Jim Webb

DENVER -- U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell is attending two conventions Tuesday - 900 miles from each other. Mitchell started off the day at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, to which he is a superdelegate, but will fly to Phoenix to address the American Legion National Convention in Phoenix later in the day, before returning to Denver for the remainder of the DNC.

Mitchell will be appearing with U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) to discuss the impact of the so-called Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, the update of the Montgomery G.I. Bill that was introduced by Mitchell in the House and Webb in the Senate.

The event is meant as a "discussion," said Mitchell, intended to inform American Legion members of the benefits to which they might be entitled under the legislation. Mitchell said the Legion was heavily involved in the development of the bill. 

The principal candidates in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race took to differing media outlets in the past two days to push their message.

Louisville businessman and Democratic nominee Bruce Lunsford participated in a "liveblogging" session and wrote a "diary" on the liberal political blog DailyKos yesterday, while his opponent, incumbent U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Louisville), made an appearence this morning on the Fox & Friends television program on the Fox News network.

McConnell's three-and-a-half minute spot on the morning program focused exclusively on energy policy, with McConnell continuing his call for increased domestic oil exploration and suggesting that a moratorium on oil shale exploriation be lifted.

Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union): Politicker photo 

For the good of the country, a Republican with foreign policy smarts and gravitas would be a wise running mate choice for Sen. Barack Obama, in the view of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union).

In his NJ Voices blog over the weekend, Lesniak said he likes Indiana senior Sen. Richard Lugar, and today he told PolitickerNJ.com that Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) would also be good.

"It would show that Obama wants to bring this country together," said Lesniak. "I’m most impressed with Lugar’s ability to articulate a tough and reasoned approach to Iran.

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb is heading to Los Angeles this weekend.

Webb, who has been widely mentioned as a potential vice presidential pick, will be speaking at UCLA about his new book "A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America".

That afternoon Webb will also be speaking at a rally at the University, where he will be discussing a new GI bill. The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the list of attendees to the event includes Sally Field, Felicity Huffman, and Lisa Kudrow.

Webb, a first term senator from Virginia, served as secretary of the Navy under Ronald Reagan.

TRENTON  - Asked whom he supports to run on the ticket withSen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) said he believes the natural pick is U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA.).

"It's not a question of neutralizing (Sen. John) McCain's status as a war hero, it's what Webb adds to Obama to balance the ticket," Lesniak told PoltickerNJ.com in the Statehouse as he manuevered out of the committee he chairs on economic growth this afternoon. 

A former Republican and secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan, Webb opposed the war in Iraq and made a public show of his disdain for Presdient George W. Bush when he took office as senator. 

U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8), right, with U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) today in Paterson. 

PATERSON - U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8) didn't hestitate today when asked whom he would like to see presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois choose as his running mate.

"Senator (Jim) Webb, from Virginia," Pascrell told PolitickerNJ.com at a press conference on gas prices in Paterson, which he attended with senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez and Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres.

"He'd be a great vice prisident, and you'd always know where he stands," Pascrell said of the freshman Virginia senator, and Vietnam veteran who once boxed Ollver North to earn a controversial loss when the two were in the Marine Corps.

John McCain claims he stands for and the supports the troops, but when it comes to putting his money where his mouth his, he's a no show.

MANCHESTER- Sitting around a table of veterans, former governor Jeanne Shaheen (D-Madbury) said he supports a new GI bill.

Shaheen said she supports U.S. Sen. Jim Webb's (D-Virginia) bill that would expand college benefits to current members of the armed services.

Jeff Merkley may have won a 45%-41% victory in yesterday’s Democratic primary, but it’s rare for a challenger who barely ekes out a primary win to oust incumbent United States Senators in the general election.  Of the twenty challengers to unseat incumbents in U.S. Senate races since 1996, only one did so after winning a primary by a narrower margin than Merkley did.  That was in 1996, when Peter Fitzgerald won a 52%-48% victory over Loleta Didrickson in the Illinois GOP primary, and then went on to defeat incumbent Carol Mosely-Braun. 

Though passed by the U.S. House today, the Webb-Mitchell Post-9/11 GI Bill, introduced in the House by Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-5), fell short of the 288 votes necessary to secure the override of veto by Pres. George W. Bush.

Bush has threatened to veto the bill, which seeks to bolster educational benefits for returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, if it comes to his desk.

Though the bill bears his name, Mitchell rose on the floor of the House today to express serious concerns about provisions the Democratic leadership has put in it, specifically the addition of a surtax of .05 percent that would affect the richest Americans.