With little luck in his quest for the Democratic presidential nomination so far, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb is considering an independent bid in 2016, his campaign said Monday.
A press release entitled, "Jim Webb To Consider Independent Run" said the candidate will hold a press conference Tuesday "to discuss his candidacy, the campaign and his views of the political parties in the current election cycle."
Webb has had difficulty gaining traction in the Democratic field, and most polls show him getting 0 to 2 percent support from Democratic voters. He spent much of the first Democratic debate complaining that he wasn't getting enough speaking time, a fact that earned him a lot of negative commentary from the world of social media.
He said at a Council on Foreign Affairs event that the debate was "rigged" because moderator Anderson Cooper "was selecting people to supposedly respond to something someone else said."
His presidential bid has already been atypical of a modern election. Rather than hold an event announcing his candidacy, Webb merely sent an email to supporters in July informing them, "I have decided to seek the office of the Presidency of the United States."
The chief rationale for his candidacy has been foreign policy, and Webb was quick to write at the time that he would not have supported an invasion of Iraq as president. "Nor as a Senator would I have voted to authorize it," he said, an unwritten contrast with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's vote in favor of the war in 2002. She has since unequivocally said that she "got it wrong."
He raised just $696,972 in the third fundraising quarter, beating only former Rhode Island Gov. and Sen. Lincoln Chafee (who raised $15, 458 ). His campaign has $316,765 in the bank. .
Jim Webb to Quit Democratic Primary by Alex Seitz-Wald
Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb plans to announce on Tuesday that he will drop out of the Democratic presidential race in favor of a potential independent presidential run, a source familiar with his thinking confirmed to MSNBC.
Citing frustration with Party leadership and what he sees a corrupt political class, Webb will announce at the National Press Club this afternoon that he is withdrawing from any consideration of being the Democratic Party's nominee.
The former Virginia senator will vow to remain a voice in politics and will pledge that he's not going away, but will not declare an independent presidential bid during his press conference on Tuesday. Instead, he will say he is weighing his options.
Webb will not attend this weekend's Iowa Jefferson-Jackson dinner, a major Democratic party event featuring the party's entire field of presidential candidates. "We're done with the Iowa pay-for-play dinners. We're not going to waste our small donors' hard earned cash on elite party events for Hillary's pals," said Webb spokesperson Craig Crawford.
The Democratic National Committee declined to say whether Webb would be invited to appear in future party debates until he had made his announcement, but it seems highly unlikely either party would want to be involved.
Webb has run a low-key campaign and has little organizational infrastructure. As a Democratic candidate, Webb would face a number of deadlines to get on the ballot in key states beginning in coming weeks. But if he were to run as an independent, Webb would not hit his first filing deadlines until next summer, according to expert Richard Winger of Ballot Access News.
Several independent presidential candidates have managed to get on the ballot in all 50 states in the past.
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