Comments on: Obama Backs Off On NAFTA

By: Decision ‘08 » Blog Archive » Did Pinocchio’s Nose Grow Because He Was ‘Inartful’?

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:56:41 +0000

[...] support invoking the six-month opt-out clause from NAFTA, except (wink, wink) I don’t really intend to do it, I just support the concept of doing it, as opposed to the actual [...]

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:46:21 +0000

Also a front page article on Webb in today’s Wall Street Journal — he seems to be getting more buzz than any other potential VP candidate –

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 14:01:08 +0000

Well, three cheers for the Economist!…

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 13:23:55 +0000

This week’s Economist has an editorial which says that Obama “could do better” than Webb for a VP selection. They think he would be an electoral positive by appealing to white voters who would otherwise vote McCain and by carrying Virginia. However, they consider him to be an indifferent campaigner (he looks like an “angry potato”), but most important in their non-endorsement is what they consider to be his over-the-top populism and anti-business economic views.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:39:02 +0000

Well, he’s got some negatives to go with the positives, let’s just say that…and he’s VERY rough around the edges at times…

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:16:32 +0000

I’m not familiar enough with his thinking to say anything intelligent — however it seems to me that his biography would be a great fit — former head of the Navy, former Republican, mucho macho guy (but with a sensitive side! he writes novels!), kid in Iraq, probably a lot of appeal to white working class voters and veterans — I would personally go with Chris Dodd, but an Obama/Webb ticket would be quite unlike anything we’ve seen before.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:02:28 +0000

Well, you’re putting me in an impossible situation…because I can’t think like an anti-globalism ‘progressive’. He would appeal to the Kos Kidz, no doubt, and the MoveOn crowd…but I think he would be a net negative before very long at all…

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 00:56:26 +0000

Let’s forget about Webb’s ideology for a moment. Do you think that he would be a net positive for Obama’s chances to be elected? Is there another Democrat who you think would make a stronger ticket?

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:39:16 +0000

Though in fairness, reviewing my old posts about Webb, he was accused at one point (by The Nation, no less!) of taking his cues from Marx and Engels, and when I looked into it, it was quite an exaggeration…so I retract “hopelessly socialist” and substitute “solid progressive” (which still means he has strong socialist tendencies, but in the modern anti-globalization context)…yet and still, he’s awfully fond of ‘class struggle’ as the defining economic metaphor, no?…Oh, heck, call him what you want, just don’t make him my Vice President!…

By: Mark

Mark — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:26:48 +0000

Well, every time I call James Webb a socialist, I get criticized, but we've debated this at length before, right at this very blog, and there is evidence to suggest he certainly has socialist tendencies, as I noted at more length here...