NEW YORK, NY Oct. 20 (DPI) – Former Virginia Senator James Webb, who trailed badly in polls and made a mediocre showing in last week’s Democratic debate, dropped out of the presidential race today, and a New York Times report dismissed any possibility of Webb – or anyone else – running as an independent:
The announcement came after the campaign said on Monday evening that Mr. Webb was considering a bid as an independent, and at the press conference he did not rule that out. But independent campaigns are notoriously difficult because of financial and ballot access obstacles.
In effect The New York Times confirmed that many already believe: That the two political parties control the election process – and any outside challengers forget making any effort to change it. The NYT refrained from offering a comment board to articles on Webb’s announcement.
But The Washington Post – which barely filters its comment boards and saw 800 comments posted in two hours today – offered up a range of reader views, many of which agreed that an independent run was hopeless. “Good luck with that,” wrote one.
Webb “didn’t offer enough free stuff,” wrote one poster.