This isn’t exactly what Joementum needs going into the Democratic primary.

A new poll has James Webb within 10 points of George Allen in Virginia. As I said many times previously, Webb has a real shot of pulling off a major upset in November. Hopefully this poll will add to the buzz.

The GOP has tried for years to repeal the Estate Tax, and Democrats have naturally resisted. Finally, the GOP leadership has decided to move forward with a very fair compromise.

Under the House’s compromise, which probably will come to a vote tomorrow, estates worth as much as $5 million — $10 million for couples — would be exempt from taxation indefinitely.

The tax rate on estates worth more than the exemption level up to $25 million would be set at the same tax rates that apply to capital gains — now 15 percent but scheduled to rise to 20 percent in 2011. The rate for estates worth more than $25 million would be twice the capital gains rate. The bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the estate tax cut would cost the government $279 billion over 10 years.

Democrats should support this compromise. The current Estate Tax rates are too high, thus forcing many business owners to spend way too much time and moneytrying to avoid the tax. The new rates are fair, so let’s get it done.

James Webb, a former Republican, will now take on George Allen in November. This is big news for the Democrats. Webb has a strong military background yet he was against the Iraq War from the beginning. He’s not a career politician, and that will be an asset in a year when the voters are sick of politicians.

John Murtha wants to run for Majority Leader if the Democrats take over the House. Too bad he doesn’t want to be Speaker. He would be a great symbol for the Dems, and anyone would be better than Nancy Pelosi.

Have we finally reached the point where Ann Coulter is no longer taken seriously? Has she finally joined Pat Robertson and other loons who should be ignored by the media, rather than being featured on shows like “Today”?

With her recent comments that certian 9/11 widows “enjoyed” their husbands’ deaths, Coulter took her beligerent condemnation of liberals too far for most decent people to handle. Coulter is not a serious political commentator – rather she’s a comedian using the arena of politics to sell her books. Idiotic statements like this one just add fuel to the fire. She can be very funny, but she can also be incredibly cruel. She belongs on programs hosted by Limbaugh and Hannity, but serious programs shouldn’t give someone spewing this kind of hate any airtime at all.

Five 9/11 widows issued a dignified response to Coulter’s comments. Money quote:

Contrary to Ms. Coulter’s statements, there was no joy in watching men that we loved burn alive.

That says it all.

DeWayne Wickman highlights this trend. Maybe things aren’t so bad in Kansas after all.

Joe Klein points out that Jim Webb presents a great litmus test for the Democrats. Will Democrats be willing to accept a former Republican Secretary of the Navy as their nominee for the Virginia Senate race?

Let’s hope they do. We need more men like Jim Webb to consider the Democratic Party. He’s a hawk on defense, yet he saw the folly of the Iraq War and had the guts to oppose it, unlike many Senators and Congressmen who were too worried about being labeled soft on defense.

He also gives a great answer when asked why he’s switching back to the Democratic Party:

“When I started studying Andrew Jackson, I realized that I was really a Jacksonian populist Democrat,” Webb tells the crowd. “Jackson believed that you don’t measure the health of a society at the apex but at the base. I believe that too, and that’s why I’m a Democrat.”

Klein ends his peice with the following:

Liberals hunt down heretics, Michael Kinsley once wrote, while conservatives happily chase converts. Webb is a convert in a party that mistrusts converts. His candidacy is a litmus test for a party that loves litmus tests.

Again, he nails it. Liberals have to stop being so dogmatic and realize that ideological purity is a recipe for electoral disaster. After six years of George Bush, maybe they’re ready to win again.