MR. KOJO NNAMDIFrom WAMU 88.5 at American University in Washington, welcome to "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," connecting your neighborhood with the world. Later in the broadcast, our local restaurant world tour continues with a look at Chinese cuisine, but first a big surprise is rocking the political world in Virginia and Washington today. U.S. Senator Jim Webb just announced that he will not seek reelection in 2012. Webb, releasing a statement this morning, saying that, quoting here, "After much thought and consideration, I've decided to return to the private sector where I have spent most of my professional life and will not seek reelection in 2012. Notwithstanding this decision, I have every intention of remaining involved in the issues that affect the well-being and future of our country." Joining us to talk about Senator Webb's decision and what this could mean for the political landscape in Virginia is Ben Pershing, congressional reporter with The Washington Post. He joins us by telephone. Ben Pershing, thank you for joining us.

MR. BEN PERSHINGThanks for having me.

NNAMDIAlso joining us by telephone is Bob Holsworth, founder of the nonpartisan website virginiatomorrow.com. Bob, good to talk to you again.

MR. BOB HOLSWORTHAlways good to speak with you, Kojo.

NNAMDIBob, was this at all expected in Virginia, or was it a big surprise?

HOLSWORTHWell, people were thinking that it could happen, and probably the reason they were, Kojo, is that over the last three months, Jim Webb has certainly not dedicated himself to raising any money. When people were looking at that latest finance report, it raised the real red flag about his interest and determination in keeping that seat, so the Democrats surely were hoping that he was gonna run again. This has thrown quite a wrench not only into the national Democrats' but into the Virginia Democrats' plan, and I think it's not a decision that they really were looking forward to at all.

NNAMDIBen Pershing, Webb said in his statement that he's going back to the private sector. Do we know anything more about that at this point or -- but why he made this decision?

PERSHINGWell, in terms of what he's gonna do now, we don't know what he's gonna do. You know, he's been a quite successful author. He's written fiction and nonfiction and been on the bestseller list, and it's possible that he just wants to focus on that. If he has other career designs, he hasn't said what they were. And in terms of why he decided this, you know, I think one of the reasons why people thought this might happen was that he never seemed completely comfortable as a senator. You know, Senator Webb, he doesn't like raising money, and he doesn't like going to receptions. And he doesn't like talking to lobbyists, and he doesn't seem to love, you know, ribbon-cuttings and all the sort of usual things politicians have to do. He's kind of a loner, and so people watching him in the Senate wondered whether he really liked doing this enough to want to do it for six more years.

NNAMDIIsn't that really unusual in Washington, an elected official in the U.S. Senate who just doesn't like the job that much?

PERSHINGYeah. I think it is unusual. You know, it's kind of silly that he disliked everything about being a senator. I think he liked legislating. I think he liked making laws and committee hearings and all that. He liked the real official stuff you do as a senator. It's all the other things you have to do, particularly when it comes to campaigning. You know, big backslapping and shaking hands and going to parades and all that kind of thing, it just never seemed quite his style. And if he was gonna win another term against George Allen, he was gonna have to do all that stuff.

NNAMDIBob Holsworth, it seems that the basis for Jim Webb's appeal in Virginia is that in -- at least in one instance that he used to be a Republican or one aspect of it and was widely seen as a moderate. Can you describe the Webb appeal and what it says or doesn't say about the traits the next senator for Virginia should have?

HOLSWORTHWell, when Webb was selected, I think the Democrats really looked at him as an attractive candidate for a couple of reasons. He was against the war in Iraq, but he had these very, very strong military credentials...

NNAMDIFormer Navy secretary.

HOLSWORTHRight. That they felt were extremely important in Virginia. He had been a Republican. Economically, he's pretty much of a liberal populist, but by and large, the fact that he was one of this kind of individuals who transcended party in some ways, that he was seen as an authentic voice who told people what he thought and adhered to his principles no matter what they were, had a real degree of attraction, I think, in 2006. But, as Ben noted, not only does he not like campaigning, he really doesn't like constituent service that much. He wasn't somebody who came back regularly to Virginia to massage the constituencies. He was not somebody who enjoyed going to the chicken festivals on weekends and seeing the party faithful and talking to constituents. He's a person who has made his living off his wits for the last 20 years as a writer. And I think, overall, he wants to contribute to the national dialogue, but, as Ben said, the kind of activities that are also required to be an elected official are not things that he found instinctively compatible.

NNAMDIAll right. Let me get rid of the scuttlebutt or either endorse it at this point. What is the speculation -- he said he plans on returning to the private sector. Obviously, people are speculating. Now, he's probably likely to get a major appointment from the Obama administration, something like, oh, maybe secretary of defense.

PERSHINGIt's theoretically possible that could be forthcoming, but there certainly hasn't been any definite word on that. And I wouldn't necessarily say that he must be getting something like that and that's why he's quitting. You know, for all the reasons we've discussed...

NNAMDIYes.

PERSHING...he didn't seem to want to be in the Senate anymore, and so it's not like I don't say -- I don't think you could just say, well, he must have been promised something, because that's not clear. You know, it's possible that he wants...

NNAMDIGlad you said that.

PERSHINGIt's possible that he wants to stay in public service, but it's also just as possible that he, you know, wants to go home and be a writer.

NNAMDIBob Holsworth, how does this affect the field for the Senate race in Virginia? Is there enough time for a strong Democratic candidate to come forward?

HOLSWORTHWell, there's certainly enough time. The question is, do Democrats have a strong candidate to come forward? That -- what has happened over the last couple of years has been remarkable decimation in some ways of the Democratic Party in Virginia, and it's not clear who the alternative is. There are a lot of people who immediately will turn to former Governor Tim Kaine, but if you take a look at Tim Kaine's political trajectory as well, in his last year as governor, he engaged in a number of actions -- such as closing the rest stops, advocating a tax increase, advocating sending a convicted murderer back to Germany to serve out the rest of his term -- that really weren't geared toward running again for reelection. And as recently as two or three weeks ago, Tim Kaine said that he had no interest in the Senate, even if Jim Webb wasn't to run. So my sense is that the Democrats are, at the moment, almost back to the drawing board, and I think there will be some speculation about Tom Perriello and others. But the reality is that this is a party that is, in general, searching for leadership in Virginia, and this race in 2012 is just gonna punctuate that point even greater.

NNAMDIBen Pershing, Bob Holsworth mentioned Tom Perriello and some others. Tom Perriello, of course, lost his House seat in the last election, but then, there are some others, aren't there? There's Jim Moran. There's maybe others.

PERSHINGWell, there are other House members in the delegation, but honestly, there haven't been many who've been mentioned as possible Senate candidates. Perriello is one who's been mentioned, and then, you know, there's even a slim chance that you could see someone like Rick Boucher who also lost in the last race. Now, he hasn't given any signal that he's interested in the race, but, you know, he might have the kind of profile Democrats could be looking for and someone who could win in the conservative areas. But I think the fact they were even talking about, you know, to members who just lost indicates how thin the Democratic bench is in Virginia.

NNAMDIWell, speaking of people who just lost, Bob Holsworth, there's Creigh Deeds. There's Brian Moran.

HOLSWORTHWell, again, I think those are two people whose losses were in some ways so dramatic it's hard to imagine them coming back immediately as Senate candidates. Creigh Deeds turned out, I think, to be a very poor statewide candidate, a good person, a good legislator, not a very good candidate. I think Brian Moran in losing so convincingly in a primary to Creigh Deeds makes it much more difficult for him to run for Senate. I think you would see Democrats try to find maybe a Webb-like person. I could even imagine them going back to somebody like a former lieutenant governor, Don Beyer, who's now ambassador to Switzerland, to see whether he might have any interest in the race. But at the moment, I think, as Ben noted, the fact that we are just trying to almost grasp at Democratic straws , you might say, tells you about the paltry state of the party and its immediate need to really try to reinvent itself and find a group of new leaders who can run for election both in 2012 and in state -- for statewide office in 2013.

NNAMDIBen Pershing, in 2009, the electoral map was widely considered to be stacked against Democrats. In 2012, Barack Obama will be on this ballot. Was that -- what does that mean for people who will run in Virginia's elections, especially for Democrats, because if Obama is on the ballot, you can expect the turnout among Virginians of color is likely to be pretty high?

PERSHINGI think that's absolutely true. I think, you know, if you saw what happened in the 2010 elections, where you had three Democrat House members lose, you know, I think a lot of them -- they suffered because Obama wasn't on the ballot -- you know, Glenn Nye, Tom Perriello, people who won, you know, sort of on Obama's coattails didn't have that. Now, in 2012, you know, the theory is he'll have, you know, strong African-American turnout in urban areas, particularly down in -- around the Hampton Roads-Virginia Beach area. Up here in Northern Virginia, you'll have it, and it will make things a lot better for Democrats that year than they have been in, you know, '09 and '10, where Democrats really took a drubbing.

NNAMDIAnd, Bob Holsworth, what will this mean on the Republican side for George Allen because he's also got a crowded field in the primary?

HOLSWORTHWell, I think George Allen is actually hoping the field gets even more crowded than the primary because for Allen, I think, the more, the merrier in that primary. That he'd like to have three or four Republicans running against him. Jamie Radtke, at the moment, is probably the most prominent announced candidate running against him. The woman who basically headed the Tea Party and guided a very successful Tea Party convention in Richmond, but Allen probably is feeling pretty good today about the fact that as much as he might like a rematch with Jim Webb, watching the Democrats scramble around for a candidate is probably even more preferable at the moment.

NNAMDIAnd we'll be watching that scrambling for a little while to come. Bob Holsworth is founder of the nonpartisan website virginiatomorrow.com. Bob, thank you for joining us.

HOLSWORTHAlways great to be here, Kojo.

NNAMDIBen Pershing is congressional reporter with The Washington Post. Ben, thank you for joining us also.

PERSHINGThanks for having me.

NNAMDIWe're gonna take a short break. When we come back, our culinary world tour continues. Chinese cuisine in the Washington area is up. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.