Sen. Jim Webb Announces Retirement Plans

Va. Sen. Jim Webb won't seek re-election in 2012

MICHAEL FELBERBAUM

February 10, 2011 - 9:35AM

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Freshman Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia announced Wednesday he will retire when his term ends next year, deepening the challenge to his party as it struggles to maintain a Senate majority in the 2012 elections.

In an e-mail announcement, the 65-year-old former Navy secretary said that after much thought and consideration, he had decided to return to the private sector. He offered no additional details about his plans but said he has "every intention of remaining involved in the issues that affect the well-being and the future of our country."

The announcement leaves Democrats scrambling to field a strong candidate who can keep the GOP from regaining the seat lost by Republican Sen. George Allen, who was ousted by Webb by about 9,000 votes in the 2006 election. Allen, a former governor and congressman, is running for his old seat but faces primary opposition.

Webb's exit poses potential problems for Democrats, who are clinging to a narrow majority in the Senate and have struggled in state elections since President Barack Obama's 2008 win.

Tim Kaine, a former Virginia governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement that he'd hoped Webb would seek re-election, but that the party has made strides "turning Virginia from a solidly Republican state to a highly competitive one."

Kaine did not indicate in the statement if he would seek the Democratic nomination to succeed Webb and he did not return a telephone request from The Associated Press for comment.

Kaine, who stepped down as governor just over a year ago, previously said he wasn't interested in the seat, but U.S. Rep. James Moran said that might have been out of respect to Webb.

"I would hope he would be seriously considering it," the northern Virginia Democrat said of Kaine. "I think a ticket of Obama and Kaine would be quite a strong ticket in 2012."

But the National Republican Senatorial Committee said Webb's decision makes Virginia an "even stronger pickup opportunity for Republicans in 2012."

Obama won Virginia in 2008, carrying a state that had traditionally backed Republican presidential nominees even as it elected Democratic and Republican governors. But Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell won the office in a landslide in 2009, and the GOP defeated three Democratic incumbents in congressional races last year.

Virginia state GOP Chairman Pat Mullins said Webb's announcement "couldn't be worse news for the Democrats."

"Instead of facing the most hotly contested Senate race in the country with the advantages of incumbency, they must deal with a nomination contest and then face a Republican candidate in the fall in a state that has overwhelming rejected nearly every Democrat since President Obama was sworn into office," Mullins said.

But state Democratic Party chairman Brian Moran, the congressman's brother, said the party was ready for the fight.

Webb was elected in 2006 after Allen, a rising Republican star eyeing a potential White House, stumbled badly in 2006 by calling a Webb campaign volunteer of Indian ancestry a "macaca," a term some cultures consider an ethnic disparagement. Posted on YouTube, video of the comment became an online hit and was grist for news reports and television comedians for weeks.

Webb and Obama both rode to victory in Virginia.

Obama spoke to Webb by telephone on Wednesday and the president thanked him for serving the country, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Obama issued a statement Wednesday praising Webb's service and saying he looks forward to working with him over the next two years.

"From his courageous service in Vietnam to his tireless work in the United States Senate, Jim Webb has dedicated his life to serving our nation and those who defend it," Obama said, citing Webb's work to pass a post-9/11 GI Bill and on Southeast Asia and criminal justice reform.

In a statement Wednesday, Allen, the son of the late Washington Redskins coach, said he did not enter the race to run against any one person and his campaign will continue to focus on achievable reforms.

But he faces primary opposition. Virginia tea party leader Jamie Radtke has declared her candidacy and conservative Del. Bob Marshall, who finished a close second in his bid for the Senate GOP nomination in 2008, is angling toward another race next year.

Webb is the fourth senator to announce plans to retire. The others are Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.

Democrats, with a 53-47 majority, must defend 23 Senate seats next year, including two held by independents. Many are in swing states where Republicans hope to mount strong challenges.

By contrast, only 10 GOP-held seats will be on the ballot.

"We are a state people are going to watch, and the White House is going to be very interested in how this race plays out," said former Democratic Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, noting that the Democratic nominee and Obama will be running at the same time. "It's very important they coalesce. Whoever is running for the Senate and president have to be a team."

George Mason University political scientist Mark Rozell said Webb's announcement "upends the political landscape in Virginia." He said party leaders might press Kaine to run because of his name recognition, but that he's not sure the low-key Kaine would be "terribly comfortable" in such a Senate race.

The chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, said the party would field a strong candidate.

Webb's decision was not a complete surprise, as he had done little fundraising.

Since taking office, Webb has focused much of his energy on international issues.

Early on, Webb was seen as a potential star for his party _ a new breed of Southern Democrat who could stretch the party's appeal by connecting with conservative voters.

But his Senate career has been largely quiet. Webb took more of a behind-the-scenes approach and never emerged as a political force, even as he remained popular in Virginia.

James Ceaser, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, said Webb simply might not have had the "fire in the belly" needed for a national political career. And he said Webb might also have been discouraged by the political difficulties that Virginia Democrats faced in 2010.

Rep. Moran said the notoriously clubby and deliberative Senate might simply have not been a good fit for Webb.

"I think he enjoys getting things done, and I don't think he's a natural born politician, although he's clearly a leader," Moran said. "He hasn't told me that, he's not one to complain, but he's not a natural backslapper ... and I don't think he gets a great deal of joy out of raising money."

Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a campaign strategist for Webb and other conservative Democrats, said he believed Webb felt "shackled" by the U.S. Senate.

"I think with his writings, the artistic Jim Webb could easily do more to help forward the causes of economic fairness and social justice out here in the real world rather than the beltway," Saunders said.

Webb is the author of six best-selling military suspense novels and "Born Fighting," a nonfiction book published in 2004.

Earlier in his career, Webb was a combat Marine in Vietnam, a lawyer, congressional aide and a published author. His appointment as Navy secretary came from President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. But when the Naval Academy graduate made his only run for public office, his upset victory over Allen came as a Democrat.

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