Good work, Webb team.

Aaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha......

This is a good introduction for Webb.  He knows he doesn't have to run from his past.  In contrast, what can Allen say?  "Um, well, I was born in southern California and raised in luxury, but traded that in to be an imitation Confederate apologist and race-baiter.  Oh, but I'm much better now."  Yeah, that's the ticket.

When are Republicans gonna step up and take their party back. Surely you can do more than sully the war records of Veterans who served this country honorably.  Is this what your party has become?  Are you content to see the once honorable conservative movement hijacked by by a bunch of former liberal whackos like Wolfowitz, Perle and company? 

Frankly, I get a little tired of the Kerry cracks.  If you'd been in Vietnam and really knew the courage it took to be the target on those river patrol boat, you'd probably drop that particular insult.  Whatever you might think of Democrats, you're just another in a long line of numbnuts spitting in the face of another Vietnam Vet.  I suspect, given your attitude, you'll do the same to our brothers and sisters in Iraq--that is, after your party grinds them down to nothing.

Your party is still running against Clinton and Kerry. They have run out of ideas and now all you can do is squawk about Kerry.  So I salute you, I Pubic.  Keep up the good work.  Every time you post, you remind the voters of how little the neocon party has to offer.  From here on, I will not refer to  neocons as Republicans.  This bunch of theorists are an insult to the memory of Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.  So keep laughing, your party has squandered the best opportunity in modern political history.

So when is this first ad going to run, Lowell?

Allen cries like a baby for two more weeks, while Dick Wadhams continues to pull his hair out.

I hope this ad will help Virginians get to know Jim better.  He's served this country his entire life and always followed principle over politics. 

As I stated before, I'm just sick that Webb has chosen to align himself with Reagan.  Once again, Webb's love of all things Republican (Webb, Chuck "I vote with Bush 95% of the time" Hagel, etc.) just saps the passion out of me.

Webb served as a part of Reagan's foreign policy team. He didn't choose to align himself with Reagan, he did align himself with Reagan. It's who he is. He's clearly taken stands on the issues that are not Republican; how may pro-choice, pro-union, anti-gay bashing amendment, anti-Bush tax cuts do you know?

Frankly if you really think Webb is a DINO you can stay home on election day and go bitch and moan. You're negativity is sapping the passion out of me.

Then during the campaign against a Republican I blogged all my complaints.  This scenario is well within the realm of possibility - not totally hypothetical.

So that's where I part ways with you. In that case I would have to value my issues over the outcome of the election in order to "share it with the group."

Another point.  I'd prefer the verb admire over idolize.  To learn who Jim Webb most admires, read Born Fighting.  It was his grandfather, B.T. Hodges.  That's who he admires.  I must tell you if I had a grandfather like that, I would be incredibly proud, too.

Jim Webb is the key to it all.

Reaching out to disaffected moderates, independents, and republicans was a great first step for the Webb Camp.

Bravo To the Campaign.

Bravo.

I am ready for change, are you?

Let's get to work.

but we do not need that much advertising in Arlington - it simply is not cost effective - it is expensive on Dvc stations, and more than 60% of your viewing audience will not be eligible to vote in Virginia.

I think the ad should run anyhow - if Allen announces that he will not use any images of Reagan or imply a Reagan endorsement of him, then it might be a different ball game.  I  think the complaints even including from Nancy Reagan are in fact a positive.

In no way does the  clip of Reagan imply an endorsement.  It is a statement of fact - the most decorated member of his class at Annapolis.  Let's be serious -- it is Reagan saying that which is upsetting to the Allen folks, supporting a man who never served.

That should be the response on the complaints.

Great ad!  Thanks for posting it!

Here's the link to MSNBC's story:

http://www.msnbc.msn...

20th century's most celebrated Republican

¿¿¿ what ???

That would be Teddy Roosevelt ( who later quit the Republican Party ).

The voice DOES NOT SOUND LIKE REAGAN !!!

The voice sounds like the typical hired voice in a political advertisement.

American would still be a relatively small and isolationist country without the benefit of a few decades of exploiting Cuba, Puerto Rico, and nearly century of exploiting the Philipines.  T.R. made the Marines a force to be respected all around the world through expert (if duplicitous) use and mis-use of Marine forces around the world.

Face it, colonial influence and wealth aside, America really only entered the world stage as a "Great Power" as a result of the victory won in the Spanish-American War and the following years of meddling as a colonial and world power.  Other presidents of his time would have been more isolationist, or more idealistic (like Wilson) - and American would have had less impact on the world's stage.

I am not saying it was a just war, nor a just cause; but I am saying that it has been the most significant impact on world history aside from the American Civil War, the American Revolution, and America's participation in World War II and the reconstruction of Japan and Europe that followed.

Kudos to the Webb campaign.  Roadette

Very very bad.

We either need to pull the ad and replace it with something quick.

OR

GET A HECK OF A BUNCH OF REAGAN Administration staff who can stand by Jim Webb.

AND/OR WE NEED RON REAGAN Jr. To weigh in. like NOW.

See the excellent thread developing on NLS.

As one commenter mentioned on NLS, the ad has done its work even if it's eventually withdrawn. The Allen campaign can't afford to create stories that boosts Webb's name ID because Webb is still a relatively unknown candidate. Allen cried foul over something so minor. Now, voters are going to hear more about Webb's biography and that's always plus for Webb.

As I said, the right thing is to pull the ad out of respect for Nancy Reagan.

I think we all learned from macaca that stories can get a life of their own.  Now please, don't get me wrong, I am NOT even remotely comparing the 2.  I'm only saying that sometimes a story gets a life of its own and this could be one (but not on a macaca level) if not handled appropriately. 

The other was a deliberate action taken to deceive voters and illegally and unethically appropriate a dead man's legacy.

They're not even close to being the same.

You are just wrong.

This was an OBVIOUS partisan ploy on behalf of Allen's campaign by Nancy.  This will be overshadowed by the 9-11 mockumentary, and it's TOTALLY innocuous to the legacy of Reagan.

Any coverage on this HELPS Webb because even unfavorable coverage still shows that this is a Republican objection for partisan reasons.

You are just wrong.

This was an OBVIOUS partisan ploy on behalf of Allen's campaign by Nancy.  This will be overshadowed by the 9-11 mockumentary, and it's TOTALLY innocuous to the legacy of Reagan.

Any coverage on this HELPS Webb because even unfavorable coverage still shows that this is a Republican objection for partisan reasons.

Above all, it is a bio ad.  The reason that it is being run is that Webb's name ID numbers are still low.

Those who would have been moved one way or another by the Reagan background have already made up their minds.

Now, however, there are a whole new group of voters who don't really know much about Jim Webb but they most assuredly have a positive impression of Nancy Reagan.  So, their first impression of Webb will be that he irritated Nancy Reagan.

This will undermine any trust that he could have had with those voters.

Nancy Reagan wins this one hands down.

It isn't about Allen, it's not about the Reagans.  Smooth move guys.

Thank you.

If anybody has a favorable opinion of Nancy Reagan it's because they're country club Republicans and deluded sycophants (sorry for repeating myself).

And secondly, not sure why they would lead with Reagan but in my opinion Reagan was basically a snitch who rose to power on the back of General Electric. From his Wikipedia profile:

In this position, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee on Communist influence in Hollywood. He also kept tabs on actors he considered disloyal and informed on them to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) under the code name "Agent T-10," but he would not denounce them publicly. In public statements he opposed the practice of blacklisting in Hollywood, while in practice he and his first wife, Jane Wyman, met with FBI agents in 1947 and named "suspected subversives."

Obviously this will make you cry...but then you voted for George W. Bush twice and Oliver North once so I really don't need a moral lecture from the likes of Republicans like that.

These are all well known facts Pubes, but maybe they don't teach them at Republican Indoctrination Camp anymore.

Ad or not, the fact remains Ronald Reagan among many others have (had) the deepest respect for Jim Webb spoke very, very highly of him. It is a historical fact that Jim Webb earned those accolades and they cannot be taken away from him even if the ad is not run.

As a Rockbridge County native, however, (and please correct me if I am wrong) but I believe that you stated that my alma mater, VMI, is a private institution.

It is not.  Moreover, I can also assure you that VMI is not a place ripe with Webb votes.  I just came back from my 15 year reunion where I ran into many alums.  They strongly back Allen.  While there are a few who support Webb here and there, VMI folks tend to be very conservative.

I did have an uncle who attended VMI, and he also wasn't general grade material. 

One thing we never know - Maybe there's even a much better ad than this one. The good news out of all this is that Webb is finally going on the air. I'll take that anytime.

it is a fact pure and simple.

webb is doing the right thing and boo hoo poor little allen's got nothing :( wahhhhhhhhh

last time i checked, nancy reagan doesn't run this country and i wont feel any sympathy for a woman that still sides with a political party that puts politics in front of real medical science for the betterment of humankind  -- nancy reagan doesn't even live in Va, and she doesn't speak for me or anyone in my family.

They have their own network. They do their own thing.  The bottom line is that you don't mess with Reagan's legacy.  If you do, you get zapped.  Pretty simple.

I've been predicting this for months only to be dismissed by those on this website.

Jim Webb wasn't in the Reagan loop.  To some of you, I'm sure that comes as great comfort given your disdain for the Gipper.  However, if he wants to wrap himself with Reagan's legacy, he is going to pay a dear price.

Keep messin' with Nancy.  Go ahead.  Try if you must.  It's kinda like pissing on an electric fence.  You might be tempted.  But, you better take the advice of others when they say , "Don't!"

Don't blame me when you get zapped.

Reagan's speech was a public speech, the photos are public (or at least from Webb's private collection), the speech is in the public domain, Allen uses Reagan's likeness and photos to his advantage, so... what's the problem?  Why do you all get worked up over a reaction by the Allen people?  Again, the ad should stay!!

Perhaps I wasn't paying sufficient attention to what Webb was saying, and I voted out of ignorance. My bad.

Don't get me wrong. I understand why Webb is following this strategy. It's what the last three Virignia Democrats who won a state-wide races did; Wilder, Warner, and Kaine made sure that they sent a message to the Bubba vote that he would not be a threat to them. With Wilder, he cozied up to the Virginia State Police and the Sheriff's union. Also, Wilder, like Allen, wore cowboy boots.

With Warner, he was widely seen making approaches to National Rifle Association, to the extreme anger of a lot of Virginia liberals and minorities. Kaine similarly threw bones to Bubba, and sent signals of his friendliness.

So, I'm not surprised with Webb's commercial featuring Ronald Reagan. I'm just mad that I didn't discover Webb's predilections before the primary. I would have voted for Harris Miller.

But, I am compelled to vote for Webb anyway. Today, it's all about Democrats regaining polical power. On balance, there is no way that people like me would vote for George Allen, which is something that that scoundrel Webb knew all along.

he also said that in looking at all olf the issues, he had been wrong to do so, that the Dems were the party of the people on the vast majority of issues that mattered.

REAL DEMOCRATS support NAFTA, outsourcing, and become lobbyists for anti-union technology firms!

and he would have crushed Allen in Nov! 

WE WERE DUPED FOLKS!!!
 

Winning Democratic coalitions are a mottled and barely viscous blob.  We got to stick together.

The ad should be pulled NOW simply out of respect for Mrs. Reagan.  The longer this drags on the more advantageous it will be for Felix.  Let's not let them make a mountain out of a molehill...
 

Is that what scares you?

This is not a case of taking a speech from a historical figure about an issue and attempting to infer a connection, this is not Reagan's opinion or conjecture, everything he states about Webb in this speech is verifiable fact and, as this is a biographical ad, is appropriate.

The real reason that the repubs are 'offended' by this ad is that it cuts the 'I'm the political heir to the Gipper' legs completely out from under Allen.

I have sympathy for Nancy Reagan (which surprises me) and her protectiveness of his legacy but Reagan is a public figure (a fact which one can hardly escape here when flying out of Reagan National Airport or going to The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. ) and, as such, his image and words are (when not used out of context) fair game for both parties (not the exclusive property of the repubs). If Nancy Reagan is so offended by the Webb campaign use of this footage, she may consider campaigning for Allen but I doubt she will due to Allen's stem cell research voting record.

Seems like the Allen gang had a canned response they were waiting to open.

It also has a poll...

If the Webb campaign chooses to run it, I'll support them 100 percent. It's their decision.

You have excellent points LCD - very well said.

Frankly, Nancy in the early years of the Reagan administration was an example of a meek, deferring house-wife.  I thought it was a bad example for women in American.  Clearly the Pat Robertson and Ralph Reed crowd loved it.

I liked her much better towards the end of the Reagan administration when she started showing her own back-bone (which she clearly had all along, it just did not come out early in the administration).

Furthermore all of those things are factually true, taken in context and clearly in the public domain.  This is far better and more fair use of a former president's video footage than Rove's do absolutely anything to get the scumbag elected efforts in the past.

Keep using it - run it as often as it takes in the rural parts of the state.

It'll piss us off in the cities, but there are other things to run on around here.

There is absolutely NOTHING offensive about this commercial.
Some people seem to be claiming that the "voice-over" is made to intentionally sound like Reagan.  I've listened to it about ten times, and my partner who is a radio professional for his living, and records spots all the time, totally dismissed that.  He says there's no way that voice-over was intended to sound like Reagan.

This whole thing is hilarious, and simply SHARPLY demonstrates exactly how terrified the GOP is that Allen is going to lose this seat to Webb.

Like Jim Webb, I was a Republican on national security grounds back when I was in high school in the late 1980s...

And like Jim Webb, I'm a foreign policy "realist" who is a Democrat because Democrats today stand for a "reality-based foreign policy" which I believe will promote US national security much better than the ideologically-driven Neoconservative vision.

This is something a lot of former Republcians, especially including veterans, can get behind...

Don't get weak in the knees, folks... stand up and fight!!!

This is exactly the response George Allen wants from us. We have two months left. We can't falter every time he attacks. We have to stand out ground.

[blutarski>] Who's with me??? Let's go!!! [/blutarski]

KEEP THE AD, this is just FREE press courtesy of the GOP..

AGAIN!!!!

Thanks George Allen.

Keep your head up. Stand your ground. Don't give in. They will be trying to break through our lines for the next two months. We will get through this. You will tell your grandchildren about how you changed American history in 2006... It's that big. FIGHT BACK!!!

his username: jdawg

This ad is great!  It introduces Webb to voters in his last position in public office - as Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Navy.  Republicans don't like it?? Please, of course they don't like it.  The reason they don't like it is because they see the impending collapse of their coalition with the loss of libertarians on economic and social issues and blue-collar Dems (like Webb) on economic issues.  We have borrow and spend Republicans which is NOT the legacy of Ronald Reagan.

Allen has been part and party to this change in the Republican party and we're sick of it.  I, a libertarian, am ready for a change to a party that doesn't speak out of 6 sides of it's mouth.  For economic independence when it comes to tax cuts for the richest Americans, for borrow and spend when it comes to trying to buy the votes of Americans and Seniors who need help, for control your life when it comes to social conservative fanatics.  I'm done...as are many Republicans.  The party of Lincoln and Reagan no more.  Until the Republicans shape up...I'm shipping out!

PS - Nancy Reagan was not liked by MANY Repubs back in the day for trying to run her husband's whitehouse.  We should not let her run this campaign.

Libertarians and Democrats are converging on a lot of issues these days. Not all -- but a lot...

I say run with it, and let voters make up their own mind.

2.  The objections of Mrs. Reagan (by staff) and others are predictable but could become an issue or negate the value of the ad if pursued and covered.

3.  The producer would be smart to change the voice over script to "National leaders have long recognized Jim Webb's service to America.... Now, he is running to serve Virginia."  Check. Mate.

4.  In the absence of motion -- either him or the camera (and I would recommend camera motion, circular, clockwise)-- Webb leaves a slight impression of the guy who's just been challenged on his ability to extend Pi beyond 12 digits.

Otherwise, this has potential, and I hope the Webb folks exploit it wisely.

Also:
Two sources, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss campaign strategy, said the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has hired Mo Elleithee, a consultant who was communications director for Gov. Timothy M. Kaine's campaign, to produce independent ads on behalf of Webb.

The buzzwords of the Reagan campaigns of '80 and '84 were "Let Reagan be Reagan." 

The play off of this in response to Wadhams is just perfect.

Delicious.

Well done.

In short, it would be more evidence that Jim Webb does the right thing, even if it's not the most convenient or competitive thing.

I think his action will be noticed and he'll get more positive play of the ad than if he had to pay for it...and engendered a lot of negative yacking that sticking with it would bring.
  Roadette

I saw the ad yesterday, first online and then on a big screen at the Webb event in Roanoke.  It is really a bipartisan ad.  It is respectful.  And it's relevant.  And the only reason Allen's goon squad is upset is that the ad cuts into what they perceive as their market of voters.  Sorry, they are Americans and Allen doesn't own them.  Also, Webb's positives upstage Allen's fake positives.

All manner of pols use former presidents' references, images, quotes, etc.  It's up to the voters to judge, not Dicky Boy and Georgie (Felix).  These guys are just itching for a controversy to overcome Allen's negatives.  And calling Nancy to get into the fray, why that just speaks for itself.  I mean, really.  If Nancy lived in Virginia, she'd probably actually end up voting for Webb because of stem cell research.  Indeed once she gives the matter some thought, I am willing to bet she could change her mind.  One more thing: If he could see what's going on today, even Ronald Reagan would be appalled by the direction this administration is taking the country.  But in any case, I think it is wrong to pull the footage (or for Republicans to ask Webb to).  There is absolutely nothing wrong with using it. 

Put this ad out for voter to see, just like Allen's 'Welcome to America' moment. The voters can differentiate the diamonds from the dung. The more the repubs push this 'controversy' the more pathetic they will look (it will also drive more free exposure of the ad via news).