Former Sen. Webb announces candidacy

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Jim Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran and accomplished novelist who became a fierce critic of the Iraq war in the Senate, announced Thursday that he’s challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton and other rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Webb, in a statement posted on his campaign website, acknowledged he would face major hurdles but vowed to bring an outsider’s voice to the 2016 race, dominated by Clinton.

“I understand the odds, particularly in today’s political climate, where fair debate is so often drowned out by huge sums of money,” Webb wrote. “I know that more than one candidate in this process intends to raise at least a billion dollars.”

But the former Virginia senator added, “We need to shake the hold of these shadow elites on our political process” and find fresh answers to the nation’s problems.

Webb, 69, was a Navy secretary under Republican President Ronald Reagan who became a Democrat in response to the Iraq war that he opposed, and Clinton supported.

He surprised many fellow Democrats when he became the first major figure in the party to form a presidential exploratory committee in November. Webb has outlined a campaign message centered on helping working-class Americans compete in the economy, reworking the campaign finance system and preventing the U.S. from getting involved in foreign entanglements like Iraq and Afghanistan.

Webb has made frequent trips to the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but without the impact that Clinton brings to the race or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ unexpected success in raising campaign money and drawing crowds in his own long-shot challenge. Also in the field: former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

Webb’s opposition to the Iraq war, in which his son Jimmy served, was key to his surprise Senate election in 2006 against Republican Sen. George Allen. Though Webb chose not to seek re-election after one term, his military and foreign-policy credentials could make him a debate-stage foil to Clinton, who served as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state.