Allah:
Why a guy who’s dissatisfied with the Democratic Party’s leftward drift would drop out and launch a third-party campaign that will almost certainly benefit the Democratic Party, I don’t understand.
But here’s something new to worry about.
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb will announce Tuesday he is considering an independent bid for the White House, his campaign announced, as his long-shot bid for the Democratic nomination continues to flounder.
Webb will hold a press conference at the National Press Club “to discuss his candidacy, the campaign and his views of` the political parties in the current election cycle,” the campaign said in a statement.
Why is Webb, a Democrat, more of a threat to peel off Republican voters than Democratic ones? It’s a simple function of how the two party’s coalitions align. The Democratic nominee will almost certainly be either Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. Left-wingers won’t be thrilled with that, but Clinton and Biden are more liberal than Webb is. Except as a pure protest vote, there’s no incentive for a progressive to back him. On the right, however, we’re staring at a primary process that’s going to produce a nominee who’s deeply dissatisfying to some sizable chunk of the GOP or another. If it’s Trump, you’ll see some conservatives peel off in disgust that he’s too liberal and other because he doesn’t have the right “temperament” to be president. If it’s Carson, some will defect for fear that he doesn’t know the issues well enough and is really just a boutique culture-war candidate. If it’s Jeb, some righties will stay home in droves to protest the RINO dynasty effectively buying the nomination. If it’s Rubio, some tea partiers and libertarians will skip the election to make a statement about amnesty and interventionism, respectively. If it’s Cruz, some centrists will conclude that they could never vote for brinksmanship, shutdowns, and grandstanding towards the right.
We’re not talking about huge minorities of the GOP in any of these scenarios, but you wouldn’t need huge numbers to be decisive in a close election. And Jim Webb, as I said last week, is an attractive heterodox candidate. For everything there is to dislike about him, like ObamaCare for illegals, there are things to like — war hero, former secretary of the Navy under Reagan, willing to buck the left on some cultural hot buttons like affirmative action, and supportive of a more modest foreign policy abroad while also astutely criticizing Obama for weakness. He’s not an ideal candidate for any Republican, but people eager to cast a protest vote aren’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for one or two very appealing qualities in a third-party candidate that they can seize on and glorify as a reason to prefer that guy to the major-party nominees. Webb has lots of appealing qualities. Trump fans, in particular, might like his blue-collar vibe if Trump falls short in the primaries and they decide that no one in the rest of the Republican field is speaking to them
Webb could just as easily siphon votes from Democrats as well. If any moderate Democrats still exist (and they do, if the mid-term elections are any indication), they have much more to be disgusted with than ANY Republican.
Difficult to gauge the impact.
Webb not happy with lack of time afforded him in debate .He’s got a lot to say
He wants to debate Trump and HRC straight up–equal time. He’d be a consistent winner. His beliefs are in line with a greater percentage of the American people than HRC OR DT. As always, money will be a problem.
No certainty he’ll run–more revealed this P.M.
Meanwhile—Joe?? I think he’s gonna get in.
@Rich Wheeler:
Ah, poor baby. He got his widdle feelings hurt.
Now he’s on TV whining about money in campaigns, and saying he’s dropping out as a Democrat. This says more about Webb than he does the people he’s trying to slam. Perhaps he should put his big-boy pants on and pay for a microphone if he wants to get his message, and positions, out.
He should have known that when you get in the mud with a Clinton, you’re going to get dirty in the process. Did he really think he could battle against the Clinton money machine? If so, that makes him totally delusional.
Seems you’re going to be left with Hillary, the Bern or senile Uncle Joe. Which one will you choose, RW? You’ve already voted for a draft dodger, a liar and slanderer of all Vietnam vets and a malignant narcissist who seems hell bent on destroying that military you seem so proud to have been a part of.
@retire05: You got a carni-barker running first–Cruz goes lower every time he speaks. Bernie beats every Repub straight up.
You’re backing a Party that can’t win a Prez. race no matter which of your candidates gets the nom. The truth hurts 05–
As far as battling the Clinton machine, only Repubs are consistant losers and made to look like fools. BHO certainly beat em.
Webb believes his views represent the majority of the American electorate.The far right far left war is a no win proposition. Trump can’t win a majority of electoral votes–I’ve said from the get go I won’t vote for HRC. though she almost certainly will get the nom.
Don’t count Webb out
—
@Rich Wheeler:
I’ve already told you Trump is not my guy, so no, I don’t have a carni-barker running.
Really? Have you bothered with recent polls, which you seem to rely on so heavily? And where is Webb? >1%?
Only for those who think Socialism is a viable option to our democratic republic. But no surprise you’d be enamored with Bernie.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I heard the same thing from idiots like you in 1980. How did that work out?
Face it, RW. Obama won for one reason; his skin color. You thought you could wash away your “white privilege” by voting for a fairy tale created by David Axelrod.
So what? He can believe he can jump over the moon; doesn’t make it fact.
Ummm, seems it was the far left, with the help of the low information voter, that elected Obama.
I noticed you didn’t discount the Socialist, Bernie Sanders.
I don’t count anyone out. Unlike you, I don’t think of myself as a political prophet. But if you think Webb impressed anyone today because he got his widdle feelings hurt over the debate so he is taking his toys and going to house, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Now, tell us again how important military service was for you when Clinton and Obama ran for office. Oh, that’s right; it’s a new thing for you.
@Rich Wheeler:
If he doesn’t like to be shut out unless he speaks fluent liberal, why did he sign up with the moron team?
Republican turned Democrat, Democrat turned independent…. who would trust him?
@Rich Wheeler, #4:
About an hour ago:
Webb exits the Democratic presidential primary
It will be interesting to hear Donald Trump’s thoughts on this.
@retire05: Cruz at 4% -lowest polling to date.
“Obama won because of skin color” Actually he won because he was a Dem.
Trump ” Abe Lincoln would have lost” after the way “w” exited–concur
I’ve made several statements in response to your questions and assertions.
You ignore them—KISS
@Bill: Trump Dem. turned Indie–Indie turned Repub.–Who trusts this media hack Not you I hope
Greg Trump won’t say much—Would love to see Webb ask him about his medical deferment–which foot was it Donald?
@Rich Wheeler:
I believe the question was concerning Webb, whom you have thrown your full support behind (while I have not shown support for Trump). You ARE capable of answering a question, aren’t you?
Who do things such as deferments and lies only matter at various, specific times?
@Bill: Of course I trust him–he’s best suited to run as an indie–that’s where he fits in–he believes most Americans are indies– Trump, Bernie and HRC got big negatives
It’s gonna take money just to get on the ballot in 50 states. He believes he can win. We’ll see.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/election-2016-campaign-money-race.html
Scan down:
Jim Webb
TOTAL RAISED
IN MILLIONS $000.7
CANDIDATE
RAISED $000.7
SPENT $000.4
CASH ON HAND $000.3
SUPER PACS & OTHER PACS
RAISED $00.0
SPENT $000.0
CASH ON HAND $000.1
all number in the millions.
So…..where’s that cash going to come from?
@Rich Wheeler: Welcome to the club. My first two picks for the Republican nomination both dropped out. The difference is I still have a choice amongst some decent, qualified candidates. Your choice is now down to a failed SecState who is also a serial liar and a closet socialist, an open socialist, and maybe the second in charge of one of the worst presidencies in U.S. history. Better hope Webb mounts a third party run. With Jesse Ventura weighing in on running on the Libertarian ticket it will take them off the table should he succeed.
@Rich Wheeler:
So? And where is Webb? At less than 1%?
Wrong. He won because David Axelrod is brilliant and took an inexperienced first term senator with a shady background and made him into something he wasn’t. Obama’s election was not because he was a Dem but because Alexrod was able to create a candidate that stupid Dems could project whatever they wanted Obama to be. That, and the Republicans had a lousy nominee.
Wrong. It was due to the DNC’s ground game. It had nothing to do with “w”. It had to do with the fact that the your party, which supported the removal of Saddam when Clinton was president, decided, for political expediency, to oppose the war.
Try defending your hypocrisy. You can’t. You supported draft dodger Bill Clinton, VVATW hack and traitor John Kerry and a man who was the least qualified to be POTUS and has deliberately tried to destroy our military with his social engineering and never saw the inside of a recruitment office and yet, here you are, hypocrite that you are, pimping for Webb because of his military career.
It’s pretty easy to ignore what doesn’t exist. Defend your hypocrisy, RW. You can’t.
@retire05: Hypocrisy? Last time– I support Jim Webb because he’s a U.S. Marine decorated Navy Cross recipient–The first to run for POTUS in my lifetime
There isn’t a Repub. or a Dem. running that would be a better Prez than Webb.
Cruz has been buried by the bombastic. Trump.
Donald’s latest claim that BHO plans to confiscate our guns is more of his B.S. He’s a N.Y.shyster I grew up surrounded by guys like him. If he gets nom he won’t carry N.Y–They got him figured out.
@Rich Wheeler:
“OF COURSE”? Why “of course”? You know him personally? Because he’s a Marine?
Marines are great guys, by and large (refer to my question about if you would vote for Murtha on another topic, though) but does that make them inherently qualified to be President of the United States? Still not clear about where your ardent support comes from.
@Rich Wheeler:
So your criteria for POTUS is how many (or the prestige of the) medals they have racked up? Is that the litmus test you used when you voted for John Kerry? How did you apply that to Clinton and Obama?
(Oh, that’s right; you don’t want to discuss the fact that you voted for a draft dodger and a guy who never was in the military and has shown nothing but animus toward our military all the way back to his days at Columbia and a member of the New Party).
Using your baseline, you should be supporting Marcus Luttrell for POTUS.
Well, based on your standard, Dakota Meyer would be a better president.
Really? At least he’s still in the game, unlike your guy, and has the money to go all the way to the finish line. How sad Trump lives rent free in your head.
Do you, for one short minute, think that Obama would not implement gun confiscation if he thought he could get by with it? How pathetically uninformed are you? But hey, you live in Loonafornia, and soon it will be illegal for you to own any guns or even ammunition. Seems you are supportive of the destruction of the 2nd Amendment.
Obama was a [for real] Chicago shyster (a shyster being a corrupt lawyer. Trump is not a lawyer) yet you were too stupid to figure him out.
Your hypocrisy keeps getting larger.
It looks like the dem choices are back to two- the failed former SecState and serial liar and the open socialist. Maybe Warren will “save” them since Joe wasn’t up to the task.
@Bill: I met him while in The Marines– I’ve followed his career and his writings for over 45 years. Who do you support and why?
AV I think Webb may run as an Indie–He’d love to debate HRC and DT no holds barred.
@Rich Wheeler: Both parties are hosed. To me the lesser of two evils are the Republicans. They didn’t go out of their way to anoint their candidate regardless of who it is in the end, be it the Donald, Jeb, Carson, or whoever. If I were an independent minded Democrat I’d be livid at the way the Party went out of its way to shove HRC down everyone’s throat. Any hint of democracy shouldn’t be present in the Party’s name.
@another vet: The DNC presents the candidates. The media picks the winner. Had Biden gotten it (as Obama’s chosen one) the media would have turned on Hillary.
@Bill: Now that Biden isn’t running, when do you think they’ll start calling her email scandal “old news” in order to get the rest of the collective in line?
@another vet: Unless it can be used as the “war on women” meme, it will be NO news.