Jim Webb In Bristol

Today I went to an event at the Holiday Inn here in Bristol with Jim Webb.  This was my first time seeing Webb in-person, and I was thoroughly impressed.  As intelligent as he comes across on television, he’s even more impressive in-person.  He covered issues from his Reagan television ad and his time in the Reagan administration to social and economic fairness and the Iraq War.

George Allen had a guy with a camera at the event, who apparently I was sitting directly in front of.  The guy’s name was John.  He apparently didn’t have a last name (or, since he didn’t want anybody to know it, left it off his name tag).  I’ll say this about him (and I don’t like to talk bad about folks too much): If these folks with the cameras are representing the campaign of a sitting U.S. Senator, they shouldn’t wear shorts that are way too short for a guy, or shirts with motor oil (or something) on them.

One thing that was very interesting to me was Webb’s segment on the lead-up to the Iraq War, and calling his friend, Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska.  He posed a very detailed question to Hagel for him to pass on to the Department of Defense.  He said that in previous times, he would pose even more detailed questions, “Like ethnic breakup of fatalities in any given battle in the Vietnam War, and within 24 hours, boom, there’s a spreadsheet,” (that quote was not verbatim, but close) but, with the particular question posed to Hagel, it took longer.  Much longer.  After 60 days, Hagel received a letter back from an Assistant Secretary for Public Relations that blew the question off totally, without any kind of answer.  That, Jim Webb said, was the standard practice for the Bush administration.

After Webb’s speech, he took questions from the audience.  It amazed me that every question posed to him, he had a thorough and specific answer for.  No dancing around the issue.  The questions ranged from international trade laws, to gaffes from Allen, to closing the gap between the three classes.

I came away from this event even more convinced than ever that Jim Webb is not only the best and brightest for the job, and that he would make a great Senator, but that in January, he will be our Senator.

-Neal