Jim Webb

Now that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee (and Hillary Clinton has fallen in line) the selection of vice-presidential running mates will dominate the political news leading up to the conventions. Both parties would seem to have numerous possibilities, but on the Democratic side the focus has been on a handful.

One of them is Jim Webb, senator from Virginia. He may not be the soundest choice for Obama, but he may well be the most interesting. He would be the first person on a national ticket to: have written a screenplay (for Rules of Engagement); won an Emmy, been in a boxing match with Oliver North, and have three tattoos (I heard him on a radio show talking about them this morning. He declined to answer what they depict or where they are on his body, but did reveal that if you catch him in a swimsuit you can see two of them). Webb was all over the place this weekend, introducing Obama at his first appearance following Clinton's withdrawal, featured in an article in The New York Review of Books (he has a new book of essays out called A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America) and an editorial in the extremely liberal publication The Nation is highly complimentary, if not coming out for calling for his appointment as running-mate.

Webb's credentials are appealing. He was a war hero, he was a Republican and Secretary of the Navy, yet he is fiercely against the war in Iraq. Candidates who have been in both parties seem to appeal to independents, perhaps because it suggests an adherence to principles above tribalism. He should also appeal to that magical group labeled "the white working-class," as he is from Appalachia (Southwest Virginia, and even wrote a book about how valuable the Scots-Irish have been in U.S. history), and is pro-gun.

On the down side, he seems to be a person who occasionally has a lack of discretion, and has been called a "hot-head." He holds grudges--he refused to shake John Kerry's hand for years and years after Kerry condemned actions by U.S. troops in Vietnam, and his scrap with President Bush is well known. In 1979 he wrote an article about why women should not be in combat, and referred to the Tailhook scandal as a "witch hunt." Apparently he has made peace with women's groups over that, but in this day and age we could expect to see it resurrected. He has also written several novels with explicit sexual content, which led to the spectacle of the George Allen campaign trying to use that against Webb by calling him a pedophile. Only a Republican could fail to understand how a writer of fiction is not necessarily endorsing everything that occurs in their work.

Webb has also been married three times, which is not in itself a condemning fact, considering John McCain is on wife number two, but it may give some pause. He does, of course, have a son currently in active duty in the military.

I don't know who Obama will choose. If I had to bet right now I might predict Ohio governor Ted Strickland, but who knows what other names will surface from now until the convention? I would, however, be gobsmacked if Hillary Clinton were the choice, as to do so would make Obama look like he was giving in to pressure, and the tail would be wagging the dog. Even if Obama wanted to choose her, he could only do so if he threw open the choice to the convention floor. The last time that happened was in 1956, and it didn't help Adlai Stevenson much.