Free Republic

Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level. For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters who register with the Republican Party and a rise among voters who affiliate with Democrats and, almost as often, with no party at all. Jim Webb, arms crossed, at a rally in 2006, won his Senate race in Virginia with strong support from inner suburbs. While the implications of the changing landscape for Mr. Obama...

The US should avoid suggesting that the withdrawal of troops from Iraq will be followed by a surge of troops in Afghanistan, according to Jim Webb, senator for Virginia. Ruling himself out as a possible running mate for Barack Obama, Mr Webb’s comments come as an implied criticism of the Democratic party’s orthodoxy on Iraq and Afghanistan – including Mr Obama’s own stance. "The dynamic is that terrorism works the seams of international law. We can’t create stable societies in places like Afghanistan;that can’t be our objective.”Mr Webb’s background as a “Reagan Democrat” – the group of working-class Democratic supporters...

Authorities investigated the mysteries surrounding the death of U.S. Senate aide Fred Hutchins on Wednesday, a day after his body was found beside his sport utility vehicle on U.S. 220 near Fincastle. "We're just working to let the evidence go wherever it goes," said Botetourt County Sheriff's Maj. Delbert Dudding. One of his deputies obtained a search warrant to look through the downtown Roanoke apartment of Hutchins, who was 26 and ran U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's office in Roanoke County. According to the search warrant, potential evidence was sought that might exist in Hutchins' computer, his cellphone, his answering machine...

Authorities investigated the mysteries surrounding the death of U.S. Senate aide Fred Hutchins on Wednesday, a day after his body was found beside his sport utility vehicle on U.S. 220 near Fincastle. "We're just working to let the evidence go wherever it goes," said Botetourt County Sheriff's Maj. Delbert Dudding. One of his deputies obtained a search warrant to look through the downtown Roanoke apartment of Hutchins, who was 26 and ran U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's office in Roanoke County. According to the search warrant, potential evidence was sought that might exist in Hutchins' computer, his cellphone, his answering machine...

** Originally published January 12, 2007 ** The Botetourt County kid who handed out political business cards as a grade schooler is now the local face for U.S. Sen. James Webb in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Fred Hutchins, who has spent the past several years as state Del. Onzlee Ware's legislative aide, has been hired by Virginia's new Democratic senator to run his Roanoke-based U.S. Senate office. For the time being, it will be in the same place as former U.S. Sen. George Allen's, in an office complex off Virginia 419 near the Roanoke County Administration Building. "I'm...

Authorities in Botetourt County this morning discovered the body of a well-known Democratic operative and U.S. Senate aide along U.S. 220, dead from an apparent gunshot wound. The body of Frederick W. Hutchins Jr., 26, of Roanoke was found shortly after 7 a.m. along southbound U.S. 220 by a Botetourt County deputy who had stopped to check on a vehicle parked on the highway's shoulder, according to the sheriff's office. Hutchins was an aide to U.S. Senator Jim Webb, D-Va. Hutchins had been shot in the head, and a gun was found beneath his body, Sheriff Ronnie Sprinkle said. The...

An aide to U.S. Sen. Jim Webb was found dead alongside a Botetourt County road yesterday, according to a Richmond newspaper. Frederick Wayne Hutchins Jr., 26, apparently had been shot once in the head and a gun was found under his body, the Richmond Times Dispatch was reporting. The body was discovered outside his vehicle on an embankment on U.S. 220 near Fincastle.

As oil trades in excess of $135 a barrel the theme of the left has been to invest in “green alternative energy solutions.” But Sen. James Webb, D-Va., touted as a rising star in the liberal movement, isn’t playing along. “We need to look at nuclear,” Webb said on July 8. “We need to have a sensible nuclear policy. We haven’t built a nuclear power plant in this country in 30 years. Technology’s changed a lot in the last 30 years. You know when I was saying this two years ago, as some people in this room know – there...

Sen. Jim Webb (Va.), considered one of the favorites to be picked as Sen. Barack Obama’s (Ill.) running mate on the Democratic ticket, announced Monday that he would not be a candidate for the job. “Last week I communicated to Sen. Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the United States Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country,” Webb said. “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for vice president.”

A Virginia Senator with less experience than Obama, and maybe not a lot in common either, takes himself out of the Veepstakes.

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) waded into the debate over John McCain's military service Monday to say that the Republican should avoid using military service in politics. Webb, a Barack Obama supporter, was on MSNBC's "Countdown" to talk about his G.I. Bill to increase education benefits for returning veterans which is now law. Webb criticized both McCain and President Bush for not supporting the bill. Then, unprompted, Webb weighed in on the debate over retired Gen. Wesley Clark's remark that "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" isn't "a qualification to be president."

There is nothing that has fascinated Democrats this election cycle more than the prospect of their nominee winning Virginia in November. It would indeed be the Democrats’ first time to do so in more than 40 years, and the idea of cutting into the Republicans' hold on the south is, understandably, extremely exciting for them (although if they have set foot in Northern Virginia, which contains a third of the state's votes, they would understand the foolishness of interpreting a Virginia victory as anything resembling the takeover of a “southern” state.) Nonetheless, that is all they are talking about. They...

Barack Obama’s vice presidential vetting team will undoubtedly run across some quirky and potentially troublesome issues as it goes about the business of scouring the backgrounds of possible running mates. But it’s unlikely they’ll find one so curious as Virginia Democratic Sen. Jim Webb’s affinity for the cause of the Confederacy. Webb is no mere student of the Civil War era. He’s an author, too, and he’s left a trail of writings and statements about one of the rawest and most sensitive topics in American history. He has suggested many times that while the Confederacy is a symbol to many...

WASHINGTON — The Marines, in full dress uniform, perform their summer drills in silence, flipping their rifles in near-perfect precision in front of the Iwo Jima memorial, illuminated by the glow of sunset. One man, the guest of honor, stands stock-straight at the center of the pageantry, Marines on both sides, watching as they pass. Order. Precision. Tradition. Just across the Potomac River from his Senate office, this is Jim Webb's world. The first-term senator from Virginia has built a life around a deep love for the military. His sons have followed him, with one serving in the Marines in...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With his two Purple Hearts, three tattoos and spoiling-for-a-fight attitude, Sen. Jim Webb is emerging as the Democrats' point man on two of the most profound matters facing the electorate this November: national defense and the military. A highly decorated war veteran who opposes the Iraq war, Sen. Webb is considered by many Democrats to be the best person to go into battle against another war hero, expected Republican nominee Sen. John McCain. The ex-Marine, who hails from the important swing state of Virginia, could also become Sen. Barack Obama's go-to person on national security, where the...

Richard Just at the New Republic magazine is not impressed with Virginia senator Jim Webb as a running mate for Barack Obama. Webb is fundamentally illiberal, he writes, a misogynist and an ethnic nationalist and "something of an apologist for the Confederacy." So why do lots of liberals like Webb, Just asks. "In the years since he left the Republican party, Webb has found his way to certain policy stands that liberals correctly find attractive. He was right about Iraq, and, on economics, he is right to criticise the disparity between rich and poor." Just can't figure out how a...

By pushing a bill that distances himself from the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate on offshore drilling, Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia is picking a curious time to exercise his well-known independence. Webb wants his home state to have the right to explore for energy off Virginia’s coast. His staff insists his proposal pertains only to natural gas, and not oil, and that it is completely in line with the state’s other two leading Democrats — Gov. Tim Kaine and former Gov. Mark Warner, who is running for Senate. Yet by attaching his name to the bill, sponsored by...

Wisconsin Democrats, gathered in convention at Stevens Point Friday night, had no national party "stars" to gush about. Presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama, who was in the state Thursday, skipped the partisan gathering. So, too, did New York Senator Hillary Clinton, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, Virginia Senator Jim Webb and all the other "names" mentioned as prospective vice presidential candidates. Nor did they have a keynote speaker to get all excited about. In the absence of a national celebrity, they had to settle for a "keynote" from Governor James Doyle -- who would have addressed the convention anyway....

How can you tell when someone really, really wants to be vice president? He becomes very outgoing, and very sensitive, at the same time. That’s what has happened with Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) lately. I have not, in the past, been on the senator’s press mailing list. Nothing unusual there; I don’t cover him and don’t usually write about him. But lately, his press office has wanted to make sure I know everything he’s doing. Which TV shows will he visit? Which hearings will he attend? I’m getting frequent updates. There are also signs Webb is paying a lot of...

Barack Obama and his advisers have begun the process of vetting vice presidential running mates, and Hillary Clinton and several former military leaders have landed on the soon-to-be Democratic nominee’s list of 20 potential candidates. Clinton, Obama’s rival during the primary contests, reportedly made the cut by building an energetic coalition of support among women, working-class voters and Hispanics in her unsuccessful bid for the party’s nomination, and, according to Obama, “would be on anybody's short list.” Clinton finished strong by winning six of the last nine and nine of the last 15 primaries, including decisive 10-point victories over Sen....

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Barack Obama is considering former top military leaders among his possible running mates, according to a senator who met Tuesday with the Democratic presidential candidate's vice presidential vetting team. North Dakota Sen. Kent Conrad told The Associated Press said the team asked him about potential candidates from three broad categories _ current top elected officials, former top elected officials and former top military leaders. Conrad would not disclose which names they discussed, and the Obama campaign has been keeping the process a closely guarded secret. "We talked about many names," Conrad said, including "some that are out...

The Talk Shows Sunday, June 8th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Govs. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Journalists round table. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.; Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.; Howard Wolfson, campaign adviser for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., Bob Casey, D-Pa., Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Feinstein; Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the U.S.; Wolfson.

Barack Obama resists Hillary Clinton as running mate By Toby Harnden in Washington Last Updated: 8:08PM BST 05/06/2008 Resisting a defiant push by Hillary Clinton to force him to name her as his running mate, Barack Obama has appeared publicly with three other prominent vice-presidential contenders. Mr Obama held events in Virginia alongside Senator Jim Webb, a Vietnam hero and former Republican, the loyal Governor Tim Kaine, one of the earliest top politicians to declare for the Illinois senator, and Mark Warner, a former Virginia governor with potent electoral appeal in conservative rural areas. In an interview with NBC News,...

As political rituals go, the phony denial of interest in the VP nomination is among the most annoying. So credit Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee for unequivocally stating their willingness to serve as McCain's running mate. But please, politicians out there, spare us the feeble non-denial denials such as the one Jim Webb offered up on today's Morning Joe. Isn't Webb supposed to be Mr. No-Nonsense Macho Man? After all, he was on the show to tout his new book, A Time to Fight, and to talk up his rough 'n tumble Scots-Irish roots. But judging by his wimpy response...

Let's say you're a young person working for a large, well respected corporation with a very pronounced global presence and an acute need for an increased workforce. Your job is difficult, but also very personally fulfilling. Despite the fact that you love your job, you find yourself thinking about moving on. Sensing this, your boss comes to you and says: "I hear you're thinking about quitting. We really value your work and we need you to stay. It's hard to find qualified employees like yourself so we'd definitely like it if you stayed on. But, just so you're aware, if...

Virginia Senator James Webb should be the Democratic candidate for vice-president. Senator Barack Obama is close to winning the Democratic nomination for president. His overwhelming victory in North Carolina and virtual tie in Indiana, with a forthcoming tide of superdelegates, will bring him within a hundred votes of the nomination. Obama has victory in sight, unless the iron laws of arithmetic are repealed by superdelegates meeting in "smoke-filled rooms" in an age of "no smoking" edicts in air-conditioned retreats. Obama must soon turn to the choice of a running mate. The best choice, in my opinion, would be Senator Webb....

Setting off speculation about his possible VP pick, Barack Obama may have unnerved his MSM cheerleaders. They’d already been dismayed to find that the Chosen One a mite “self righteous” as one Washington Post columnist described him and “arrogant” as a Slate blogger mused. (What was their first clue? I mean aside from the cult-like music videos, Obama girl and his wife’s insistence that he is the only source of pride in America in the last generation?) Last weekend Obama piped up with this when asked about his VP pick: “I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of...

The Talk Shows Sunday, April 6th, 2008 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and John Kerry, D-Mass.; Joe Urschel, executive director of the Newseum media museum. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa.; Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa.; Michael Eric Dyson, author of a book on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. ; Andrew Young, former Atlanta mayor and an aide to King during the civil rights movement.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.;...

What do Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee, John McCain and Barack Obama have in common, besides wanting to be the next commander in chief? They are all of Scots-Irish descent, an ethnic and cultural lineage that has produced more presidents and military leaders than any other. "Fascinating, but not surprising," says U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va. The former naval secretary and decorated Marine should know: He catalogued the migration and cultural influence of the Scots-Irish in America in his book "Born Fighting." They have "always had the tradition of being in leadership positions, whether it is the military or in politics,"...

Dec. 26, 2007, 4:25PM Senate meets for 9 seconds to block Bush appointment By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press TOOLS Email Get section feed Print Subscribe NOW Comments (40) Recommend WASHINGTON — The House was quiet as a mouse the day after Christmas. But across the Capitol, the Senate was operating in an unusually efficient manner in its ongoing power struggle with President Bush. A nine-second session gaveled in and out by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., prevented Bush from appointing as an assistant attorney general a nominee roundly rejected by majority Democrats. Without the pro forma session, the Senate would be...

The US Senate is holding special one man sessions throughout Christmas and the New Year to prevent President George W. Bush from making appointments without the approval of the Democratic majority. With the bang of a gavel, Democratic Senator Jim Webb declared the first session open on Sunday morning before closing it seconds later, without any of his colleagues present in the hall. The brief ceremony will be repeated every two to three days until January 18, when lawmakers resume their work after the Christmas and New Year's holidays. The Democratic majority is staging the move to avoid any formal...

Please call Senator and House members of the Defense Authorization conference committee and urge them to remove the Hate Crimes provision in the Defense spending bill. Down to the Wire on Hate (Thought) Crimes December 4, 2007 - Tuesday In an attempt to force the veto pen of President Bush, liberals on Capitol Hill have inserted the hate (thought) crimes language into the Defense Authorization bill expanding both the definition of hate crimes and of those who can be found culpable under these provisions. The definition is broadened to include sexual orientation among the protected classes, elevating sexual attraction...

Remember Macaca? The young man whose handheld video brought down former Virginia Sen. George Allen, has resurfaced in the presidential contest that Allen once hoped to be part of himself. S.R. Sidarth, the Fairfax student of Indian descent, is now a paid staffer in the communications office of Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson. He works in Richardson's Santa Fe office compiling daily newspaper articles for the governor, drafting press releases and performing other communication tasks. Alas, he is not reprising his role as a volunteer "tracker" for the Jim Webb campaign, when he shadowed Allen with a video camera, hoping...

Most Senators have left Washington for the Thanksgiving recess, but a few Democrats are keeping the Senate in business, technically speaking: The skeleton crew isn't actually doing anything besides gaveling the non-voting sessions in and out twice a week. Majority Leader Harry Reid says this gambit is intended to thwart "controversial recess appointments." So who are these threats to the Republic? The Beltway rumor was that Public Enemy No. 1 was James Holsinger Jr., President Bush's nominee for Surgeon General. The Kentucky cardiologist is an abomination to liberals because, 16 years ago, he wrote that gay sex is "incompatible with...

Two days before Thanksgiving the Senate had a 22-second session, a fleeting moment in the life of an occasionally droning body but plenty of time for majority Democrats to keep President Bush from making "recess" appointments. Senators have been taking turns standing sentry duty this week — just to prevent Bush from circumventing the confirmation process by immediately installing people in federal posts while the chamber is in recess. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., who carried out that less than glamorous task Tuesday, is a relative newcomer, a low-ranking freshman and a senator who lives just minutes from the Capitol; he...

Hillary Clinton -- and the other Democrats running for president -- couldn't possibly have assumed that they would forever skate around the issue of illegal immigration. That notion came to an end in the most recent debate, when the New York senator badly slipped over a question about her state's controversial plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens. Did she think no one would ask? Democrats had better start dealing with this. Polls show a large majority of Americans, including Democrats, opposed to illegal immigration. They also find that most Americans favor some sort of amnesty for many illegals....

Just 10 months into his first term in elected office, James Webb found himself on the podium for one of the most coveted speaking slots in Democratic politics. The freshman senator from Virginia delivered the keynote address to the New Hampshire Democratic Party at its annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner a week ago, a role that in recent years has been played by current and former White House candidates John Edwards and John Kerry. Two years ago the speech was delivered by Sen. Evan Bayh, who is viewed as a potential vice presidential pick next year.... Direct and withering when talking about...

There's been lots of speculation that Sen. James Webb (D) could be on the short list for vice-president in 2008. But maybe Webb has his eye on the top job? And, as everyone knows, the road to the Democratic presidential nomination in 2012 or 2016 will likely run through New Hampshire. Webb, 61, will be keynote speaker Saturday at New Hampshire Democratic Party Annual Jefferson Jackson Dinner in Manchester. Webb's appearance reminds me of a private discussion I had with one of his campaign staffers after last year's U.S. Senate race. The friend said Webb wants to be President someday....

The Talk Shows Sunday, August 26th, 2007 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Jack Reed, D-R.I.; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sen. John Warner, R-Va.; cyclist Lance Armstrong. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and his wife, Elizabeth. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Jim Webb, D-Va., and John Cornyn, R-Texas; former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers. LATE EDITION (CNN) : Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the No. 2...

Senator Jim Webb held an unequivocal position on issues related to immigration during his campaign for The US Senate. He got solidly to Incumbent George Allen and President George W. Bush’s right and ran there without apology to the members of the Democratic Party that see illegal immigration as a civil right that the US government should never take away. His stated position on these issues would put him in the same political quadrant as Jeff Sessions or Tom Coburn. Yet he did nothing to get the State of Virginia enough budgetary support to enforce Federal Immigration Laws. Recently, the...

The news that Congressional approval ratings have fallen to 14%, the lowest ever recorded, shows that when you have no idea what to do and no programs to solve America’s problems, simply castigating and ridiculing the President is not enough. For example, when Jim Webb, the new Democrat Senator from Virginia (the one whose aide was caught with the Senator’s firearm concealed on his person) gave the opposition response to the President’s State of the Union Address, about the only thing he said was that he knew in advance that the President’s actions to bring democracy to Iraq would fail....

To pass the cloture vote, it's not just about getting the requisite number of Republicans. There is a significant set of Democratic senators who will need to be persuaded. Three centrists whose razor-thin election victories in November tipped control of the Senate to the Democrats now hold potentially decisive swing votes on the immigration measure the chamber will try to revive later this week. All three Democratic freshman senators - Jim Webb (Va.), Jon Tester (Mont.) and Claire McCaskill (Mo.) - voted against efforts by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to shut down debate over the measure earlier this...

Thank you for your recent e-mail message. I appreciate your comments. Please be certain that your opinions and suggestions will be very helpful to me and my staff in our work on behalf of Virginia and the nation. If the subject of your communication is time sensitive or requires more detailed attention, please contact my office directly toll free at 1-866-507-1570. Again, thank you for writing, and I hope you will communicate with me often in the future. Sincerely, Jim Webb United States Senate

RICHMOND, Va. -- Sen. Jim Webb said he owns the gun that an aide was arrested for carrying into the U.S. Capitol complex in March. "It's my gun," Webb told the Richmond Times-Dispatch in an interview last week. Webb previously had refused to say whether the gun was his, although his senior aide--Phillip Thompson--had told police the weapon belonged to the Democratic senator. Thompson was arrested on an illegal handgun charge when he carried the loaded pistol and two other loaded magazines in a briefcase into the Russell Senate office building. A federal prosecutor later dropped the charge. Webb said...

Rosie O’Donnell has recently made the sort of remarks one would only expect from a person who has either suffered a closed head injury or believes the “Pursuit of Happiness” line in the Declaration of Independence applies to the act of toad licking. Not only has she forwarded the notion that the terrorists are your friends and that we shouldn’t fear them, but she has also joined in with the core of conspiracy theorists who believe that George W. Bush spent the first 8 months of his Presidency trying to figure out how to get rid of those pesky towers...

...Suppose there was a hardcore Republican senator who opposed a war policy of a Democrat president. I know, you have to imagine a Democrat going to war, but let's say it's possible. And let's just say this Republican senator had a son in the military and upon meeting the president picked a fight with him and was later quoted as saying he was thinking about punching the Democrat president over the war policy and perceived rudeness. That's exactly the situation that describes Sen. Webb, except the political affiliations are reversed. Now let's just imagine that particular Republican senator had an...

Duck!" The cry -- from a member of the Capitol Hill press corps -- rang out as Sen. Jim Webb rounded a corner at high noon and strode toward reporters waiting outside the Senate chamber. Webb had called the news conference to talk about his aide, who was caught walking into a Senate building with a loaded pistol and ammo that, the aide said, belonged to the senator. ... "I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment," he announced, wearing the sort of baggy suit that made it hard to tell for sure if he was packing heat. "I...

IT MAY SEEM LIKE a no-brainer: Carrying weapons around lawmakers on Capitol Hill is a right reserved only for those providing security. That's why it seems a bit odd that an aide for Virginia Sen. Jim Webb would try to bring a bag carrying the freshman lawmaker's loaded gun through a security checkpoint at the Russell Senate Office Building yesterday. Authorities believe that the situation was nothing but an unfortunate mistake — a sentiment echoed by Webb's office. The aide was jailed for possessing an unregistered firearm and ammunition and carrying the weapon without a permit. District laws prohibit handguns...

Webb told The Richmond Times Dispatch in December that he considers himself a "strong Second Amendment person" but said he does not carry a gun to work. "I don't carry personally regularly. I shoot regularly. I like to have the option to carry, which is why I keep the permit," he said. "I value the opportunity to be able to protect myself, depending on situations. But no, I don't walk around with a weapon on me all of the time," he told the newspaper.

The "cut and run" Democrats are in full swing now by recently voting to "help" President Bush ["Senate panel rejects Bush's war strategy," Jan. 25]. They've passed a resolution that will be sent to the Senate for a full vote showing their angst against the recent increase in troop strength in Iraq. These actions do not send a message of commitment to winning the war against terrorism, of which Iraq is one front. These are weak, politically correct attempts to thwart President Bush no matter the cost. The Democrats would rather lose Iraq in order to maintain power in Congress....