Clinton campaign forced delay of Jim Webb 2016 launch

Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb has been toying with a presidential run since late in 2013 when he formed an exploratory committee. Prevailing wisdom in his campaign was that a 2016 launch was imminent and would have come last Friday night during his speech as the keynote speaker at the Clinton County Democratic Hall Of Fame dinner in Clinton, Iowa.

I’ll let Fox News pick up the story from there:

Jim Webb was supposed to declare he was running for president Friday night. At least that’s what the prevailing belief was inside his campaign.

Webb was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the Clinton County Democratic Hall Of Fame dinner in Clinton, Iowa. While the timing was bad (Friday night, where news goes to die), insiders said Webb thought it would be a good place to drop the hammer on a presidential run.

Enter the Clinton campaign, which Webb confidantes grumble has been sandbagging them at every turn. They convinced the Clinton County Democratic Party to add Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar to the speakers roster. The intention was for her to give a spirited sales pitch for Hillary at the very same place and time Webb would launch his campaign.

For Webb, insiders say, that, plus the fact that a Friday night launch could have gotten lost in the news cycle, was enough to convince him to delay the announcement.

Until when, only Webb knows.

As a result, we know Webb has decided to launch a 2016 presidential campaign, and will likely do so in the coming days. However, it appears that Hillary Clinton is taking him as a serious challenger despite his low polling and lack of name recognition. Webb is someone who, like Joe Biden, has the ability to connect well with average voters and comes across as generally sincere.

More to come as this story develops… stay tuned.