Just as the Democratic veepstakes begin in earnest and Sen. Jim Webb releases a book on politics, the senator from Virginia said yesterday that he would “highly discourage” anyone from asking him to run for vice president.
“At this point, no one’s asking, no one’s talking and I’m not that interested,” Mr. Webb, 62, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“I would highly discourage them,” said Mr. Webb said, sighing as host Tim Russert pressed him to say whether he would accept a spot on a ticket with either Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Still, Mr. Webb is increasingly mentioned as a Democrat who deserves a spot on his party’s short list for vice president.
His book does nothing to quell rumors that he would seek higher office. In fact, a publicist press release notes that Mr. Webb has received attention for Democratic vice-presidential consideration.
On the cover of “A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America,” being released today, Mr. Webb appears deep in thought with his hand to chin and sporting a suit and tie. The 255-page book is rich with statements that would translate into a national campaign, including patriotic sentiment such as, “I owe those who went before me the kind of country they fought to create and wanted to perfect” and “I owe my children the kind of country they want to see preserved and further greatened.”
He quoted former President Andrew Jackson and said he thinks the nation’s differences “energize” its citizens: “We can and must insist on a common ground that binds us, a common language and a common good.”
Mr. Webb included a chapter about “The genius — and the limits — of the Constitution,” where he insisted: “The American people need to find leaders who are willing to take the action that will be necessary to fix” the problems of the world.
He writes that interest groups “thwart meaningful change,” a message that sounds similar to Mr. Obama’s.
“Our political leaders, including many of those in the Democratic Party, must share a measure of blame for not having stood up and fought on behalf of America’s wage earners,” he wrote.
In the book, he deplored “Karl Rove” politics and said he was disgusted by his nasty 2006 Senate race against Republican incumbent Sen. George Allen.
“On a personal level, I did not allow myself to become distracted by these tactics,” he wrote. “I had only a few months to introduce myself as a political figure to prospective voters, to get my message out to them through all the clutter, and to let them hear me speak of where the country truly needed to go.”
Both Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton campaigned for Mr. Webb.
During a Nov. 2, 2006, rally with Mr. Obama in Richmond, Mr. Webb called the senator from Illinois a “possible future president.” Mr. Obama now is poised to become the Democratic nominee.
Team Obama considers Virginia, with 13 electoral votes, a battleground state. Virginia has not backed a Democratic presidential candidate since 1964, but Democrats have won the past three statewide elections and reclaimed control of the state Senate.
Democratic strategists and campaign aides say Mr. Webb could deliver Virginia as the vice-presidential nominee, or would be a smart pick for a Cabinet post.
“A Time to Fight” details Mr. Webb’s political philosophy and decades of experience. He is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran and former Republican who served as assistant secretary of defense and Navy secretary under President Reagan.
Mr. Webb took the national stage and became a symbol for Democratic victory in fall 2006 when his razor-thin win over Mr. Allen cemented the party’s congressional takeover. He also was chosen to deliver the rebuttal to President Bush’s State of the Union address in 2007.
But he is sometimes brash, and has little political experience outside of serving the past 17 months in the Senate.
Soon after winning the seat, Mr. Webb declined to have his photo taken with Mr. Bush during a White House reception for new senators.
They had a tense exchange when Mr. Bush, referring to Mr. Webb’s Marine son, asked, “How’s your boy?” and the Democrat responded by telling the president that he wanted the troops to come home from Iraq.
When the president asked again, Mr. Webb bristled: “That’s between me and my boy, Mr. President.”
“I have since regained a more proper sense of courtesy,” Mr. Webb wrote in his book. “But those who took issue with this decision and editorialized against my reluctance to make instant peace might want to consider the poisonous climate that Karl Rove and his trained successors have deliberately brought to the American political process.”
Mr. Webb is not easy on Mr. Bush in his book. He accuses the president of manipulating public opinion and embarking on a “conscious deception” about the true cost of the Iraq war.
He also made embarrassing headlines in early 2007 when a top aide was arrested for carrying Mr. Webb’s loaded gun into the Capitol building.
Though he denied having higher political ambitions, he told New Hampshire Democrats last fall that “our common goals transcend ordinary politics.” He said the party “must do everything we can to advance a progressive agenda that addresses the issues surrounding economic fairness and social justice.”
Mr. Webb remains neutral in the Democratic primary battle, though Mr. Obama won Virginia with 64 percent of the vote on Feb. 12.
On “Meet the Press” yesterday, Mr. Webb cited Republicans and Democrats with top defense or veterans committee posts who support his new G.I. Bill of Rights.
“We know what we’re doing. We’re not going to harm the military,” he said in response to critics of his measure.
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