Jim Webb, the Democrat exploring a run for president as an alternative to Hillary Clinton, is hiring staff in Iowa, a sign that he’s likely to pull the trigger on a White House run.
“Glad to report that Rania Batrice is joining our team as senior political adviser, including coordinating Iowa,” Webb said in a Tuesday statement.
Webb, the former senator from Virginia and secretary of the Navy, announced at the end of last year that he is formally exploring a run for president. For now, he’s honing his populist pitch and trying to see if he can raise enough money to run a campaign.
In a speech before the International Association of Fire Fighters last week, Webb railed against things like high CEO salaries, portraying himself as a proponent for the working class.
“These are just a few examples of the kind of issues that aren’t going to ring up the cash registers of the big campaign donors,” Webb said of his views, “but they will make us a better country, and a better people, and a more fair society.”
Webb’s moves come as some Democrats, especially those on the left-wing, would like to see an alternative to Clinton, the presumed frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. But while Webb would likely to run to Clinton’s left as an anti-war populist, his pro-gun position and comments in the past about things like women in combat could be problematic in attracting liberal voters.