As first reported by Pat Rynard last week, former U.S. Senator Jim Webb has hired an Iowa state director for his upcoming presidential campaign.
Rania Batrice has worked more recently in other states but ran Representative Dave Loebsack’s 2008 re-election campaign in IA-02 and worked on the John Edwards campaign in Iowa before the 2008 caucuses.
The hiring comes shortly after Webb told the International Association of Fire Fighters to “stay tuned,” because he may be asking for their support again. He and former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will be featured speakers at the Polk County Democrats’ Fourth Annual Awards Dinner in Des Moines on April 10.
Webb has convinced me that he will go through with a presidential campaign; I wasn’t sure after seeing so little activity this winter, beyond creating an exploratory committee. I’m still not clear on what his niche would be in a Democratic field now dominated by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. My conversations with numerous reliable caucus-goers suggest to me that the “anyone but Hillary” contingent is much smaller among Iowa Democrats today than it was in 2007.
Moreover, Democratic activists who are not sold on Clinton seem to prefer a more progressive alternative such as Senator Elizabeth Warren. Webb’s voting record and statements on various issues during his six years as a senator from Virginia suggest a middle-of-the-road Democrat. He is not a “conservadem” like Evan Bayh or Joe Lieberman, but he’s no liberal lion like Bernie Sanders either.
Webb’s distinguished military career, including combat in Vietnam, make him an appealing candidate for many, especially veterans. His skepticism regarding U.S. military involvement around the globe could present a contrast to the Democratic front-runner. But he is less experienced than Clinton in domestic and foreign policy, and he hasn’t been vetted. His reaction to the first real scrutiny of his political action committee didn’t inspire confidence that Webb could stand up to relentless attacks from the right-wing noise machine.
I look forward to hearing the first draft of Webb’s stump speech at the Polk County Democrats’ event next month. Presumably he will lay out a case for his candidacy.
What do you think, Bleeding Heartland readers? Can Webb convince a large number of Iowa Democratic caucus-goers to stand in his corner next year?
15 Comments
Webb 2016
Seems to me that on the Democratic side, Iowa’s grassroots Democratic caucus-goers would want a candidate that was not just another Jeb Bush and part of the elite donor-class of Wall Street, Big Business, Big Banks, Big Agriculture, and 1 percenters that fund and control all of modern-day American campaigns! The Big Boys in NY and DC will accept either a Hillary or a Jeb Presidency, not much difference there between the two except on some of the social issues.I say let the voters take a look and listen to an alternative to a candidate that is not part of the 1% and the elite donor-class, but one that OFFENDS them for that matter.
clintonemailcom Tue 17 Mar 3:15 PM
Jim Webb
I’ll be supporting Jim Webb if he runs. We may not get a ton of support, but I think he can help Hillary explain what happened during her time as Secretary of State. I’m not referring to Benghazi or any right wing conspiracy either; I’m talking about our nation’s foreign policy going forward. I know a ton of union members that would love to hear Webb speak, they would like what they hear as well.
He can also help her deal with other domestic issues. Bob Rubin and that crowd will get a paycheck during Clinton Part II, but how about the rest of us? I have no real problem with Rubin either, but I just want to see more economic opportunity for everyone.
I appreciate the fair and even-handed write-up.
moderateiadem Tue 17 Mar 3:35 PM
I don't know enough
about where Webb stands on economic issues. I don’t see him as a real counterpoint to the Bob Rubin crowd the way Elizabeth Warren would be. And as we all know, she’s not running.
desmoinesdem Tue 17 Mar 6:09 PM
Webb economic issues
I think Warren would appeal to more liberals on economic issues and every other issue except for criminal justice reform. Webb wrote legislation with Barbara Boxer asking for a windfall profits tax on bonuses for firms that were bailed out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…
He wrote a lot of populist legislation that never saw the light of day. Webb’s problem is that he genuinely tries to give everyone the benefit of the doubt-in other words, he doesn’t automatically take knee jerk positions that make it easier to win a primary.
Webb also catches hell for admitting that people in West Virginia and Kentucky desperately need help. Webb believes that we should help people, whether they vote for us or not. Hell, most of these people call Democrats awful names, but we must be the bigger person and do the right thing, fighting for economic fairness.
moderateiadem Tue 17 Mar 8:15 PM
finally a candidate or three, maybe
Jim Webb would be formidable in a general election. Getting the nomination seems very unlikely. I keep reading and hearing that Al Gore is interested. Gosh, I hope so. Hey, desmoinesdem, you keep writing about a clown car for Republican candidates. The Democrats should get one themselves. Biden could drive, but he wouldn’t let anybody wearing orange to ride along. Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
ontheright Tue 17 Mar 5:37 PM
Webb would be a credible candidate
during a general election campaign. But better positioned to win than Hillary Clinton? I doubt that very much.
desmoinesdem Tue 17 Mar 6:08 PM
Webb 2016
I think you may be wrong about Webb’s PAC which was linked to in this story. It is my understanding that the Born Fighting PAC was always a family-type thing more than anything else. According to records, the 100k was paid-out over a period of 8 years to the main people doing any and all the work on it, filings, legal(Senator Webb’s wife is an attorney), accounting, website maintenance, etc. That amounts to around 12k per year, split between 2 people for all of the total PAC work.
If we want to get into the weeds on Democratic candidates and their private/public organizations, PAC’s, charity’s, etc., perhaps some answers on how much Hillary, Bill, Chelsea, Chelsea’s husband, who btw his firm serves as the hedge-fund manager for Clinton Global Initiative’s hundreds of millions in donations, might be a better vetting of what our so called “Democratic Presidential frontrunner” will face from the Republican “steroid-infused” SuperPacs with billions to spend destroying her in a general election.
clintonemailcom Tue 17 Mar 6:57 PM
I'm sure all of those matters
will be aired over the next year and a half.
Any Democratic candidate will face an onslaught of spending by super-PACs. But it’s easier to define an unknown candidate than it is to change people’s opinions about someone they already know.
desmoinesdem Tue 17 Mar 7:00 PM
Webb 2016
So I suppose everyone already knows Hillary, I see, I see. Wonder how many Democrats, voters, Americans knew that for 4 years serving as SOS she never used her taxpayer-paid-for and provided government job email account, apparently not even ONE TIME? Guess the New York Times knew, oh, and then told the country about it! But, I guess we all already know all about Secretary Clinton, I mean, don’t we?
clintonemailcom Tue 17 Mar 8:16 PM
I can see you are enthusiastic
but acting like a troll probably isn’t the best way you could apply your energy in support of your favored candidate.
The overwhelming majority of Americans have formed an opinion about Hillary Clinton. Whatever they throw at her now will mostly reinforce existing views rather than change people’s minds. Yes, she should have used a government e-mail for her work as Secretary of State. No, that issue will not be a deal-breaker for anyone who would have seriously considered voting for her.
desmoinesdem Wed 18 Mar 6:18 AM
Did not intend to act like a troll
I simply was trying to encourage the potential Iowa Democratic voters and caucus-goers to give any other official Democratic candidates a fair look and listen. I think most populistprogressive Dems would probably agree on most issues with Webb. If you are telling me that you, and most Iowa Dems, are already chomping at the bit to rush to support their 2008 cycle 3rd place finisher, Hillary, then maybe she really is the Democratic Queen of 2016. If she eventually becomes the nominee, only time will tell if she can get to 270. God Bless Iowa, and thank you very, very much for allowing me to comment on this forum. I tip my hat to y’all, this is a great site for news and views for an old Dem like myself!
clintonemailcom Wed 18 Mar 9:00 AM
My view
It sounded like rather bitter sarcasm to me.
conservative-demo Wed 18 Mar 1:12 PM
absolutely
everyone should give all candidates a fair look once the field is set. I don’t know yet how I will caucus next year, though I would support Clinton over Webb if those are the only choices.
desmoinesdem Thu 19 Mar 9:14 AM
Economic Populism
and economic fairness for working class and middle class folks is something that Jim Webb has been talking about for several decades. Look, I like Elizabeth Warren as much as any good Democrat SHOULD, but the facts are that she won election against a pretty-boy nobody Republican named Scott Brown in the nations most liberal state. I was very glad she did. She has stated numerous times that she just ain’t running in 2016! Like Warren, Webb believes in separating the regular banks from the Wall Street Investment Banks. He is for equal pay for all, higher wages for workers, etc. He stands AGAINST horrible so called “free-trade” deals like NAFTA CAFTA SHAFTA! He very much stands on the side of American workers, against corporate welfare and giveaways. I hope that the smart and sensible Iowa Democratic voters will give him a good listen and all the Democratic candidates a good listen, and make-up their minds. I feel certain that when it comes to economic issues, he will be much more on the side of Main Street and not Wall Street. Not so sure I could say that about Hillary.
clintonemailcom Tue 17 Mar 8:41 PM
Webb 2016
I think he also pushed the New GI Bill for education through the Senate. That said, according to the link he favors increasing the military. That is not necessarily a deal breaker but I don’t agree with giving DOD more money to lose track of. I’ll keep an open mind on Webb and O’Malley and hope Bernie Sanders changes to Democrat and runs.
abgdinstr Wed 18 Mar 8:08 PM