WASHINGTON — On a radio talk show Monday Jim Webb (D-VA) was asked if he is considering a run for president.
Webb, a highly decorated Vietnam War combat veteran, former Secretary of the Navy, and former United States Senator from Virginia, was a guest on NPR’s nationally syndicated Diane Rehm Show.
Webb was on to discuss his recently published memoir “I heard my country calling.”
Host Susan Page, of US Today, was sitting in for Diane Rehm.
“I want you to know sir that I have admired you for a long time,” Louise, a caller from Charlottesville said. “I used to leave little messages on your answering machine when you were in the Senate…”
“Of course, I want you to run for President,” she said.
Another caller also expressed his support for the idea.
Finally the host asked Webb directly: “Would you consider running for President?”
“We’re — Hong and I — my wife and I are just thinking about what to do next,” Webb said. “I care a lot about where the country is, and we’ll be sorting that out.”
“So that is not a denial of interest in running for president, in fact that would be – I think –would be seen, given the question I asked, as an expression of interest in the possibility of running for president,” Page responded.
“Well, if you look at how I ran for the Senate,” started off Webb’s response to the host, “you know I announced nine months to the day before the election, with no money and no campaign staff.”
During the 2006 Senate race Webb defeated Republican George Allen, though by a slim margin. He won by 9,329 votes.
“When I…it takes me awhile to decide things,” Webb continued, “and I’m not going to say one way or the other, really.”
“What about the idea of being vice president?” Page asked.
“No, I had some discussions in ’08 about that, and I really don’t care about that – it wouldn’t be a good fit for me,” he responded.
You can listen to the entire show here: http://thedianerehmshow.org/audio-player?nid=19318
