From cartoonist Clay Jones about ‘Jim Webb Kills His Campaign,’ the problem with Webb’s campaign to be president in the first place, and the guy at the party no one noticed
I get the irony in drawing this cartoon. I’m saying nobody really cares about Jim Webb’s candidacy, yet I care enough to draw a cartoon about it. I felt a little obligated since he was my state’s senator (that would be Virginia for those who are thinking, “He was a senator?”). Hopefully I won’t be required to draw a cartoon on Jim Gilmore (former Virginia governor).
My biggest issue with Webb running for president is that he was delusional enough to run for president. Jim Webb has always given the impression he doesn’t get along with a lot of people. He served as Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration which he resigned. Reagan wrote in his diaries, “I don’t think the Navy was sorry to see him go.”
Soon after being elected to the U.S. Senate (from Virginia, in case you already forgot), he went to the White House and made an effort to brush off the president. President Bush (W.) asked Webb about his son who was currently serving in Iraq, and Webb stated that it wasn’t the president’s business. Ouch. I’m not a fan of Bush, but there’s still a level of respect to give toward the president. I don’t understand accepting an invitation to his house, making the effort to go and then dis the guy when he’s trying to make small talk. It never occurred to me to reply to someone who asked about my son to tell them to go suck on a lemon.
Now Webb says the parties are terrible and we shouldn’t live in an atmosphere where the other party is our enemy. I agree with that. Hillary Clinton laughed while stating the GOP is her enemy. The Republicans have a lot of members who truly believe Obama is determined to ruin the United States and he’s supporting terrorists. Go read the comments at the Daily Caller and Breitbart. They’re out there.
At the debate, each candidate was asked about enemies they had created through their political careers. Each candidate stated a special interest lobby such as the coal lobby or the NRA. Webb said the guy he killed in Vietnam—and who had tried to kill him—was probably his biggest enemy. Several conservatives lapped that up and criticized the Democratic audience for not applauding in hysterics. Here’s the thing about that: His service is great. But he was asked about politics. The man couldn’t name one special interesting he fought against or fought for. Stating he killed a guy wouldn’t be such a big deal except he volunteered the information and then gave a smile for it. My father fought in Vietnam. He told me that he had killed enemy soldiers, but he never changed the subject of any conversation with “Oh by the way, I killed a guy, and here’s the potatoes you asked me to pass.”
Jim Webb is that guy who was at the party nobody noticed. You’ll go up to him the next day and tell him that he missed a great party. He’ll then tell you that he was at the party. He was the first one there. He was the last to leave. He brought snicker doodles. You had a conversation with him. He parked your car for you. He made a run for ice. He’s that guy.
Now he’s kinda sorta threatening to run an independent campaign for the presidency because being ignored by just one party wasn’t enough. Many will speculate which party his candidacy will hurt. I don’t think it will hurt either, and I doubt he’d be on the ballot in every state.
A friend of mine I was in a band with (bass player) was the body guy for Webb’s senate campaign. That makes sense a bass player would work for Webb because nobody notices them either. He’s a great guy. He worked for Webb after he won the Senate race. He was later arrested for carrying Webb’s gun into the U.S. Capitol. The charges were dropped. I drew a cartoon on it, and I left the original on his door. Later he called and said, “Hey, Ass. Thanks for the cartoon.” He always called me “Ass.”
http://claytoonz.com/2015/10/20/jim-webb-kills-his-campaign/
