justawife, I think you are saying the election is a lesser of two evils.
People who switch parties bother me. I wonder at their true reasons. Webb did resign as SecNav because he disagreed with Reagan's Navy strenght cuts. He is still in favor of a strong military and thinks we have cut too much which is a plus.
His 1979 comments about women in combat DID cause undue harm to the female midshipmen at the Academy and, as head of Veterans Affairs, they were not those of a private citizen. Had he been a private citizen, I could possibly see where he was coming from. Carter had just decreed women equal to men in the military, outside in, no input from his military leaders. Webb was probably 33 years old, a writer, knowing the power of words. He had been a platoon leader and company commander in Vietnam. Vietnam is hard to explain to those who haven't been there. It was a vile, filthy jungle. Conditions were beyond horrible. In many cases, it was survival, pure and simple. I myself would not want my sister or daughter to experience those conditions. As a private citizen, Webb had the right to make those observations. However, the Washington Post did not post his editorial because he was a private citizen. They publsihed it because he was the head of Veterans Affairs and an accomplished author. He should have been more responsible. Kind of like Kerry in CA the other day, open mouth-insert foot.
In his defense, when he was SecNav he opened up many career paths for women. Prior to his term, women were not allowed to deploy on combatants, could not fly tactical aircraft, and many other restrictions. He changed all that. So maybe his overall actions have redeemed him from his initial gaff.