Liking Webb

Writing for the New York Sun, Seth Lipsky tells of watching the Democrats' debate and being impressed by Jim Webb, former Senator from VA.

We wouldn’t want to let the moment pass without tipping our hat to the jarhead from Virginia, Senator James Webb. By our lights, the Marine officer (there is no such thing as a former Marine) won this debate on substance.

How sad it is for the Democratic Party that Mr. Webb is the only one left with any glint of what used to be the winning formula for the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and even William Clinton.

Watching Mr. Webb, now, alas, gone from the Senate, we couldn’t help but wonder whether it’s time for him to do what Reagan did, which is throw in with the GOP and announce that it wasn’t he who left the Democrats but the Democrats who left him.

I remember when many Democrats (including my father) believed in the necessity of military force, as the leverage behind diplomacy. All gone today, like tears in rain.