July 2, 2015
By Ken Thomas
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (click here) announced his presidential campaign on
Thursday, opening a long-shot bid against Hillary Rodham Clinton and a
field of Democratic rivals for the party's nomination.
Webb, in an announcement posted on his campaign website, acknowledged he
would face major hurdles but vowed to bring an outsider's voice to the
2016 race.
"I understand the odds, particularly in today's political climate, where
fair debate is so often drowned out by huge sums of money. I know that
more than one candidate in this process intends to raise at least a
billion dollars," Webb wrote. But he said the nation "needs a fresh
approach to solving the problems that confront us and too often
unnecessarily divide us. We need to shake the hold of these shadow
elites on our political process."
Webb, 69, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary under
President Ronald Reagan, surprised many Democrats when he became the
first major figure in the party to form a presidential exploratory
committee last November. He has outlined the roots of a campaign message
that include helping working-class Americans compete in the economy,
tackling campaign finance reform and preventing the U.S. from getting
involved in foreign entanglements like Iraq and Afghanistan....
