Jim Webb

FOR A TIME, Hollywood was enamored with former NATO commander and Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark. He was feted at packed Beverly Hills parties every time he breezed through town. But these days, there's a new military man on the radar: Jim Webb, the Democratic senator from Virginia.

Sen. Jim Webb, a rising star in Democratic politics, pulled the plug Monday on speculation that he might be Barack Obama's running mate. A Virginia Democrat elected in 2006, Webb was considered attractive as a potential vice presidential nominee because his resume is strong where Obama's is weak: on national security issues. Webb served as secretary of the Navy under President Reagan and is a decorated former Marine.

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, set to deliver the Democratic rebuttal to today's State of the Union address, suggested Monday that the United States is spending too much on reconstruction in Iraq while ignoring the rebuilding of New Orleans. Webb said his "gut instinct" tells him not to support more funding for Iraq without a full accounting of the money already spent there.

Democrats gearing up to challenge President Bush's Iraq war plan added a personal note to their campaign Tuesday as Virginia Sen. Jim Webb drew on his family's history of military service to accuse the president of betraying the trust of those fighting today. "We trusted the judgment of our national leaders," said Webb, a Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary whose father served in the Air Force after World War II and whose son is a Marine serving in Iraq.

Republican Sen. George Allen and Democratic challenger Jim Webb sparred over familiar issues including the Iraq war and taxes Monday night in the final televised debate of Virginia's tight U.S. Senate race. The election could help determine which party controls the Senate.

The buses pulled into the commuter pickup lot Tuesday morning, past cars sporting bumper stickers for Republican Sen. George Allen (Cadillac SUV) and Democratic challenger Jim Webb (Volvo station wagon). For years Loudoun County has been reliably Republican: President Bush took 56% of the vote here in 2004, and Allen, the popular former governor with presidential aspirations, won 57% in 2000. But no more.

Senate Democrats on Wednesday began planning their return to power as the chamber's majority, capping their party's strong showing in the 2006 election by claiming victories in closely contested races in Montana and Virginia. The wins, following the Democrats' takeover of the House in Tuesday's midterm vote, would give the party a 51-49 Senate majority, counting two independents who are expected to vote with Democrats. Republicans were not ready to officially give up as of late Wednesday.

When it came to the U.S. Senate race that would tip the balance of power in Washington in favor of the Democrats, some of Hollywood's shrewdest political donors backed the wrong horse. It's not that they didn't \o7like\f7 Jim Webb of Virginia. After all, the Vietnam War hero who opposed the war in Iraq is practically one of their own, having written six bestselling novels and the screenplay to 2000's "Rules of Engagement," the war drama starring Samuel L.