James Webb and the Swiftboat Smackdown

[AlecBGreen]

I love this guy! Former Secretary of Navy James Webb deballs the current crop of GOP chickenhawks in this NTY Editorial. Webb is a veteran of the Vietnam War, served with the Marines and earned the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts. He is also a possible contender in the VA Senate race to unseat George Allen. Read the article here and if you like his style, please ask him to run in 2006! Go to Draft James Webb, sign the petition, and help us take back one more seat from the GOP.

--snip-- (Link to article)


It should come as no surprise that an arch-conservative Web site is questioning whether Representative John Murtha, the Pennsylvania Democrat who has been critical of the war in Iraq, deserved the combat awards he received in Vietnam.

After all, in recent years extremist Republican operatives have inverted a longstanding principle: that our combat veterans be accorded a place of honor in political circles. This trend began with the ugly insinuations leveled at Senator John McCain during the 2000 Republican primaries and continued with the slurs against Senators Max Cleland and John Kerry, and now Mr. Murtha.

Military people past and present have good reason to wonder if the current administration truly values their service beyond its immediate effect on its battlefield of choice. The casting of suspicion and doubt about the actions of veterans who have run against President Bush or opposed his policies has been a constant theme of his career. This pattern of denigrating the service of those with whom they disagree risks cheapening the public's appreciation of what it means to serve, and in the long term may hurt the Republicans themselves.

...

The political tactic of playing up the soldiers on the battlefield while tearing down the reputations of veterans who oppose them could eventually cost the Republicans dearly. It may be one reason that a preponderance of the Iraq war veterans who thus far have decided to run for office are doing so as Democrats.

A young American now serving in Iraq might rightly wonder whether his or her service will be deliberately misconstrued 20 years from now, in the next rendition of politically motivated spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line.

Read the rest of the article and pass it on. And dont forget...DRAFT JAMES WEBB!

[Adelante]

1. I hope he runs

Has he made any indication?

[AlecBGreen]

2. i think he's sitting on the fence

we just need to push him over. I have a feeling he'll run but he wants to see what kind of support he'll get first.

[Adelante]

3. What's going on with the other guy?

I think Harris is his name? I'm a little blurry on it, but he's a Diebold lobbyist, I hear.

[AlecBGreen]

5. *shudder*

NOT a man I want representing me, my state, or my party. He is 100% pro-business, pro stauts quo, DINO, DLC, Liebermanesque blah blah blah. He CANNOT and WILL NOT get elected in this state and I dont think even I (hardcore partisan that I am) could vote for him. Pass.

[Adelante]

8. What kind of support does Harris have, though?

I'm not a Virginian, so I'm not up on things, but I am interested in Webb and defeating George Allen.

[AlecBGreen]

10. Harris is Warner's choice

that does NOT reflect well on Warner IMO. Harris is basically "inside the beltway" kinda guy.

[Adelante]

11. I see

Thanks :hi:

[rogue emissary]

6. push him over?

There's a lot I can tolerate from a politician, but having to baby step him into office isn't one of them. I realize Democrats living in Virginia can't be too choosy, but I'm getting sick of so called leaders needing to be "drafted" to represent me. They should have the guts to lead or get hell out of the way for someone that really wants the job.

[AlecBGreen]

7. I agree

if you're not 100%, dont do it. However I think in this case he is trying to gauge how much support he can get without declaring first. :shrug: Whatever the reason, he's the only guy we have who CAN and WILL beat Allen.

[rogue emissary]

9. It's understandable that he would want to gauge his support.

He really should go out and press the flesh or set up an exploratory committee.

When he decides to run, the first thing he and his support should do is drop all reference to Drafting him. It looks bad that he went to war and serves his country, but he has to be forced to represent Democrats.

The idea of people openly chossing and getting someone to run for office is admirable. Yet, as soon as I started reading about the draftwebb site it instantly turned me off to him on a gut level. Now, Miller's profession is probably the worst job any political hopeful could have running in '06. I wonder why Warner thought he'd be a good choice to run?

[Toots]

4. Brent Bosell are you reading this

"spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line."