Jim Webb announced today that he is withdrawing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. Unfortunately for Webb, the modern Democratic party is more interested in hearing from socialists like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders than it is in hearing from decorated war heroes like Webb.
Webb, a former Navy secretary and Virginia senator, took to Twitter to lament the Democrats’ disinterest in centrists.
"I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure and the nominating base of the Democratic Party."— Jim Webb (@JimWebbUSA) October 20, 2015
"…For this reason I am withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party’s nominee for the Presidency." #WebbNation— Jim Webb (@JimWebbUSA) October 20, 2015
Webb is right. His beliefs–supporting gun rights and capitalism–just aren’t welcome in the ever-shrinking tent that is the Democratic party in 2015. According to a new poll, socialism is more popular among Democrats than capitalism is. When asked as part of a YouGov poll if they had a favorable view of capitalism, only 37 percent of Democrats said they did. In contrast, a whopping 49 percent of Democrats polled said they had a favorable view of socialism.
Poll: Democrats prefer Socialism. pic.twitter.com/RWxhfnbYJI
— Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) October 20, 2015
When it comes to which system of economics is most favorable in the U.S., Democrats are wildly out of touch with the general public. The YouGov poll found that only 25 percent of Americans viewed socialism favorably, while 48 percent viewed capitalism favorably.
Webb’s differences became even more apparent during last week’s debate, when he was the only candidate who didn’t name an American when asked who his biggest enemy was.
Ironically, Webb–a highly decorated war hero who fought against fascist Soviets and their comrades in battle–is getting pushed out by a political party that favors many of the policies espoused by those Webb fought against in Vietnam. While Webb may have been Democratic front-runner material for the Democratic party of yesterday (the Democrats famously nominated a Vietnam veteran in 2004 who accepted the Democratic party’s nomination by stating that he was “reporting for duty”), today he is sadly out of step with the rest of the party. When he brought up his military record, liberals balked, and the media even mocked him on Twitter for having the audacity to not be ashamed of wartime conduct that earned him a Navy Cross, Silver Star, and two Bronze Stars.
By way of comparison, when Sanders proclaimed during the debate that “climate change” was the nation’s biggest threat, prominent democrats gushed:
SANDERS: The scientific community is telling us that if we do not address the global crisis of climate change, transform our energy system away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy, the planet that we’re going to be leaving our kids and our grandchildren may well not be habitable. That is a major crisis.
Seth McFarlane and other liberals went gaga over his comments and threw money at him during a fundraiser, all in praise of his belief that weather is plotting to destroy humanity.
Although Webb’s chances at becoming the Democratic presidential nominee are now zero, he has yet to rule out the possibility of running as an independent.
