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Byron York wonders if Jim Webb's "considerable pride in his Confederate forebears" might not bother some liberals if he were chosen as Barack Obama's running mate: "Just to make my own views clear: I don't see anything wrong with what Webb has said about his ancestors, but I think some liberal bloggers who have said some pretty negative things about the South might have a hard time with it."

You might think. But at the risk of sounding like a full-time defender of the Webb-for-veep meme, it's worth noting that Webb was a darling of liberal bloggers during the 2006 Senate race. The candidate himself blogged on Daily Kos. Aside from a few Hillary dead-enders, it's hard to imagine the netroots becoming less willing to overlook the Confederacy angle once Webb is linked to Obama. A McCain-somebody ticket may be in a better position to make some hay on the issue than George Allen, whose own history with the Confederate flag was the stuff of long New Republic articles. But even then, it is a tough issue for a Republican whose best region is the South to raise. (The n-word business may play differently if there is any actual evidence to support it.)

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Barack Obama, Business