I've been taking a look at the Webb candidacy in Virginia. As you may be aware, Webb was secretary for the navy under Reagan. He's a Vietnam war vet and was decorated with the Navy Cross, a Silver Star and two Bronze Crosses. It's safe to say that he's a military man and one of his signature proposals is to reduce taxes on those who have served by 5%.

The general perspective on Webb is that he's a Conservative Democrat. But I've actually looked at his stances and his rhetoric and neither supports that view.

Webb supports net neutrality; opposed the Iraq war since 2002; opposes warrantless wiretapping; is pro-fair trade; wants to see a windfall profits tax on big oil; thinks taxes shouldn't favor the rich, believes in public education, and supports Roe vs. Wade.

In fact, when I look at , I don't see any position I would classify as "right wing". To be fair, he hasn't stated his stance on gun control, and based on what he's written I'd be surprised if he isn't strongly opposed to it. But overall, Webb looks like s a progressive candidate to me.

In fact, although they are personally very different men, Webb reminds me of another candidate, one I heard speak at Yearly Kos - ex-Admiral Joe Sestak. Joe's speech was long on the theme of "we need to take care of each other and work together". And that's what I notice from Webb - an egalitarian streak a mile wide. One of his quotes is as follows:

I was a Marine. My brother was a Marine. My son is a Marine. And in the Marines we have a creed - a theory of leadership specific to the Corps but representing an idea that applies to all Americans. Take care of your people.

People in the military are used to living in a socialized economy. Subsidized housing, health care for everyone, a generous pension plan and so on. It's true that the system often fails people, but the message in the military is that everyone is in it together. It seems to me that when people like Sestak and Webb wind up in the civilian world, and especially as over the last few decades it has become a meaner, poorer civilian world riven with class differences, that they wonder if what they had in the military, the values they learned, can't be applied outside the military as well. They wonder why all Americans can't pull together - why policies encourage the loss of jobs and the creation of a permanent underclass (another Webb theme.) And in asking those questions they wind up becoming Democrats.

And that's one of the dirty secrets - it isn't Republicans that veterans are running for. The vast majority of veterans running for office are running as Democrats. And I think, in large part, it's because leaving aside certain cultural signifiers like guns and a fetization of the military, Democratic principles, and specifically progressive populist principles, have a deeper connection to military values - that you don't leave people behind, that you succeed as a team, that you take care of your people, that if you've got a job then it deserves respect and that if you don't, one should be found for you to do so that you can contribute.

The identification of the military with one party in the United States has been one of the great worries to every international observer. It's unhealthy and it's unwise and it was a coup waiting to happen. Practically the only good thing to come out of Iraq is the trend of the military away from the Republican party. But in a larger sense the feeling in the military of estrangement from civilian life, which is returned by many civilians, has been unhealthy as well and bears a large part of the responsibility for the way the military has been used. Reintegrating certain military values into a civic life which has become very anomic; very unable to react against those who seek to keep citizens divided and weak so that they can use the levers of government for their own purposes, is a good thing.

And so, not just on the issues, but on the values underlying them, I think Webb is someone that deserves to be elected. Someone that progressives can be comfortable with (hey, he believes in alternative energy instead of Anwar drilling), but also someone who offers a style and a moral code that is good for average Americans who have little ideology, but who want a government that works with and for them again - that accepts them as part of the team; that is "our" government, not "the" government.

I hope he wins in the fall, and not just because he's running as a Democrat. If you want to visit his campaign website, it's here.