exploratory committee to see if he can raise enough money from leaders in his own party to run a campaign.... 'Will the money people view him as an option? If he doesn't get money, he's dead. This is simply the ability to say will some people out there, maybe some PAC's, maybe some of these independent groups, who are really opposed to Hillary, would they give him money as a way to stall her. That's what it comes down to,' said Roberts...." (See "Jim Webb Eyeing Possible Presidential Run" 11/20/14, WHSV [http://www.whsv.com/news/headlines/Jim-Webb-Eyeing-Possible-Presidential-Run-283365481.html]).
Hillary can be beat and not from Bernie Sanders.
ReplyDeleteJerry Brown may enter.
3 times a charm.
Ask Mitt
RESPONSE: THE "HAROLD STASSEN" EDITION
ReplyDeleteJERRY BROWN, JERRY BROWN ? WHY NOT WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN ? JERRY BROWN...
Who has been at it longer running for President, Jerry Brown or Ralph Nader ?
Does Jerry Brown pop up to run for president like a cicada with a broken calendar ? When did he last run for president, 1992 ? When did he first run for president, 1976 ?
You're right about Bernie Sanders, though....
Eugene McCarthy is our nation's perennial presidential candidate. Not to be confused of course with Joe - this blog's lodestar, but Gene.
ReplyDeleteI thought you more of a Eugene Debbs kinda guy
ReplyDeleteReagan ran 3 times.
ReplyDeletethree times too many
ReplyDeleteRESPONSE: THE "NOW THAT IS JUST SACRILEGIOUS" EDITION
ReplyDeleteRONALD REAGAN WILL ALWAYS BE REGARDED AS ONE OF THE GREAT PRESIDENTS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY --- AND BY SOME, PERHAPS EVEN THE GREATEST
Reagan made deficits acceptable.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Reagan for President 4 times.
Today is the anniversary of the assassination of the greatest President of the twentieth century. You remember, the one whose photo hung in every respectable Catholic household - right next to Good Pope John.
ReplyDeleteDo you mean that murderous scoundrel, whose chickens came home to roost under a Hertz Rent-a-car sign in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas ? If that's who you meant, all his popery was pretense for the brainless rabble, who called themselves Irish Catholic Democrats at the time.
ReplyDeleteAs for your disease-ridden hero, his "greatness" was all a p.r. generated, drug-fueled delusion... much akin to Hitler's, one of whose agents your man found so attractive as a young man.
His eccentric rise and antic rule earned him a minor place in the history of one country during the mid-twentieth century.
However, you are right; this is an ominous anniversary of a great day for moral, motivated and momentous patriots everywhere in these United States, whose motto "Sic semper tyrannis" is again rising across the land.
Oh, no. We must each be referring to different Presidents. I meant John Fitzgerald Kennedy the man who instilled a sense of pride in Irish Catholics as no other politician ever had or ever since has. Nor ever will. Hmmm, I guess his photo didn't hang in your home as a child. But I am sure as the sun sets in the west and the tolls will rise on the Verrazano that JFK hung in the hallway of that efficiently well-run yet nurturing Catholic elementary school you attended. I bet further you genuflected whenever you passed by, you know, out of habit because its what Father did.
ReplyDeleteTo correct the facts above, Reagans assasination attempt was not in November but on March 30th.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the analogy to Hitler is on point.
March 30th, isn't that national gun-control day or something?
ReplyDeleteThe other poor fool, the one who pulled the trigger, didn't even realize that Jody Foster was short-stopping for the other team....
RESPONSE TO ALL: THE "NO, VIRGINIA, THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUS" EDITION
ReplyDeleteFIRST, IT'S NICE TO SEE ALL MY BSI'S GETTING ALONG SO NICELY
SECOND, EVEN IF THERE IS NO SANTA CLAUS, THERE ALWAYS WILL BE A DOROTHY (DORTHY)....
THIRD, CAMELOT ENDED-UP A SHAMBLES --- [FILL IN THE BAD RESULT OF YOUR OWN CHOOSING; THERE ARE PLENTY TO GO AROUND FOR EVERYBODY, AND AT ALL HUES AND FREQUENCIES ON THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM >>> RED FLAG, BLACK FLAG, GREEN FLAG AND A VARIETY OF RATTLESNAKE FLAGS]
Somebody is faking it
ReplyDeleteSince you have invoked Camelot*, let us remember fifty-one years ago today when on the day after the assassination of our President Daniel Patrick Moynihan then - Secretary for Labor stated:
ReplyDelete"To be Irish means that in the end the world will break your heart. I guess we thought we had a little more time."
A little nostalgia for you Brooklyn Republicans might be worthwhile because it is men like Kennedy, Moynihan, O'Neill who made everything you have today possible.
*We will have great presidents again, but we will never have another Camelot." - Jackie
Goodbye, again.
And to anonymous at 9:27: The use of the F word doesn't make you tough. You're still a "fekking eejit".
ReplyDeleteThis is all very entertaining, but keep in mind Ireland is the only white country in the world subject to colonial rule.
ReplyDeletethink about it.
John F. Kennedy almost destroyed the world in a day in October 1962, while high on emphetamines and other "feel good" potions.
ReplyDeleteThose three descendants of the ape-like Nast-Puck creatures mentioned above, destroyed this country years later by undoing the work of a good Democrat descendant of Irish immigrants, Pat McCarran, a true patriot and defender of proper American sense and sensibilities, who said this in support of his 1952 Immigration Act, WHICH WAS PASSED OVER PRESIDENTIAL OPPOSITION AND VETO:
"I believe that this nation is the last hope of Western civilization and if this oasis of the world shall be overrun, perverted, contaminated or destroyed, then the last flickering light of humanity will be extinguished. I take no issue with those who would praise the contributions which have been made to our society by people of many races, of varied creeds and colors. ... However, we have in the United States today hard-core, indigestible blocs which have not become integrated into the American way of life, but which, on the contrary are its deadly enemies. Today, as never before, untold millions are storming our gates for admission and those gates are cracking under the strain. The solution of the problems of [other parts of the world] will not come through a transplanting of those problems en masse to the United States. ... I do not intend to become prophetic, but if the enemies of this legislation succeed in riddling it to pieces, or in amending it beyond recognition, they will have contributed more to promote this nation's downfall than any other group since we achieved our independence as a nation...."
My friend above: Senator McCarren was not a good man at all. He was a known anti-Semite and spoke publicly of his disregard for immigrants. He is certainly not someone whom you would want our politicians to emulate. I suggest you read up on his history. If anything he was a nominal Democrat only - much in the way the commenters here talk about RINO's. Senator Harry Reid I read is trying to get his name taken down from some Nevada Airport- that is how much he is despised by good people.
ReplyDeleteHarry Reid is a hate filled Democrat scumbag, who has helped make Nevada into a modern Sodom. In addition to being a pathological liar, he practices the rest of his politics like a committed neo-Stalinist. Of course he would want to put Senator McCarren's Nevada legacy into a memory hole.
ReplyDeletePat McCarren was a staunch anti-communist, anti-socialist, conservative, anti-New Deal Democrat.
Really good Irish-Americans need to see what a great American Patrick Anthony McCarren really was. While Joe McCarthy got all the headlines, Pat McCarren passed the laws that drove the Commies out of government and saved the nation for a generation. He also warned of the Commie subversion of schools, which sadly he was unable to stop.
He certainly is someone that any good American would want our judges and other office holders to emulate.
Poor old Charlie Joe Hynes I almost feel bad for him.
ReplyDeleteHynes is stll alive?
ReplyDelete