Tag: Democrats (Page 27 of 28)

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

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.

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.