Talk:Jim Webb 2016 presidential campaign/Archive 1

HQ and slogan
The address listed on website is in Burke,VA. Would this mean that Webb's HQ is in Burke? Also, for the slogan, at the end of Webb's introductory "letter" on the website it says "Let’s fix our country. Together." This sounds like a slogan to me. Mhoppmann (talk) 23:17, 20 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Good points on both accounts. Until we get an RS that says either has been updated we should go with what you suggested. Juno (talk) 07:36, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

Article Title
Should this article be titled "presidential campaign"? He isn't running yet.ObieGrad (talk) 16:00, 21 November 2014 (UTC)

This should help. From CNN, "To announce or not: Explaining presidential exploratory committees"

Q: Is someone with an exploratory committee a candidate?

"Whether someone is or is not a candidate is, in a practical sense, a matter of semantics. Legally, anyone who creates a federal campaign committee and has submitted a Statement of Candidacy is a candidate, regardless of whether his or her campaign committee contains the word "exploratory." For news organizations, the distinction is more difficult since a presidential hopeful who sets up a campaign committee with the FEC and calls it an exploratory committee might still say that no decision has been made and that he or she is not yet a candidate. The reality is that many (but not all) individuals who are seriously considering a bid for president take the legal steps to become a candidate before they have decided that they want to run or before they are prepared to declare their candidacies publicly. Some exploratory candidates, however, do not create an exploratory committee with the FEC and therefore do not officially become legal candidates when they create their exploratory committee." Mhoppmann (talk) 23:18, 21 November 2014 (UTC)
 * Is there any precedent for another campaign being delayed as an article until it moves beyond the exploratory phase? As far as I know, there is not, but I can't say that I am outrageously knowledgeable about this. Juno (talk) 07:40, 22 November 2014 (UTC)

Redirect?
Someone recently redirected this article to Jim Webb arguing that he declared an exploratory committee, not a candidacy. I don't think this adds up, as our RSs refer to it as a candidacy and that other Presidential Candidates have been the subject of Wikipedia coverage even before the announcement of their Exploratory Committees but I wanted to hear things out.

Should this article be a redirect? Juno (talk) 22:39, 23 January 2015 (UTC)
 * It is notable enough to stand alone but it needs more content. If you are willing to add content then recreate it.--William S. Saturn (talk) 23:51, 23 January 2015 (UTC)


 * Yes, the lack of content is the primary reason to keep it redirected for now. Per WP:MERGE: "If a page is very short and is unlikely to be expanded within a reasonable amount of time, it often makes sense to merge it with a page on a broader topic." For the time being, we don't know how likely it is "to be expanded within a reasonable amount of time" as that will likely depend on whether Webb takes the next step and formally announces his candidacy in earnest, and we don't know when or if that will happen.


 * Also, I disagree that the sources define Webb's actions as an official candidacy. The Atlantic article states (italics mine): "While not a formal campaign committee, the move allows Webb, a Democrat, to raise money as he decides whether to run." The Politico article quotes him as saying (again, italics mine): "I have decided to launch an Exploratory Committee to examine whether I should run for President in 2016." Clearly, they refer to a potential candidacy.


 * While it is true that campaign articles such as this have been previously been created for candidates who had only created exploratory committees at the time, that is a practice that might bear reconsideration as most but not all persons who take formal exploratory measures end up officially running (take Mark Warner in 2008, as one example). Although that is discussion that should probably take place in a more central and visible location than here. Main point, again, regarding this page, is that it is currently - for all practical purposes - a duplication of the content that is included in the relevant section on the Webb bio article. Thus, this article is a redundancy, albiet one that can and should be revisited if and when more substantial content from reliable sources sufaces regarding Webb's prospective candidacy.--JayJasper (talk) 17:51, 24 January 2015 (UTC)


 * The article on Obama's 2008 campaign predates his campaign announcement by 8 days. Clinton's 2008 campaign predates even her EC announcement by a full 4 months. These things could be notable, even if they had not followed through. Both of those campaigns obviously had enough coverage, even though the paperwork had not been inked yet. Clinton didn't announce formally for many month after.
 * Per the content: there has been more since. In particular, Webb's campaign has drawn in some heavy hitters from the southern faction of the Democratic Party that have been written about in their own right (in relation to Webb) and he has been cropping up in writings about 2016. Give me a week to research and write more and we'll see where we are then? Juno (talk) 00:00, 18 February 2015 (UTC)