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Ex-Sen. Jim Webb 'Seriously Looking' at White House Run

Virginia Democrat says he will decide on a run "in a few months."
Image:
US senator Jim Webb speaks during a press conference in Vientiane, August 13, 2009. The senator is in the Lao capital as part of a 20-day long Southeast Asia trip which will lead him to Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam. AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)STR / AFP - Getty Images

Former Democratic Sen. Jim Webb said Tuesday that he’s “seriously looking at the possibility of running for president.”

Speaking at the National Press Club, Webb told reporters that he’s gauging the “support base” for his policy priorities and that he will decide on a run “in a few months,” according to reports.

Webb, a Vietnam veteran and a former Secretary of the Navy, served as a senator from Virginia from 2007 to 2013. While he doesn’t have the major national profile or a broad fundraising network of many presidential hopefuls, some observers say that Webb’s opposition to U.S. intervention in Iraq and Libya could offer an important contrast with likely Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

The former Reagan administration official isn’t without his critics. He’s famed for his brusque mannerisms, and he had to apologize for a 1979 article in which he wrote that women’s attendance at military service academies was “poisoning” preparation for war.

- Carrie Dann