Wes Clark: "Virginia Democrats have found a real leader."

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General Wesley Clark Endorses Jim Webb in Virginia
March 29, 2006

I am in Virginia to formally endorse Jim Webb, a good friend, true patriot, and fellow veteran who is challenging Republican George Allen for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

Today, I'm asking you to join me in pledging Jim our full support in this important race.

I first met Jim Webb back in 1982, when a West Point classmate of mine brought us together to discuss the idea of building a memorial for our Vietnam veterans on the National Mall. From our first meeting over two decades ago, and ever since, I've come to know Jim as a smart, tough, and principled patriot.

Like me, Jim Webb was drafted into politics. Thousands of Virginians, in search of a real leader to represent them in the Senate, created a grassroots movement to encourage him to jump into the race. On March 7th, Jim answered their call to serve our country once again -- and now he has just three months to introduce himself to Virginia Democrats before the June 13th primary.

I remember well your support of me when I was drafted into the Presidential race. To this very day, I'm humbled and gratified by your faith in me.

In 2003, your financial support allowed our campaign to hit the ground running. Now, I am asking you to do the same for Jim.

Jim Webb is a real leader Virginians can count on. He will put the interests of the people of this great state first and will take his fight to the floor of the Senate. He won't back down from any challenge, and he will focus on the job he is elected to do.

Jim is a decorated Marine, winner of the Navy Cross, and former Secretary of the Navy. As a soldier, Jim was a legendary fighter. As a citizen, Jim has been a principled and persuasive leader. Now, as a Senate candidate, Jim is the only candidate with the experience and skills to broaden our party and win in November.

Jim opposed the Iraq War from the beginning. He understood that Iraq did not represent an imminent threat and knew that going to war in Iraq would cause us to lose our focus on the global war on terrorism.

We need Jim to fight to reshape our defense and foreign policy to better reflect the strategic priorities of the country, to rebuild national infrastructure and secure our borders, to work hard to bring true economic and social fairness to our society, and to restore the Constitutional role of the Congress as an equal partner, reining in the unbridled power of the Presidency.

We need Jim's voice of wisdom and reason in the United States Senate. But he needs our help to get there.

About Jim Webb

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Continuing A Tradition of Strength

Jim grew up on the move, attending more than a dozen different schools across the U.S. and in England. He graduated from high school in Bellevue, Nebraska.

First attending the University of Southern California on an NROTC academic scholarship, he left for the Naval Academy after one year.

At the Naval Academy he was a four-year member of the Brigade Honor Committee, a varsity boxer, and was one of six finalists in the interviewing process for Brigade Commander during his senior year.

Graduating in l968 he chose a commission in the Marine Corps, and was one of 18 in his class of 841 to receive the Superintendent's Commendation for outstanding leadership contributions while a midshipman.

A Lifetime of Service

First in his class of 243 at the Marine Corps Officer's Basic School in Quantico, Virginia, Jim served with the Fifth Marine Regiment in Vietnam, where as a rifle platoon and company commander in the infamous An Hoa Basin west of Danang he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, and two Purple Hearts. He later served as a platoon commander and as an instructor in tactics and weapons at Marine Corps Officer Candidates School, and then as a member of the Secretary of the Navy's immediate staff, before leaving the Marine Corps in l972.

Jim spent the "Watergate years" as a student at the Georgetown University Law Center, arriving just after the Watergate break-in in 1972, and receiving his J.D. just after the fall of South Vietnam in l975. While at Georgetown he began a six-year pro bono representation of a Marine who had been convicted of war crimes in Vietnam (finally clearing the man's name in 1978, three years after his suicide), won the Horan award for excellence in legal writing, and authored his first book; Micronesia and U.S. Pacific Strategy. He also worked in Asia as a consultant to the Governor of Guam, conducting a study of U.S. military land needs in Asia, and their impact on Guam's political future.

Jim has written six best-selling novels: Fields of Fire (l978), considered by many to be the classic novel of the Vietnam war, A Sense of Honor (l981), A Country Such As This (1983), Something To Die For (1991), The Emperor's General (1999) and Lost Soldiers (2001).

He taught literature at the Naval Academy as their first visiting writer, has traveled worldwide as a journalist, and his PBS coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut earned him an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Jim has traveled extensively, particularly in Asia, as a journalist, business consultant and screenwriter-producer. He speaks Vietnamese and has done extensive pro bono work with the Vietnamese community dating from the late l970's.

In 1989 he met with key Japanese government and industrial officials as a featured guest of the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

He has worked on feature film projects with many of Hollywood's top producers. His original story “Rules of Engagement”, which he also executive-produced, was released in April 2000 and starred Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. It was the number one film in the US for two weeks.

His fifth novel The Emperor's General was purchased by Paramount pictures as the largest book-to-film deal of 1998. His book Born Fighting, which is his first commercial non-fiction effort, was published in October 2004 by Broadway Books.

A Matter of Honor

In government, Jim served in the U.S. Congress as counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs from l977 to l98l, becoming the first Vietnam veteran to serve as a full committee counsel in the Congress.

During the Reagan Administration he was the first Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs from l984 to l987, where he directed considerable research and analysis of the U.S. military's mobilization capabilities and spent much time with our NATO allies. In 1987 he became the first Naval Academy graduate in history to serve in the military and then become Secretary of the Navy. He resigned from that position in 1988 after refusing to agree in the reduction of the Navy's force structure during congressionally-mandated budget cuts.

Among Jim's many other awards for community service and professional excellence are the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Medal of Honor Society's Patriot Award, the American Legion National Commander's Public Service Award, the VFW's Media Service Award, the Marine Corps League's Military Order of the Iron Mike Award, the John Russell Leader-ship Award, and the Robert L. Denig Distinguished Service Award. He was a Fall 1992 Fellow at Harvard's Institute of Politics.
 

Jim Webb: In his own words (from dKos)

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1) You served in the Reagan Administration and were a Republican for many years. What are the main reasons you decided to switch to the Democratic Party?

I've never run for office. That tends to clarify the mind. I identified myself most strongly with the Democratic Party until the end of the Vietnam War, then I went with the Republican Party on issues of national security. I was not affiliated in any way with either of the Bush Administrations. Events following 9/11, plus a lot of thought while I was writing Born Fighting, led me to decide that I best identify with the Democratic Party. That being said, I have friends in both parties, and if I am elected I hope we can restore a measure of civility in the Congress that is now sorely lacking.

2) Which wing, if any, of the Democratic Party do you feel most comfortable with? Would you describe yourself as a liberal, moderate, conservative, populist, or progressive Democrat? Or something else entirely?

I would describe myself as conservative on national defense, populist on economic issues, and a social moderate.

3) Why did you decide to run for U.S. Senate from Virginia? Is your run fueled by any degree of anger towards the Bush Administration and "culture of corruption" Republican Congress?

People who are looking for anger from me will be disappointed. I was angry for many years following Vietnam because by virtue of my writings and government jobs I had inherited the responsibility of defending the wrongs done to those who had served in that war. But I lost that anger after 9/11. There are too many important issues to focus on, here in the present.

To be sure, this Administration has been woefully inept in many areas, and the political culture in Washington has become corrupted due to a Congress that has lost its way. I will focus on those areas, but more as leadership challenges than as the result of personal anger.

4) What differentiates you, if anything, from other politicians in America today?

The major difference between me and most of them is that I am not a career politician and have never desired to be one.

I have strong experience as a committee counsel in the Congress and as a Defense Department leader. But I have been extremely fortunate to be able to support myself and my family through a writing career that has given me independence and also insights that I would never have obtained if I had been running for office continuously. Writing also allows one a measure of introspection that is rarely available in government.

5) What are your main criticisms of George Allen, who you would be running against if you win the Democratic nomination? What is your main argument for replacing George Allen, and why do you believe you have the best chance to defeat him this year?

If you like George W. Bush then you should love George Allen, who has supported this president 96 percent of the time.

More Q&A with Jim Webb plus comments and followup ... Go to Daily Kos on March 26 and March 30

Jim Webb: In his own words (from TPM Cafe)

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“The Reagan Democrats” – and how to get them back

By Jim Webb

Toward the end of the Vietnam War, a large number of previously loyal Democrats left the party, many of them feeling unwelcome after the party’s drift away from its more traditional support of national defense and blue-collar workers. Some of them ended up supporting Ronald Reagan, while others took positions as independents, and formed much of the group that supported Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996.

The end result of this voter migration is that the Democrats have struggled in national elections since 1968, having lost much of their support base in the South. Republicans have won 5 of the last 7 presidential elections, and Bill Clinton’s victories owed much to the Perot vote.

It’s time for the Reagan Democrats and others who left the party to understand that their natural base is in the traditional Democratic Party – the party that best gives a voice to those who lack a full voice in the halls of power. To start with, the Republican party of George W. Bush is not the Republican party of Ronald Reagan. Other than with those who identify with the Christian right, it would be wrong to think that the Republicans have the firm loyalty of those who left the Democrats for Reagan. The decline in public education and the outsourcing of jobs has hit this culture hard. Their sons and daughters serve in large numbers in a war whose validity is increasingly coming into question.

As with other ethnic groups, those inside the culture know how to read cultural code words. Ronald Reagan knew how to talk to rural and blue-collar Democrats. Reagan portrayed an America with strong beliefs and values. Yet our greatest victory, the cold war, was won without a single shot being fired.

I intend to make the issues that are important to this group of people a central part of my campaign. I will not do this as part of a political strategy. I will talk about these issues - education, jobs, and how and when we use our military – because they are important to every American.

Democrats, and the party as a whole, would benefit by reaching out to this group of Americans. Republican extremism on social issues, misdirected foreign policy and poor management of the economy gives Democrats an opportunity to create unity among rural and urban voters of all ethnic backgrounds. I am running for the senate as a Democrat in Virginia because I believe that with the right leadership and foresight, Democrats can bridge this divide.

Comments and followup ... Go to TPM Cafe