Webb May Be Senate Maverick

A Vietnam War hero, Webb can also be expected to take the lead on veterans issues. He will be representing a state that has among the highest percentage of veterans in the nation.

He said he immediately wants to introduce bills to give tax breaks to soldiers and educational assistance to veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, similar to the World War II-era GI Bill.

As a former Republican, Webb will become a swing voter and play a role similar to that of his Senate buddies Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.). Webb, Hagel and McCain, as well as Virginia Sen. John W. Warner (R), could form an important voting bloc on issues related to foreign policy, political analysts say.

Webb, however, said it would be unfair to cast him as solely a foreign policy wonk. Despite conventional wisdom that he abandoned the Republican Party because of the Iraq war, Webb said economic issues are what drove him to the Democrats.

On the campaign trail, Webb talked about the "three Americas" -- rich, poor and middle-class -- and how society was breaking down over "class lines." Webb, who vows to never change what he believes for a "dollar or a vote," said he wants to close corporate tax loopholes and pay closer attention to escalating salaries for chief executives.

Webb also has an affinity for the labor movement, even though Virginia is a right-to-work state. He plans to push to raise the minimum wage and said that "organized labor is very important because everyone needs an agent."

Webb might also try to steer federal dollars into southwest Virginia, where his ancestors settled. Speaking to coal miners last weekend in Grundy, Webb said, "You have given your loyalty, and you will have my loyalty, and I will work to bring fairness back to the economic system."

Voters also should prepare for Webb's libertarian views on such issues as his support for abortion and gun rights and concern about some of President Bush's tactics in the war on terrorism, including the domestic wiretapping program.

"Government does not belong in people's private lives unless there is a compelling reason," Webb said.

Despite a desire to be portrayed as independent, Webb plans to become engaged with the state's Democratic Party. He said he plans to start helping Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) with his effort to elect more Democrats to the General Assembly next year.

"I want to do what I can to bring people back into the party," Webb said.

Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Prince William) said it would be a mistake for Webb to conclude that his victory Tuesday was a mandate.

"If he goes in tooting in there and jumps on the Hillary Clinton agenda, he'll be a one-term senator," Lingamfelter said. "Virginians won't take it."

Webb said he understands that he beat Allen by less than 10,000 votes and that, in fact, he might not have won if Allen had not made a last-minute attack on sex-laced passages in his novels.

Allen's attack, 10 days before the election, appeared to take a toll on Webb's staffers, who began doing yoga in the hallways of his campaign headquarters to calm their nerves. But Webb said the accusations, which appeared on the Drudge Report Web site and then in newspapers and on television, backfired.

"I got 170,000 hits on my Web site in 24 hours," Webb said. "That is when I said, 'I think I am going to win.' "