Tom Wolfe Picks Next President: Jim Webb

Calling the current slate of Democratic presidential candidates “unelectable,” best-selling author Tom Wolfe says a dark horse will emerge to win the nomination in 2008: Virginia Sen. Jim Webb.

At an exclusive Aug. 18 gathering in Southampton, N.Y., Wolfe — whose books include “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and “The Right Stuff” — told journalist Doug Dechert that Webb will be drafted to become his party’s nominee, and he will win the general election.

He reasoned that Webb, a former secretary of the Navy under President Reagan, has the experience, military credentials, and prescience on the war in Iraq to appeal to both his party’s anti-war base and the greater public’s desire for a leader who can plausibly combat global terrorism.

Despite Wolfe’s assessment, it appears highly unlikely that the Democratic nomination will go to Webb, a first-term senator who narrowly beat Republican incumbent George Allen last year and who has shown no interest in seeking the White House. But he has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate in 2008.

Webb created a stir last November at a White House reception for new members of Congress when he declined to be photographed with President Bush.