Jim Webb: Better Than A Red Corvette

Today's Wall Street Journal features a front-page profile of Jim Webb that offers as good an assessment of the potential VP candidates as you'll find:

And in a scene that Democrats would relish, in recent days Sen. Webb stood as the honored guest of a sunset parade of Marines bearing rifles, drums and bugles at the Iwo Jima memorial near Arlington Cemetery. "I probably would change my vote from McCain to Obama if Webb goes on the ticket," said Denise Barrineau-Brooks, a Virginia resident who was watching her son in the Marine parade...

Although raised as a Democrat, Sen. Webb found himself more aligned with Republicans for their support of a strong military. In 2000, he even campaigned for Republican George Allen's first term in the Virginia Senate race -- before deciding to challenge him in 2006.

"When most men hit 60, they buy a red Corvette," says Chris LaCivita, a Republican political consultant. "Jim Webb became a liberal Democrat."

 

If Jim Webb is a "liberal" Democrat, then there may be some hope yet for the sobriquet.  The only worry is: if his suitability is so obvious, it might be too easily overlooked.