Who is this Jim Webb guy, anyway?

[dreamshark]

How does a freshman senator that won his election by a fluke get picked to give the official Democratic response to the presidential State of the Union? From where I sit, it's an inexplicable choice, but a brilliant one. This is a dynamite speech! read it here

cakmpls, you should find it particularly interesting, as it seems to speak directly to your post a few days ago about workers and wages. (Do you think Senator Webb is reading your LJ???)

Comments

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Jim Webb is a major victory for the Netroots movement. That is, liberal bloggers starting from scratch and finding good candidates early in the process, then building support from their positions and experience. Webb is a former Republican (I predict you'll hear a lot of that phrase) who was, indeed, Secretary of the Navy under Reagan. He has experience and a solid resume, and happens to be a terrific speaker. His Democratic Response was not the first time I've heard him speak, but he is a good choice: A freshman (and not running for president), career military (with a son in Iraq [not Vietnam, as CNN's graphic said]) who can speak well (contrasting with W.).

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

...as it seems to speak directly to your post a few days ago about workers and wages. (Do you think Senator Webb is reading your LJ???)

Probably not. If she's been reading and agreeing with what Webb had to say in Born Fighting, then that's probably why it sounds familiar; he's a populist of the type that was popular in the Midwest and South back in the late 19th and early 20th century.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Great speech! I hope to God he's right when he says,
"We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons."

Webb

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

He was chosen because it's a brilliant political choice -- and he has the military credibility to stand up to Bush's nonsense.

B