Entries for June 14, 2006

James Webb, onetime Navy secretary in the Reagan administration and Vietnam veteran, noted author of both fiction and nonfiction, has beaten Harris Miller in the Democratic primary and will face Republican Sen. George Allen in the general election. Webb used to be a Republican and supported Allen in 2000. Now, however, he opposes the Iraq war and seems happy to be running as a Democrat. He should be an interesting candidate and may give Allen a tougher race than he or almost anyone else expected a year ago. Webb won by a 53 percent to 47 percent margin.

The Washington Post Outlook section last Sunday had a feature on "How the Democrats Can Win." It included recommendations from various Democratic strategists and thinkers, and from some Republicans and others as well. Nothing wrong with it at all. But here's my question: Do you remember whether the Post or another MainStreamMedia organ has ever run a piece on "How the Republicans Can Win"? I certainly don't remember any from the 1994 cycle, when such an article would have turned out to be particularly apt. I have vague recollections of sets of articles—How Democrats Can Win; How Republicans Can Win. But does anyone remember a piece focusing on Republicans alone, as the Post here focused on Democrats alone?