Our senator-elect, Jim Webb, is featured in a long and generally very positive article that will run on the front page of tomorrow's Washington Post.
Follow me for some highlights:
Sen.-Elect Webb may be a "maverick," the article says; someone too independent just to tow the party line:
"I have my own views, and I have a lot of experiences, and I think I can bring the experiences I had to issues rather than having to read off a party briefing sheet," Webb said Friday in an interview.
No surprise there. The article goes on to point out that:
. . . Webb on the campaign trail was almost the antithesis of the typical politician. . . . [He] was nervous in front of large crowds, couldn't understand why people wanted to shake his hand and hated asking people for money. He even turned down checks from people he didn't think could afford to give up, as he called it, "their gas money." . . . "He was the ultimate outside candidate," said Mark Rozell, a politics professor at George Mason University.
Although the article notes that as Navy Secretary, Sen.-Elect Webb "developed a reputation for being abrasive and difficult to get along with," it also notes that "those who know him say Webb should fit in well on Capitol Hill, where he worked as a staffer during the 1970s." And then there's a great quote from Don Beyer:
"I don't think he is a natural candidate, but he is very bright, strong-principled and apparently fearless. I think he can be a very strong voice in the Senate. He will be very comfortable working with 99 other senators to solve problems."
Others are expecting big things: "Current and former politicians said they expect him to become the face of the Democratic Party's antiwar movement," the article says, and it quotes Bob Kerrey as saying that Sen.-Elect Webb "will become a magnet for other senators who want him to co-sponsor their bills related to foreign policy to give them credibility." It also predicts that he will become a major force on veterans' affairs.
Most heartening of all, for some of us, the article gives due weight to Sen.-Elect Webb's wholehearted commitment to economic justice, personal liberty, and to his integrity--in a couple of passages that I'll leave you to take away with you, just as I'm sure the Post's thousands of readers will do when they read this article tomorrow morning:
On the campaign trail, Webb talked about the "three Americas" -- rich, poor and middle-class -- and how society was breaking down over "class lines." Webb, who vows to never change what he believes for a "dollar or a vote," said he wants to close corporate tax loopholes and pay closer attention to escalating salaries for chief executives.Webb also has an affinity for the labor movement, even though Virginia is a right-to-work state. He plans to push to raise the minimum wage and said that "organized labor is very important because everyone needs an agent."
Voters also should prepare for Webb's libertarian views on such issues as his support for abortion and gun rights and concern about some of President Bush's tactics in the war on terrorism, including the domestic wiretapping program."Government does not belong in people's private lives unless there is a compelling reason," Webb said.
Like many of you, I don't agree with Sen.-Elect Webb on every issue. But I am thrilled to have helped (even in the minutest of ways) with his election, because he epitomizes what a representative in a republic should be: thoughtful, principled, courageous, independent, and committed to doing his utmost not to shape himself to what his consituents want in every detail, but to represent them with integrity and honor.
I think this article conveys that well. From one of the nation's papers of record: America, meet the man who may well be your finest new senator.
UPDATE: As of 11:30 p.m., it looks as though the Post editors have decided to run this on the front page of the C section--Style--instead of the front page of the A section, where it was before. Go figure; it sure isn't fluff.
UPDATE: Correction: on Sundays, the C section is Metro, not Style. The article on Jim is front page of the Metro section.