The Botetourt County kid who handed out political business cards as a grade schooler is now the local face for U.S. Sen. James Webb in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

Fred Hutchins, who has spent the past several years as state Del. Onzlee Ware's legislative aide, has been hired by Virginia's new Democratic senator to run his Roanoke-based U.S. Senate office. For the time being, it will be in the same place as former U.S. Sen. George Allen's, in an office complex off Virginia 419 near the Roanoke County Administration Building.

"I'm just excited to be working for a man who loves Southwest Virginia as much as I do," Hutchins said.

Webb, who has Southwest Virginia roots, was criticized at points during last fall's campaign by some for not putting enough emphasis on the western part of the state. Webb went on to upset Allen, the incumbent Republican, by just 9,000 votes. Hutchins was a Webb field operative during the campaign, and he said he was somewhat disappointed that Webb didn't do better in localities such as Roanoke, where he got 57 percent of the vote in a historically Democratic city.

Hutchins said he and Webb already have discussed increasing his presence in this part of the state, and Hutchins added that he will be working as hard as he can to do that.

"He realizes he squeaked in," Hutchins said of Webb. "He wants to spend more time in Southwest Virginia."

Hutchins sees himself as a steadfast defender of the American working class who's not afraid to tell people so.

"American people should drive American cars," he said. And his allegiances go beyond that. He'll only drive a Ford. Right now, it's a Ford F-150 truck.

Hutchins was so miffed that his longtime NASCAR hero Mark Martin left his Ford racing team to drive for Chevy next year that he sent e-mails voicing his displeasure, including one to the company that distributes Martin souvenirs.

While Barack Obama made a big splash after Bush's speech Wednesday night on CNN's Larry King and ABC Nightline, it was Sen. Jim Webb's questions and statements at Thursday's grilling of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that I most eagerly anticipated (and which are provided in full below the fold). While Obama is very sharp and has the "it" factor, the new Democratic senator from Virginia has the "gravitas" factor. I just wish it were he who had the two years as U.S. Senator so he'd be the go-to candidate for president in '08.

Hmmmmm.....

First read the article, then read the comments.

Webb is fast becoming a bright red slap in the face to every hypocrite in Congress who ever claimed to "Support the troops" and then wen ton to cut funding and benefits.

He's got more leadership in his little finger than George Allen has in his whole throwing arm.

Check out the contributions of the execs -
http://content.hampt...

More on Schmitz here -
http://www.waynemads...

... and don't forget the behavior of the "troops" -
http://www.democracy...

I also want to say something about my longtime friend, Senator McCain's comments when he was talking about the consequences of pulling out of Iraq and in your statement, Secretary Gates, you list some of these as an emboldened and strengthened Iran, a base of operations for jihadist networks in the heart of the Middle East, an undermining of the credibility of the United States.  In many ways, quite frankly, those have been the results of the invasion and occupation.  There's really nothing that's occurred since the invasion and occupation that was not predictable and in fact, most of it was predicted.  It was predicted in many cases by people with long backgrounds in national security...and in many cases there were people who saw their military careers destroyed and who were personally demeaned by people who opposed them on the issues, including members of this administration.  And they are people in my judgement, who will be remembered in history as having had a moral conscience.

Related from Forward Yossi Alpher makes it clear in Sharon Warned Bush that Bush didn't listen to Ariel Sharon either.

Yet according to one knowledgeable source, Sharon nevertheless advised Bush not to occupy Iraq. According to another source — Danny Ayalon, who was Israel’s ambassador to the United States at the time of the Iraq invasion, and who sat in on the Bush-Sharon meetings — Sharon told Bush that Israel would not “push one way or another” regarding the Iraq scheme.

According to both sources, Sharon warned Bush that if he insisted on occupying Iraq, he should at least abandon his plan to implant democracy in this part of the world. “In terms of culture and tradition, the Arab world is not built for democratization,” Ayalon recalls Sharon advising.

Be sure, Sharon added, not to go into Iraq without a viable exit strategy. And ready a counter-insurgency strategy if you expect to rule Iraq, which will eventually have to be partitioned into its component parts. Finally, Sharon told Bush, please remember that you will conquer, occupy and leave, but we have to remain in this part of the world. Israel, he reminded the American president, does not wish to see its vital interests hurt by regional radicalization and the spillover of violence beyond Iraq’s borders.

Sharon’s advice — reflecting a wealth of experience with Middle East issues that Bush lacked — was prescient. The American occupation of Iraq has ended up strengthening Iran, Israel’s number-one enemy, and enfranchising militant Shi’ite Islamists. A large part of Iraq is slipping into the Iranian orbit. Iraq’s western Anbar Province is increasingly dominated by militant jihadi Sunnis who could eventually threaten Syria and Jordan, the latter a strategic partner and geographic buffer for Israel.

Still I am planning on doing send email to several senatoers on the Foreign Relations committe and would hate to have to use snail mail for Senator Webb--how retro!

Godspeed, Jim Webb.

Last night I was talking to the parents of a young soldier in Mosul.  The father could not hide his disgust at Rumsfeld's preference to fund missile defense systems and submarines rather than provide proper equipment for his boy, and pointed out that he and his wife had to send their son $1500 because it's $45 for a case of Coke in Mosul, and there are many other expenses.  He noted that he and his wife helped both their Army sons (one's here in the States) buy their uniforms because they weren't receiving their pay.  He complained that when new Humvees and other vehicles finally do arrive in Mosul the officers snatch them and the men are left riding around in their rickety, deteriorating vehicles.  He complained that he knew of another soldier who returned from Iraq who was turning in his equipment at the depot (I believe this was somewhere in New York), and the sergeant receiving the equipment told the young man he had to pay $160 for his damaged sleeping bag.  The kid protested, and the sergeant said "make it $80".  The kid paid, then wrote to his New York congressman (sorry, don't know names or affiliations) to complain.  The congressman or his office leaked the information back to the kid's command, and he ended up be busted down in rank for insubordination.  The kid is now afraid to discuss this situation with anyone. 

I hope someday soon the Senate Armed Services Committee will hold hearings on some of the corruption taking place within the ranks and by contractors, too.  I'd love to know who the New York congressman was who let this kid down and hope that someday the truth will out about how our military are being treated.  I want to know how it is that we have ample funds for Star Wars missile systems and submarines but we can't pay our soldiers on time.  I want to know how it is that soldiers wounded in battle are being dunned for "reimbursement" of their combat pay after they've been medevacked out.  There are enough questions here to last at least six years and Senator Webb seems to be just the guy to ask them. 

It goes without saying--but say it I will--that Bush cares little for the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families back homw--and it's even worse for the wounded vets when they return to a never-again-normal life to a VA that puts their needs on hold--

Whenever I see a car with a "support our troops' magnet, I want to ask the driver what s/he means by that.  Of course, the basic neocon response to those of us who actually care about our troops and would like to see them treated better and brought home sooner rather than later is that we are against the troops who Bush/Cheney et al are oblivious to--

I wonder--how would you say that we support the troops?

If you look at his comments at these hearings and elsewhere, it is very clear that Jim Webb knows how to make strong points that need to be said, while doing so with decorum befitting a U.S. Senator. 

A fine start...

Jim Webb was one of only two freshman senators (the other one being Jon Tester of Montana) to vote with Feingold and Obama against Reid's attempt to table the DeMint ammendment, which would require language in the ethics bill that would cover all earmarks--in other words, complete transparency--