A guest-blogger at Matt's, Kathy G., makes the case. I take all her points, but it seems to me that the meme that is strongest against Obama is the usual Fox-Rove culture war stuff, a way to make Obama seem un-American. Webb destroys that meme and remakes the landscape of the race in ways that hurt McCain. Webb is also as close to a Republican as any Democrat will get - viscerally, culturally, temperamentally. I do think that avoiding a female backlash after Clinton's withdrawal makes sense. But I don't think it rules Webb out. If Obama is partly about healing the culture war - and it's a key element of his appeal to independents - then Webb is proof that he can bring cultural rivals into his team.
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