Forgotten But Apparently Not Gone
By 
People who play very close to American politics will remember that Jim Webb briefly went through the formal motions of a presidential campaign this year, on the premise that what Democratic voters were crying out for in 2016 above all was anti-anti-Confederate arguments and plenty of ’em. (To be clear, it is clearly a massive anti-centrists-who-talk-about-America’s-Scots-Irish-roots-a-lot media conspiracy that he isn’t at least as famous as David Hasselhoff in Germany.) That went about as well as expected — anybody remember whether he or Lessig bailed first? Anyway, he has a declaration about November to make:
In an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Reagan administration veteran-turned-Democratic senator from Virginia turned short-term presidential candidate Jim Webb said twice that he could not support Hillary Clinton if she won the Democratic nomination for president.
“No, I would not vote for Hillary Clinton,” Webb said.
Pressed on whether he would vote for Donald Trump, Webb said he was “not sure” but had not ruled it out.
“It’s nothing personal about Hillary Clinton, but the reason Donald Trump is getting so much support right now is not because of the, you know, ‘racists,’ etc. and etc.,” Webb said. “It’s because a certain group of people are seeing him as the only one who has the courage to say, ‘We’ve got to clean out the stables of the American governmental system right now.’ If you’re voting for Donald Trump, you might be getting something very good or very bad. If you’re voting for Hillary Clinton, you’re going to get the same thing. Do you want the same thing?”
Heritage not hate!
Fortunately, there’s a group for which Webb’s, ah, talents would be a good fit:
Former Indiana governor and U.S. senator Evan Bayh has been named a co-chairman of No Labels.
The Washington-based group of moderate Democrats, Republicans and Independents advocates for policies that create jobs, strengthen Social Security and Medicare, balance the federal budget and achieve U.S. energy security.
Other co-chairmen of No Labels are former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman. Bayh is a Democrat, Huntsman is a Republican, and Lieberman has been a Democrat and an Independent.
I suppose it’s close to impossible for these guys to become less influential, but they’re giving it a good try.