It's almost August, where's the money?

Over the last year I’ve read a lot about the Kos/Netroots fundraising phenomenon. It was said with much bravado when Jim Webb, pictured below, declared his candidacy rather late in the going -- to challenge Harris Miller in the primary race -- that Webb would soon benefit largely from having the Kos/RaisngKaine team on his side.

Thus, money would not be a problem. Remember the Howard Dean miracle we were told. Oh yes, there’ll be plenty of dough when it's needed.Well, it didn’t happen. Still, in spite of what proved to be a lackluster fundraising effort, Webb defeated Miller.

OK. That was a month-and-a-half ago. Still, the money never has showed. And, there’s no clear sign I can see it will.

So, while I’m a Jim Webb supporter without qualification, I have to ask -- where’s the sign the Webb camp is at all prepared to take on the well-financed camp of the incumbent, Sen. George Allen? Other than to mock Allen for his boots, or his middle name, what are the key issues that Webb can get some traction with to woo independent voters?

It’s almost August -- other than some bloggers, where is the Webb campaign?

If Webb is to win, surely he will have to use his strong stances on key issues to attract support from the independents and disaffected Republicans. While it's worthwhile to note that Allen is President George Bush’s dittohead, that 97 percent thing, that’s hardly enough by itself. It’s too abstract.

Plus Allen can bat it away, because too many Virginians remember Allen as a governor to see him as only a yes-man for the Bush administration.

If it’s the war in Iraq, then it’s not enough to say America should not have launched this war, as much as I agree with that point. Webb has to say how this country can disengage from its folly in Iraq, and not be worse off for doing it. Webb has to take on the Bush foreign policy much more aggressively than he’s been willing to so far, by proposing understandable alternatives.

The Middle East is a wildfire, threatening to spread. Webb has to say specifically how he can improve that overall situation by changing policy.

As wacky, but cool, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks used to sing in the mid-1970s, I'm asking the Webb campaign -- “Where’s the Money?”

Moreover, if Webb can’t raise any serious money, soon, that says the usual backers for a Virginia Democrat in a statewide race are not on board. Furthermore, it will say the Netroots presence in Virginia, and perhaps elsewhere, may have already peaked.

Image: Webb for U.S. Senate