[Sp5]

I'm making an endorsement early. I'm supporting former Senator James Webb for president. He announced an exploratory committee last month.

http://www.webb2016.com/

I hope he runs, and I think he has a chance against Hillary, who I think must be stopped as a corrupt crony and likely warmonger who will destroy us all in the worst case, and only men in the best case.

Webb is the real deal. I haven't met him, but I have mutual friends who have worked with him on veterans' issues and I respect their judgment.

Naval Academy, then Marine officer in Vietnam. Navy Cross, Silver Star, 2 x Bronze Stars, 2 x Purple Heart. The Navy Cross is the second highest decoration in the military.

Went to law school, wrote an article, Women Can't Fight, which caused a furor but is absolutely spot-on in its critique of women in combat.

Assistant Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan. Senator.

Author of six novels and two non-fiction books. The novels are good expositions of his way of thinking. Anti-SWPL, anti-chickenhawk. I can recommend Fields of Fire, A Sense of Honor, A Country Such as This and Something to Die For. The latter is a brutal takedown of Washington think-tank chickenhawks written after he had been Asst. SECDEF and SECNAV.

As a senator, took as his signature issue the insanely high rate of imprisonment in "the land of the free" to push sentencing and prison reform.

Wiki biography here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Webb

If that's not enough, married a Vietnamese woman 22 years younger than him.



http://www.webb2016.com/

[Quintus Curtius]

I read his book "Fields Of Fire" when I was on Okinawa in the early 1990s. He was also the Asst. Sec. of the Navy back in the day. He spoke to us young second lieutenants at USMC's Basic School.

He grabbed me by the hand, shook it vigorously, and slapped me hard on the shoulder.

All I could do was grin and say, thank you sir.

He's a man's man.

[IvanDrago]

(12-09-2014 01:48 PM)Quintus Curtius Wrote:  

He grabbed me by the hand, shook it vigorously, and slapped me hard on the shoulder.

All I could do was grin and say, thank you sir.

He's a man's man.

[turkishcandy]

(12-09-2014 01:37 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  

If that's not enough, married a Vietnamese woman 22 years younger than him.

That sounds like a big disadvantage in the campaign. Just saying.

[the high]

(12-09-2014 01:58 PM)turkishcandy Wrote:  

(12-09-2014 01:37 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  

If that's not enough, married a Vietnamese woman 22 years younger than him.

That sounds like a big disadvantage in the campaign. Just saying.

Agreed, but more so I think it's a deal-breaker.

This guy could have single-handedly saved the world from a martian invasion, found a cure for cancer and, figured out how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop and all that would still be overshadowed by the fact that he's married a woman 22 years his junior. And she's from a 3rd world country/Asian too?

Maybe if women weren't allowed to vote.

We can all dream though.

[Sp5]

He's a bit of a long shot, sure.

I can see him losing the Iowa caucuses to Hillary, but winning the early New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries and getting some momentum from there. He could win a few of the southern and rust-belt primaries.

He might also be on a mission to just stop Hillary, whose nanny-statism, feminism and neocon R2P warmongering is antithetical to his world view.

[TheWastelander]

If he won the Democratic nomination I'd probably vote for him in a Presidential election over some Republican RINO.

But that's exactly why I think he won't win. He's too conservative for the Dems.

Democrats loved being able to point to him during Bush's presidency and the Iraq War and say "LOOK, HE'S NO CHICKENHAWK AND HE'S ON OUR SIDE! AND HE WORKED IN THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION!"

They loved concern trolling the GOP and painting them as super extremist chickenhawks. If you recall, they nominated Kerry and played up his military service even though he was ashamed of it.

That's all done with, however, and Webb's outlived his usefulness. They won't let him beat Hillary or some other psycho like Warren.

Both the Republicans and Democrats will be out to get him.

[Sonsowey]

I liked this guy since 2006 when he was first elected to the Senate. This is what tipped me off:

"How's your boy?" Bush asked, referring to Webb's son, a Marine serving in Iraq.

"I'd like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President," Webb responded, echoing a campaign theme.

"That's not what I asked you," Bush said. "How's your boy?"

"That's between me and my boy, Mr. President," Webb said coldly, ending the conversation on the State Floor of the East Wing of the White House.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/con...01582.html

You just know the Democrat that RVF wants most is not gonna win. It's like the Republican Jezebel thinks is actually not that bad.

[Tuthmosis]

This guy is a perfect example of why we--as a forum and, frankly, society--need to move away from the Democratic-Republican binary which, as I've said ad nauseam, around this forum is a massive distraction (by design).

These days, the binary is between pussy and non-pussy. This guy is non-pussy, and I've liked him from the jump.

Co-sign the support.

[NilNisiOptimum]

As a native Virginian, I too became a big fan of Sen. Webb in 2006. As the conversation mentioned above with President Bush indicates, he's one of the few direct and honest people to serve in congress the last decade.

But we can't have anyone who won't toe the party line become president, can we? /sarcasm

[Uzisuicide]

Webb is too conservative to win the Democrat nomination. He also voted for Obama Care which will hurt him in the general election. In 2012 Obama Care was still not implemented so B.O. got away with re-election. Web will have to explain his support for the law and for B.O. He should have run as a Republican in VA if he wanted to pursue higher office than the Senate. Although I respect Webb, we need a Governor as Chief Executive in 2016.

[Quintus Curtius]

I really want to vote for Jim Webb. He's a snake eater, a no-bullshit guy.

If there were more like him, the country wouldn't be in the mess it is now.

[Sonsowey]

Democrats who vote in primaries are not necessarily the crazy SJWs that comment on Jezebel. Dean lost to Kerry, and Hillary running ostensibly to the left of Obama lost. It is my impression that they tend to be older tan the average voter who turns out for presidential elections.

I agree it is very unlikely that Webb wins but if he isnt a perfect antithesis for Hillary... The South Carolina primaries should treat him well at least.

[lskdfjldsf]

This guy married someone 22 years younger than him. Not only that, a pretty, thin, non-white woman. If you think the comments section of a news article is bad, wait til you see the average American roadside when female voters have hundreds of millions of campaign dollars to spend on signs.

[Sp5]

Another cool thing about him. Webb was active in a charity which helped supply prosthetic limbs to Vietnamese veterans of the war on both sides and traveled to Vietnam to volunteer helping those guys.

[heavy]

(12-09-2014 04:09 PM)Blick Mang Wrote:  

This guy married someone 22 years younger than him. Not only that, a pretty, thin, non-white woman. If you think the comments section of a news article is bad, wait til you see the average American roadside when female voters have hundreds of millions of campaign dollars to spend on signs.

They'll always talk shit.

If you "listened" to all the people are still talking shit about Reagan and Bush, you'd think they were the most hated, worst presidents ever...despite both serving two terms and Reagan landsliding like no one had ever seen before.

I'm always torn on "fringe" guys like this. On one-hand, despite what most say, a more conservative candidate = more likelihood of winning. On the other hand, a third party will never win. Hell, Obama campaigned on conservative points for both his campaigns.

Basically, you need someone with enough rep in the Republican party, but who's really conservative and says what the PC crowd will say is "crazy right winger" talk.

I don't know about James Webb other than what I just read, but he looks solid. Is he established enough to get backing from enough Repubs?

[Alpharius]

(12-09-2014 04:40 PM)heavy Wrote:  

If you "listened" to all the people are still talking shit about Reagan and Bush, you'd think they were the most hated, worst presidents ever...despite both serving two terms and Reagan landsliding like no one had ever seen before.

I don't know about James Webb other than what I just read, but he looks solid. Is he established enough to get backing from enough Repubs?

History will not look at Bush kindly. Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, NCLB, financial crisis, etc... Basically all the stuff Obama gets heat over (except obamacare) started in the Bush administration. As time goes on, Reagan has been idealized by the right and even more hated by the left, with things like arming the Taliban and Iran/Contra hurt his legacy after he left office. His reelection would not be the landslide it was if it was held today.

Webb won't need backing from Republicans to win. He just needs to keep the Obama coalition together - blacks, latinos, millennials, and white women. The biggest demographic that supports Republicans is older white men, and while they have the highest turnout, they're also decreasing in number. No matter who runs, the Republicans will have a uphill fight ahead of them for 2016. The best way to do that? Get Obama and Bill Clinton to go campaign for him in solid blue states to turn out the vote, while he tries to make inroads in the south and the west- Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada.

Webb could defeat Hillary if he went to Warren right now and promised her whatever post she wanted if she started campaigning for him everywhere she went. He'd be able to draw the far left in the Democrats, keep Warren from running herself, and establish himself as a viable anti-Hillary candidate. By not officially announcing her candidacy, Hillary is making a major mistake - Never give a good politician time to pray. She didn't make a big deal out of Obama in 2008, instead focusing on Edwards as her biggest challenge, look how well that worked out for her...

[JoyStick]

I have never voted before and don't really follow politics. I'm tempted to vote this time around just because I don't want to see Hillary as President.

[TheWastelander]

(12-09-2014 05:01 PM)Osiris Wrote:  

(12-09-2014 04:40 PM)heavy Wrote:  

If you "listened" to all the people are still talking shit about Reagan and Bush, you'd think they were the most hated, worst presidents ever...despite both serving two terms and Reagan landsliding like no one had ever seen before.

I don't know about James Webb other than what I just read, but he looks solid. Is he established enough to get backing from enough Repubs?

History will not look at Bush kindly. Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantanamo, NCLB, financial crisis, etc... Basically all the stuff Obama gets heat over (except obamacare) started in the Bush administration. As time goes on, Reagan has been idealized by the right and even more hated by the left, with things like arming the Taliban and Iran/Contra hurt his legacy after he left office. His reelection would not be the landslide it was if it was held today.

Webb won't need backing from Republicans to win. He just needs to keep the Obama coalition together - blacks, latinos, millennials, and white women. The biggest demographic that supports Republicans is older white men, and while they have the highest turnout, they're also decreasing in number. No matter who runs, the Republicans will have a uphill fight ahead of them for 2016. The best way to do that? Get Obama and Bill Clinton to go campaign for him in solid blue states to turn out the vote, while he tries to make inroads in the south and the west- Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada.

Webb could defeat Hillary if he went to Warren right now and promised her whatever post she wanted if she started campaigning for him everywhere she went. He'd be able to draw the far left in the Democrats, keep Warren from running herself, and establish himself as a viable anti-Hillary candidate. By not officially announcing her candidacy, Hillary is making a major mistake - Never give a good politician time to pray. She didn't make a big deal out of Obama in 2008, instead focusing on Edwards as her biggest challenge, look how well that worked out for her...

If Webb started pandering hardcore to those groups and getting Obama to stump for him (which would be political suicide at this point) I would not vote for him. I would also not vote for him if he collaborated with Warren.

White men would be open to listening to what a gun-toting white guy has to say but if he ignores them he does so at his own peril.

The feminists will get single women to vote against him in the primaries because of his younger Asian wife and the other minority groups can be swayed to vote for whomever promises the most benefits for them.

Add in some of his more conservative views and he's probably unelectable in the Democratic Party unless he gets a bunch of white men to show up and vote for him.

[VolandoVengoVolandoVoy]

It's odd that people think their vote still matters, or that there's much of a difference between the political parties. They get their donations from the same feeding trough of corruption.

https://www.princeton.edu/~bartels/economic.pdf

"I examine the differential responsiveness of U.S. senators to the preferences of wealthy, middle class, and poor constituents. My analysis includes broad summary measures of senators’ voting behavior as well as specific votes on the minimum wage, civil rights, government spending, and abortion. In almost every instance, senators appear to be considerably more responsive to the opinions of affluent constituents than to the opinions of middle-class constituents, while the opinions of constituents in the bottom third of the income distribution have no apparent statistical effect on their senators’ roll call votes."

[Sp5]

I don't think there's much difference between the parties, but there is a difference between people. Webb is not Manchurian Candidate Obama, nor is he Bush or Hillary.

It's a matter of temperament, experience and moral view. The American presidency is pretty powerful.

History is replete with examples of men making a difference. Think of FDR, TR, Lincoln.

[jariel]

Presidents are selected, not elected.

[Onto]

(12-09-2014 01:37 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  



If that's not enough, married a Vietnamese woman 22 years younger than him.

That is enough.

[Blunt]

I've liked what I've read about Webb so far.

Regardless if he survives, I will attempt to vote in the Democratic primary if my state allows it, just to try and stop Hillary.

Unless her only opponent is Elizabeth Warren every man regardless of political leaning should attempt to vote in the Democratic primary.

[The Father]

(12-09-2014 02:09 PM)the high Wrote:  

Maybe if women weren't allowed to vote.

We can all dream though.

Women not voting IS my dream. If I could build a time machine, I'd go back to the 1920's and kill off all the annoying ugly femnags of Feminism 1.0. This wouldn't have permanently kept women IN THEIR PLACE (the domestic sphere), but it would have pushed back their retarded social movement enough that I could enjoy a normal life today without fear of divorce rape, or being discriminated against at work because I own a penis.

Say, do any of you fellas have a time machine??