July 23, 2006 [LINK]
If a sympathetic newspaper like the Washington Post says that senatorial candidate Jim Webb failed to make any serious dents in incumbent George Allen, his performance must have been poor indeed. Local blogger Steve Kijak attended the debate at the Homestead in Hot Springs, and notes that Webb warned, in typically fatuous liberal fashion, that our soldiers are liable to be mistreated by the terrorist insurgents in Iraq in retaliation for the allegedly poor way we have treated prisoners at Guantanamo. See RightSideVA. What??? Last I heard, none of our guys had decapitated any terrorist suspects. Webb is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He probably is a sincere critic of the war, and no one should doubt that he has strong national security credentials. As long as he has to pander to the Howard Dean wing of the Democrat Party, however, he won't be able to do or say anything constructive with regard to national defense. Allen and Webb are scheduled to debate one more time, and at this point, there doesn't seem to be much reason to hold a third debate.