Good news! Just a wonderful endorsement of Webb in my paper

[beachmom]

I tell you -- you're not going to read a better endorsement than this. Wow just wow:

http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=113302&ran=153446

Over the past few months, Virginians have started to get to know James Webb.

There are still gaps in that knowledge, but on two of the most essential ingredients for a U.S. senator - character and intellect - the record is clear.

Webb has an abundance of both.

Witness the fact that you have seen no pictures of Webb with his son, Jimmy, as the 24-year-old Marine lance corporal deployed for Iraq last month. That's because Webb would not allow any. Or the fact that nowhere on his campaign Web site will you find the citation (reprinted below) for extraordinary bravery that accompanied the Navy Cross awarded him for "courage, aggressive leadership, and selfless devotion to duty" in Vietnam.

Or even the simple fact that during a statewide, televised debate last month, Webb rejected an easy opportunity to bash incumbent Sen. George Allen over perceived racial insensitivities. "I think this issue has been discussed ad nauseam," Webb said, before changing the subject.

As for intellect, very little that is canned or formulaic makes its way into Webb's speeches or conversation. For better and occasionally worse, his answers appear to have been concocted in his own head, not during some poll-driven strategy session in Washington, D.C.

Personal understanding of cultural forces in the Middle East and an innate skepticism governed Webb's courageous decision to speak out against the war in Iraq before it ever began. He took that once-lonely view long before events proved him right.

How much better if the nation had listened when Webb wrote in September 2002: "The issue before us is not simply whether the United States should end the regime of Saddam Hussein, but whether we as a nation are prepared to physically occupy territory in the Middle East for the next 30 to 50 years.

"Those who are pushing for a unilateral war in Iraq know full well that there is no exit strategy if we invade and stay."

Now, again correctly, he promotes a diplomacy-based solution as the best, fragile hope of extracting the nation from a bloody quagmire and restoring some semblance of order to Iraq. A serious student of history and world affairs, Webb time and again displays a deep understanding of political and military realities in global hot spots.





I kind of had to excerpt that much just so you get an idea. They bash Allen pretty good, and then they even print his entire Navy citation. I think we REALLY have a good chance of winning this Senate race.

[karynnj]

1. YAY!!!

Thanks, Beachmom

[wisteria]

2. Good! A win here would not only benefit the Dem's, but Kerry personally. n/t