Military women support Webb as ‘man of integrity

Democrat James H. Webb Jr. yesterday picked up an endorsement from nine military women, a key voting bloc that political analysts say the candidate needs in order to upset U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia in the Nov. 7 election.

In announcing their endorsement, the women called the former Navy secretary a “man of integrity,” who is well versed in national-security and foreign-policy issues.

“He recognizes the crucial role that women have in the armed forces today, and the sacrifices that they’re making alongside their male counterparts in the toughest assignments in Afghanistan and Iraq,” said retired Army Lt. Col. Kate Wilder, a Democratic activist.

Mr. Webb, 60, and Mr. Allen, 54, have been trying for weeks to appeal to female voters.

The military women yesterday said the television ads Mr. Allen is airing that criticize Mr. Webb for writing a 1979 magazine article questioning a woman’s place in the U.S. Naval Academy are “powerful” but “bogus.”

“American military women have moved beyond Jim Webb’s … article,” Navy Capt. Barbara Brehm said.

Mr. Allen told editors and reporters at The Washington Times Monday that he spent thousands of dollars on the ads to show Mr. Webb’s “lack of respect for women.”

Mr. Allen did not mention the article when Mr. Webb endorsed the Republican for the U.S. Senate in 2000.

The military women yesterday stressed that Mr. Webb’s point of view 27 years ago mirrored the sentiment that most men held at that time. They also think that Mr. Webb’s perspective changed, saying that in 1987 Mr. Webb opened more operational positions for women in the military than any other Navy secretary in history.

“That provided genuine career opportunities for women to serve,” Capt. Brehm said.

Mr. Allen and Mr. Webb have said that they are comfortable with the positions women now hold in the military.

Mr. Webb, who stresses that his staff is almost entirely made up of women, said yesterday that Mr. Allen hopes to “break away a constituent group that traditionally aligns itself with the Democratic Party, and which I believe will align itself with my campaign when they see where my positions are on issues that affect women.”

A recent poll conducted by The Washington Post shows that the race is a tossup, but that voters think Mr. Allen would do a slightly better job than Mr. Webb on “issues important to women.”

Mr. Webb said his polling shows that he is “in pretty good shape with women voters.”

Mr. Allen is pro-life and, as Virginia governor, he signed a law requiring minors to notify their parents if they were planning an abortion. Mr. Webb is pro-choice, but opposes late-term abortions.

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