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Webb sees son off, returns to campaign(Roanoke Times, The (Roanoke, VA) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 10--James Webb watched his son leave Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Friday morning with a U.S. Marine unit bound for Iraq, then bottled up his worries and returned to Virginia to resume his campaign for a seat in the United States Senate. "I wouldn't have missed it," Webb said Saturday morning, explaining his decision to leave the campaign trail last week to spend time with his son Jimmy, a 24-year-old lance corporal who volunteered for the Marine infantry. Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Navy secretary, said he was among hundreds of family members who watched as his son's unit left on buses Friday morning. Webb was an early and outspoken opponent of President Bush's decision to invade Iraq, and has continued to criticize the administration's handling of the war as a candidate. But, to hear him tell it, he was just another parent as he saw his son off on Friday. "I'm going through the same thing that thousands of other people are going through," Webb said in an interview. "It's just I have to do it a little more visibly. There's nothing unique in what I'm going through. I kind of want to emphasize that." Webb, a Democrat challenging Republican incumbent George Allen, resumed his campaign Friday evening with events in Dublin and Roanoke. He began a hectic Saturday schedule by strolling through the Olde Salem Days festival with a group of sign-toting supporters, then traveled to events in Buena Vista, Covington, Harrisonburg and Falls Church. Webb trails Allen by just 4 percentage points in a poll conducted last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research. The race appears to be close despite the fact that Webb was a less visible campaigner than Allen for much of the summer. Allen campaign aides have begun characterizing Webb as an absentee candidate, though they have been careful not to criticize Webb for spending time with his son. Webb said his late entry into the Senate race forced him to raise money and assemble a campaign organization in a compressed time frame, keeping him from making the number of public appearances that are typical in statewide campaigns. "The really difficult thing for me is just having to do so much in such a short period of time," Webb said. "And, quite frankly, having to deal with my son's situation on top of it." Webb said he now has the money and the organization to be a fixture on the campaign trail for the remainder of the fall campaign, but conceded that Allen will maintain a significant funding advantage. "Right now, he's probably got 10 times as much money as we do," Webb said. As Webb campaigned Saturday, Allen's aides continued to criticize the Democrat for producing a television ad that features footage of President Ronald Reagan praising Webb's military service. Reagan made the remarks during a 1985 commencement speech at the U.S. Naval Academy, when Webb was serving as an assistant secretary of defense. Webb later served a brief stint as Reagan's Navy secretary, but resigned in 1988 rather than sign off on a fleet reduction forced by congressionally mandated budget cuts. Through her chief of staff, Nancy Reagan asked the Webb campaign on Friday not to use the video in the ad, which is scheduled to begin airing Monday in the Roanoke and Hampton Roads media markets and on Northern Virginia cable outlets. Three former close advisers to Reagan also issued a statement condemning Webb's use of the footage, saying it implies that Reagan would have endorsed Webb. Webb stood by the ad, saying it uses video that is in the public domain and does so in a positive fashion. Allen campaign manager Dick Wadhams said Webb has decided to "carelessly blow off Nancy Reagan." "If they proceed with this ad, there will be continued criticism and scrutiny of that decision," he said. Wadhams said Allen's campaign will suspend its television advertising on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the Sept, 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Wadhams said Webb's embrace of Reagan flies in the face of harsh criticism heaped on the former president by campaign advisers. Wadhams cited critical excerpts from the book "Foxes in the Henhouse," written by Webb adviser Steve Jarding and Democratic strategist Dave "Mudcat" Saunders. In the book, Jarding and Saunders wrote that Reagan was "a pompous, ignorant fool" and that his administration was largely "a sell-out and a sham." Saunders, who lives in Roanoke County, said Saturday that he is a part-time volunteer for Webb's campaign. But he couldn't resist responding to Wadhams. "There's one thing Ronald Reagan and I have in common," Saunders said. "We both endorse Jim Webb." Copyright (c) 2006, The Roanoke Times, Va. 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