Jim Webb plans to drop out of Democratic primary race: reports

 

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb reportedly will drop out of the Democratic presidential primary race Tuesday afternoon.

Webb, a Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary, is expected to make the announcement during a news conference at 1 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C.

Fox News, which broke the story of Webb’s decision to withdraw his candidacy, reports that he has become disillusioned by how campaign financing, in his view, has pushed both major political parties to extreme positions.

Webb, 69, stood out as noticeably more moderate than his main competition for the party’s nod, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, during the Democratic primary debate on Oct. 13 in Las Vegas.

Citing an op-ed in which Webb called affirmative action “state-sponsored racism,” CNN anchor and debate moderator Anderson Cooper asked Webb if he is out of step with where the Democratic Party is now.

SLIDESHOW – Jim Webb through the years >>>

His debate performance did not make a considerable impact on his poll numbers and many liberal viewers ended the night feeling he came across as simply too conservative to win the party’s nod.

On Monday, Webb’s campaign said that he is considering an independent run.

In early June, when Webb announced his candidacy, he argued that fair debate is often drowned out by the huge sums of money funneled to candidates – both directly and indirectly.

“We need to shake the hold of these shadow elites on our political process,” he said at the time. “Our elected officials need to get back to the basics of good governance and to remember that their principal obligations are to protect our national interests abroad and to ensure a level playing field here at home, especially for those who otherwise have no voice in the corridors of power.”

This electoral ailment, to which Webb apparently hoped to be the antidote, appears to have been death knell to his campaign.

He has had trouble raising enough money to pose a legitimate threat to either Clinton or Sanders. A recent filing, reported by Politico, revealed that he had only raised $696,972.18 and had $316,765.34 cash-on-hand. Contrast that with the $29,921,653.91 raised by Clinton or the $26,216,430.38 raised by Sanders, according to the report.

Jim Webb plans to drop out of Democratic primary race: reports