Webb makes Iraq focus of campaign
2006-10-16
Source: The Roanoke Times
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rss feedHe worked for Ronald Reagan, called Bill Clinton corrupt and endorsed Virginia Republican George Allen for the U.S. Senate in 2000.
Now James Webb is trying to unseat Allen by running as a Democrat, embracing a party that he once felt had abandoned him and other Vietnam-era military veterans. He is depicting Allen as a philosophical clone of President Bush and attacking the Republican Party's handling of the war in Iraq, foreign policy and the economy.
During Webb's campaign for the Democratic nomination and throughout his one-on-one battle with Allen, his detractors have portrayed him as a candidate of contradictions. Webb's political journey even provided funny fodder for smart-aleck comedian Stephen Colbert in February, when Webb appeared on the Comedy Central program "The Colbert Report."
"How many flip-flop ads does your opponent need to do to destroy you?" Colbert asked, drawing laughter from Webb and the studio audience.
Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran, served as an assistant secretary of defense and Navy secretary in Reagan's administration. He felt alienated from the Democratic Party in the 1970s after President Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam-era draft evaders. But he said he never felt comfortable with the Republicans' tilt on economic and social issues. As the Bush administration began gearing up to invade Iraq, he was convinced the GOP had lost its moorings on national security matters.
Webb, a prolific author and freelance journalist, aired his concerns about Bush's Iraq strategy in a Washington Post commentary published in September 2002, six months before U.S. troops entered the country. He argued that an invasion would sidetrack anti-terrorism efforts and could lead to a prolonged occupation of Iraq.
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