It might be one of the most cliched sayings in politics, but Jim Webb would be exactly right in stating that he didn’t leave the Democratic Party — the Democratic Party left him.
On Tuesday, the former Virginia senator announced his withdrawal from his party’s primary due to its abandonment of “millions of dedicated, hard-working Americans.” He further said, “I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure and the nominating base of the Democratic Party.” (RELATED: Webb Withdraws: ‘If We Ran An Independent Race … I Think We Could Beat Both Of Them’)
The Republican National Committee agreed with Webb’s sentiment and issued a press release saying his departure was a sign that Democrats were moving towards the far-left fringe. (RELATED: RNC: Webb Dropping Out Is Proof Democrats Have ‘Moved Away From The American People’)
Webb’s alienation from the Democratic mainstream should be expected when the liberals in charge have, in fact, abandoned the archetypal common man. Democrats once lionized the figures of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson as champions of the little guy in American politics. Now both men are banished from Democratic events because they’re too politically incorrect. (RELATED: The Guy Who Founded America Is No Longer Welcome At Democratic Dinner Tables)
The Democrats’ resolute commitment to social liberalism and identity politics has turned away the old Blue Dog Democrat faction that Webb embodies. They were center-left when it came to economics, but oftetimes conservative when it came to social issues. But as Webb found out this election cycle, the modern party has zero tolerance for dissent on social matters. (RELATED: There’s No Place For The Common Man In The New Democratic Party)
A new poll even shows that the party is the most liberal it’s been in 15 years of surveying. (RELATED: Democrats More Liberal Than At Any Point In Last 15 Years, Surveys Show)
That’s why this Reagan Democrat’s stances on these issues listed below made him the unacceptable black sheep within a conformist herd.
Gun rights
During last week’s debate, Webb was presented with his A- rating from the NRA like it was an endorsement from Hamas. He defended his record and stated unequivocally that Americans have the right to defend themselves and their families. He earned no applause for this deviation from liberal orthodoxy. (RELATED: Webb Takes A Dig At Hillary’s Bodyguards, Says Americans Need Guns)
Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, had the highlight of her night when she chastised [crscore]Bernard Sanders[/crscore] for not being sufficiently in favor of gun control. Clinton got a lot of applause when she demanded immediate action to reduce gun ownership. Shortly after the debate, the Democrat front-runner said she was open to the idea of gun confiscation, an idea that’s gaining steam within the American left. (RELATED: Hillary Reveals How She Wants To Confiscate Your Guns)
Even Sanders is having to backtrack his prior dissenting views on guns and is joining the call for “gun safety” measures. Democrats overwhelmingly support stricter gun laws by 77 percent and left-wing outlets are insistent that the federal government needs to do something right now to end gun violence.
There’s a reason Webb wasn’t applauded for defending the right to bear arms.
Affirmative action
Another one of Webb’s tough questions he received during the debate was his prior statement claiming affirmative action was racist against whites. He clarified that he supported affirmative action for African-Americans — the people the initiative was designed for — and was opposed to other groups receiving it.
The former senator was also the lone candidate to say all lives matter during the debate, racking up another affront to left-wing identity politics. (RELATED: Webb The Only Democrat To Say All Lives Matter At Debate)
Webb said in his departure speech that the corrupted form of affirmative action is a result of the Democrats exploiting “interest group politics” and that the present system hurts “poor blacks and poor whites.”
As previously mentioned, the DNC is fully committed to identity-based grievance politics where every interest group tries to prove how America somehow victimized it. Clearly, Webb is not on board with that agenda.
Immigration
Webb is not quite an immigration hawk, but he was one of the few Democrats to vote against the 2007 amnesty legislation. He also believed in securing the border first, then addressing reform.
No Democratic senator voted against the 2013 version and the party appears to be fully in favor of giving citizenship to illegal immigrants without securing the border.
While Webb may be more willing to accommodate the party on this issue, his past transgression was likely going to be another headache for him. Sanders also voted against the 2007 amnesty and, even though he voted for the 2013 version, he’s still getting criticized on that opposition.
Confederate flag
While the left went into frenzy over the thought of anyone owning a Confederate flag this summer, the Scots-Irish politician said the flag was a symbol that was hijacked by racists and it was primarily intended to honor the fallen soldiers of the losing side. That moderate remark caught almighty hell in the media, and Webb backtracked it slightly a few weeks later.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Democratic field declared war on the flag and essentially wanted it erased from existence. The Confederate flag is the historic symbol the left hates the most above all other icons and even a mild defense of it is not tolerated, especially in the party for liberals. (RELATED: Hillary Clinton Wants Businesses To Stop Selling Confederate Flags)
However, these rather conservative views doesn’t exactly make Webb a perfect match for the GOP. His foreign policy leans towards non-interventionism and he was equally critical of Bush’s Iraq war and Obama’s Libyan excursion.
That outlook, along with his support of abortion, probably puts him outside the mainstream of the GOP as well. But, as shown with the insurgent candidacies of unorthodox Republicans like Ron Paul and Donald Trump, there’s far more room for dissent within the Republican Party than there is in the Democratic Party.
The question remains: Will the man without a party join the only one that might offer him a welcoming hand?