Will Jim Webb Throw His Hat in the Ring for POTUS?

Former one term Senator from Virginia Jim Webb (D-VA) has been making rumblings that he is seriously considering making a run for the Presidency.  

Webb served as the Secretary of the Navy in the Reagan Administration.  In 2006, Webb narrowly won (by 0.4%) a Senate seat defeating incumbent Senator George Allen (R-VA).  Legislatively, Senator Webb tried to make his mark in 2007 by being a Vietnam war veteran who proposed a bill would which cut off Bush Administration funding for the war in Iraq-- after a flourish in the Lamestream Media, the bill died in committee but Mission Accomplished (sic)!

Regrettably, Senator Webb's most memorable moment from his six years in the Senate was in 2007 when Webb's legislative aide was arrested entering the Russell Senate Office building as the aide was unwittingly carrying Senator Webb's loaded pistol and unregistered ammunition. Of course, this violated the strict gun laws in the District of Calamity (sic), but prosecutors dropped the case. 

After five years in the Senate,  Webb announced in early 2011 that he was not going to seek a second term, so that the then 65 year old Senator could go back into the private sector.  Political observers noted that as an incumbent Web would have enjoyed an advantage but that it would have been a tough campaign..

Political junkies and low information voters alike might wonder why Webb thinks that he would get traction in the Democrat Presidential field in 2016.  Webb can not point to real legislative achievements during his one term.  The only notable thing that Webb did during his so-called return to the private sector was to write a self-serving memoir "I Heard My Country Calling".  That sort of seems political to promote oneself and not be accountable to the electorate for tough votes. 

Webb's staunch support of the Second Amendment (including his aforementioned inconvenient experience on Capitol Hill) makes him a rara avis among national Democrats.  Moreover, Webb's ploy to cut off funding in Iraq might not play well as President Obama has begun bombing ISIS in the Levant.  So what's Webb's strategerie (sic) for winning the nomination.

The answer may be none.  Sometimes, minor politicos will float their name around to promote a pet issue (e.g. former UN Ambassador John Bolton for foreign policy issues or former Governor Sarah Palin on the Tea Party).  Some merely want to sell books or keep their name in the news.  But some suffering from "Potomac Fever" seem to enjoy living the high life.  Take Al Sharpton for instance. Sharpton supposedly ran for the Democrat nomination in 2004.  He got included in a couple of debates and got to campaign while staying in five star hotels, on someone else's dime.  Ten years later, Sharpton still owes over $1 million for his 2004 "run"  while landing a nightly television show on MSNBC.

At least if one term wonders like Jim Webb or former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) who are toying with a Presidential run in 2016 do not have to travel far to sate their symptoms of "Potomac Fever".