Jim Webb won't be Obama's VP Candidate

Speculation is swirling around Jim Webb as a potential Vice Presidential candidate.  Others have already covered many of the problems with this scenario...

• Webb and Obama have some fairly non-trivial policy differences
• Webb isn't very good on the trail and resists some of the necessities of campaigning
• Webb seems to dislike subordinate positions where he cannot focus on and advance his own agenda

Any, perhaps even all, of those could be routed around, though.  But there is another problem: Jim Webb would completely trip up the Democrat's spin on John McCain.

In a 2000 New York Times article about John McCain - entitled "No Ordinary War; No Ordinary Hero" - Jim Webb spoke of McCain's "broad appeal" and said "McCain can appeal to all sides".  Excerpting...

Even though Vietnam was a divisive war that is not yet resolved in the national consciousness, Mr. McCain can appeal to all sides. He is an inspiration to many veterans and conservatives [...] At the same time, many who opposed the war can nonetheless support the man because of his personal ordeal ...

This broad appeal is unique, especially because it is based on suffering rather than concrete battlefield accomplishments. [...] But a closer look brings deeper insight into why most Americans have come to hold this defining experience in such great esteem.  [...]

But if there is insight into Mr. McCain's leadership style, it is with the question of how he worked to normalize relations with Vietnam. To his credit, the man who is so often criticized by opponents for divisiveness succeeded in working across the widest imaginable spectrum of interests in order to bring the Vietnam War and its aftermath to a full resolution. At the same time, as in his dealings with other issues, like campaign finance reform, his relentless pursuit of a solution to the normalization question and the singularity of his approach left a trail of bruised egos and avowed revenge seekers. [...]

And he created a perception in some circles that he would reach over allies to work with enemies by allying himself to Senator John Kerry, who once headed Vietnam Veterans Against the War, as well as providing political cover for President Clinton when normalization was announced.

In fact, these actions may be one reason for the rather surprising statistic that shows George W. Bush running as well among veterans as Mr. McCain himself. But the fact is, Mr. McCain succeeded, and he took the country with him. Yes, he used his prisoner of war credentials to their full impact. Certainly he could have been smarter and more respectful of the travails of others, and more conscious of buttressing his supporters as he reached out to his adversaries. But he took on the most contentious diplomatic issue of our time and pursued it to a satisfactory conclusion.

Resolving this issue may not show John McCain's ability to unite disparate groups, but it is certainly testimony to his ability to lead.

The problem is not that Webb liked McCain once and then changed his mind; the problem is that Jim Webb has made arguments that directly contradict the story the Left is trying to tell about John McCain.  They don't want to spend the next few months trying to unspin themselves on this.