Ex-Republican to rebut Bush's state speech

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- A former longtime Republican, and now freshman U.S. senator, Jim Webb, D-Va., was to rebut U.S. President George Bush's State of the Union address.

Webb told The Christian Science Monitor his focus will be on Bush's handling of the war in Iraq, which he has in the past called "the greatest strategic blunder in modern times."

"We have never clearly defined what a win is -- never, not since 2002," Webb said.

Webb is a lawyer, a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran, and briefly served as secretary of the Navy under U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, told the Monitor the Democrats had made a good choice in naming him to follow Bush.

"The fact that he's a longtime Republican, until his recent conversion, plus his war-hero status, plus a strong association with Ronald Reagan, plus the fact that he delivered the Senate to the Democrats on the issue of Iraq -- it makes him the logical choice for the Democrats," Sabato said.