Former Democratic senator Jim Webb announces 2016 run

“After many months of thought, deliberation and discussion, I have decided to seek the office of the Presidency of the United States,” Webb said in a statement on his website on Thursday.
 
Webb, who spent one term in the Senate before retiring in 2013, said the United States “needs a fresh approach to solving the problems that confront us and too often unnecessarily divide us.”
 
Webb, 69, however received support from only 4 percent of Democratic voters nationally in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in June.
 
“I understand the odds, particularly in today’s political climate where fair debate is so often drowned out by huge sums of money," he said.
 
"I know that more than one candidate in this process intends to raise at least a billion dollars — some estimates run as high as two billion dollars — in direct and indirect financial support," he said, apparently referring to well-funded rivals, including Hillary Clinton who is the race's frontrunner.
 
Clinton has raised a record amount of money despite the fact that most Americans now have an unfavorable view of her and believe she is not honest and trustworthy, according to a poll for the White House.
 
Experts say her campaign could spend upwards of $2 billion in 2016.
 
“Our fellow Americans need proven, experienced leadership that can be trusted to move us forward from a new President’s first days in office,” Webb said.
 
He also reminded voters that he has spent his “entire life in and around the American military.”
 
The former Marine also reiterated his opposition to US invasion of Iraq in 2003, his opposition to intervention in Libya and his “concern” about ongoing negotiations with Iran.
 
"On the other hand, I would make it clear to our friends and our potential adversaries that we will retain vigorous relationships with our treaty partners and our allies, and that we will meet and defeat any international terrorist movement that threatens our national security," Webb wrote in his announcement message.