What They’re Saying About Jim Webb's Trip to Omaha and Sioux City on May 6, 2015

Jim Webb in Omaha and Sioux City
Wednesday, May 6, 2015

NBC affiliate [Video with interview]
http://www.ktiv.com/story/28998063/possible-presidential-candidate-jim-webb-stops-by-boys-club-of-sioux-city
 
CBS affiliate [Video with interview]
http://mms.tveyes.com/Transcript.asp?StationID=5395&DateTime=5%2F7%2F2015+5%3A32%3A54+AM&Term=Jim+Webb&PlayClip=TRUE
 
ABC affiliate [VIDEO with interview]:
http://www.siouxlandmatters.com/story/d/story/democrat-jim-webb-tours-sioux-city-considers-presi/23776/5xIPA7e2Oku2jziGWsW5vQ
 
Omaha World-Herald
By Robynn Tysver / World-Herald staff writer
 
Democrat Jim Webb sure sounded like a presidential contender Wednesday in Nebraska.
 
The Vietnam War hero and former U.S. senator from Virginia took a few gentle swipes at President Barack Obama, arguing that his fellow Democrat hasn’t done enough to involve Congress in his foreign policy decisions.
 
“My view is, we can bring cooperation back, across the board, with the right kind of leadership,” Webb said.
 
He also argued that underdogs can win, noting that when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2006, he started out more than 30 points behind in the polls.
 
“We had no money. No staff. And, on a good day, we were 33 points behind,” Webb said. “We just hit the road and talked to the people — the same thing we’re doing now in Iowa.”
 
Webb spoke to about 40 students and veterans during a hastily arranged stop at his father’s alma mater: the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Afterward, he hit the road in Iowa, speaking in Sioux City.
 
Webb is one of several Democrats considering whether to challenge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the presidential nomination. He has set up an exploratory committee and has made at least four trips to Iowa since last fall.
 
Other Democrats who have expressed interest in the race are former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, has announced that he will run as a Democrat.
 
Webb has Nebraska ties. His father, James Henry Webb, was a military man, and the family moved often during Webb’s childhood. At one point, when Webb was in high school, his father was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. During that time, Webb attended Bellevue East High School, while his father enrolled in night classes at UNO.
 
The elder Webb had always wanted a college degree. On the day his father graduated, Webb said his father walked across the auditorium and waved his diploma in front of his son: “He said, you can get anything you want in this country. Don’t ever forget it.”
 
Webb then followed in his father’s bootsteps, joining the Marines and serving in combat in Vietnam, where he earned the Navy Cross and the Silver Star. He later served in the Pentagon, wrote books and eventually became secretary of the Navy.
 
In 2006, Webb ran for the U.S. Senate and won. One of the first things he did was to introduce a new G.I. Bill for veterans who served after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Among other things, the bill helps them go to college.
 
“It’s one of the things I’m proudest of,” Webb said.
 
http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/at-uno-former-virginia-sen-webb-sounds-like-a-presidential/article_4ce872b2-6c06-5d2a-87cf-eb22dfcf2bde.html
 
 
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Potential candidate Webb visits Sioux City
 
Kirby Kaufman Sioux City Journal
 
SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Possible presidential hopeful Jim Webb paid a visit to a nonprofit Wednesday where he participated in a junior boxing program in the 1960s.
 
Webb, 69, a former U.S. senator from Virginia, shared a story about leadership and goal-making with about 100 youth at the Boy’s Club of Sioux City.
 
When he lived in Nebraska, Webb traveled to Sioux City to compete in the former Golden Gloves event, a boxing tournament that drew people from around the Midwest.
 
“It was really fun going back to the Boy’s Club here and meeting the boys,” Webb said Wednesday. “They’re a really energetic bunch.”
 
Webb was asked whether he would make a run for president in 2016.
 
“I’m thinking about it," he answered.
 
Next, Webb stopped for a meet-and-greet at Tacos El Guero, where a small group of Democrats gathered to discuss his views on political issues.
 
Webb said he would focus on the economy, including minimum wage and reorganizing prison systems, and the death penalty. He also said he would balance power between the president and Congress, which he described as leaning toward the president during Barack Obama’s presidency.
 
“We’re starting to look like Third World countries in parts of America,” Webb said.
 
Webb also advocated for more funding for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease to help find a cure.
 
“There’s hardly a family in this country that has not in one way or another been affected by this problem,” he said. “It’s almost like putting the men on the moon. I think we can solve this problem — I really do.”
 
Tim Tracy, co-chair of the Carroll County Democratic Party, said Webb likely would receive support from combat veterans and active troops, citing the potential candidate’s military experience.
 
“There’s a natural connection because you’ve been in the trenches and so have they,” he said.
 
Before visiting Sioux City, Webb spent Wednesday afternoon at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where he met with student veterans.
 
Webb’s trip marked the first time this year a Democratic presidential hopeful stopped in Sioux City to gauge traction in Iowa. Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, who both have announced a run for candidacy, have yet to visit Sioux City.
 
After his visit, Webb said his decision to run for president will come “fairly soon.”
 
http://qctimes.com/news/state-and-regional/iowa/potential-candidate-webb-visits-sioux-city/article_706ae38e-d241-5980-b93b-2adc4c423afa.html
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FOX local affiliate: Former Senator Jim Webb Visits Siouxland
http://www.siouxlandnews.com/story/28999310/former-senator-jim-webb-visits-siouxland
SIOUX CITY, IA -  A potential challenger for the Democratic Party's nomination for President is looking for support in Siouxland.
 
Former Senator Jim Webb of Virginia stopped by the Boys Club in Sioux City this afternoon. Afterwards he stopped by a Mexican restaurant on 5th street.
 
Webb served one term in the Senate from 2007 to 2013. Before that, he spent 9 months as Secretary of the Navy under President Reagan in the late 80s.
 
He says he's enjoying getting out and talking to voters, "We're having a lot of good face to face conversations, and I hope people will get comfortable with the record that we have. This isn't simply positions that I'm taking on any given day because of a pole or any of that stuff. I'm not going to have a billion dollars to run a campaign like this. So we are really speaking from the heart on the issues we care about. And I hope people can appreciate that."
 
Webb says he has yet to decide whether he'll enter the race for the White House.
 
His competition for the nomination is currently former New York Senator Hillary Clinton and current Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.