Political times

My good friend Peter Kleeman is on a 20 day Semester at Sea cruise. He will be going through the Panama Canal on Christmas Day, it sounds so awesome.

Peter participates in a weekly "Crossfire" type segment on ABC 16 on Tuesdays at 7:00PM newscast. I will be filling in for him while he is gone. This week's topic is Webb's reelection potential based on the Clarus poll that was released yesterday.

Senator Webb has not announced his intention to run for reelection at this time, so my first point is this discussion is that it is a wee premature. Having said that, I hope that the Senator will run again. I have only had a brief opportunity to see Senator Webb in person in 2008 when he came to Charlottesville to endorse then-candidate Tom Perriello. Senator Webb has impressed me with his independence, his willingness to take on issues no other Senator will and his unwavering commitment to veterans.

The poll and media accounts suggest that there may be a hard road for Senator Webb if he seeks reelection. To be fair, his first election was not an easy road. The only race that Sen. Webb was not winning in this hypothetical poll is to Governor McDonnell. Governor McDonnell is wildly popular in Virginia and democrats are not, so that Sen. Webb appears to win in two other hypothetical races I think shows strength. Sen. Webb knows how to fight for Virginians and w/ his track record in the Senate, I think Virginia voters will see the good work and know that he represents all of us w/ distinction.

To see what Joe Thomas thinks of this poll and find out more of my thoughts on the subject, tune into tonight's 7:00 news on ABC 16!