Webb Ad Irks Nancy Reagan

Former first lady Nancy Reagan on Friday asked Virginia Democratic Senate candidate James Webb to not use a television commercial that shows former president Ronald Reagan praising Webb, his former Navy secretary.

While Democrats generally hate what Ronald Reagan stood for they seem to waist no effort to claim he would have endorsed them for elective office. Jim Webb running for the Senate in Virginia against incumbent George Allen has produced an ad using film footage from Reagan addressing graduates of the Naval Academy in 1985. In it the former President praises Webb's gallantry in Vietnam. No big deal as far as I can see but then comes the rub.

Then a voice that sounds like Reagan's, but isn't, says: "Soldier, Scholar, Leader. Now Jim Webb is running for senate." Reagan died in 2004.

In a news release issued by the Allen campaign, Ken Duberstein, who was Rea- gan's [sic] chief of staff, Ed Meese, counselor to Reagan and a former attorney general, and former U.S. Sen. Paul Laxalt, Reagan's campaign chairman, said Webb "should be ashamed of himself."

"We are disappointed that James Webb is dishonoring the memory of President Reagan by using an old video clip to imply that Ronald Reagan would be supporting him," they said...

...Todd said, "They are trying to put words into Reagan's mouth. Let Reagan speak for himself."

Don't you just love the " voice that sounds like Reagan's" part. I hear Mother Teresa's voice is looking for someone to endorse.

Now Webb was Reagan's secretary of the Navy. That has been the basis of his implication that he is a conservative democrat. Looking at the issues he champions he is just another liberal trying to hide behind Reagan. What stands out most though is how often he chooses to quite what he is when he doesn't get what he wants. He quit the Democratic party after Vietnam because he didn't like the way they treated veterans. He became a Republican and under Reagan became secretary of the Navy only to quit after a few months over funding of the military. Then he quit the Republican party because he didn't like the decision to go to Iraq. If elected will he quit being a Senator if he can't get his way there?


Virginia Blog Carnival for September 11th at Craig's Musings

War on Terror, politics, Virginia, Webb, Allen