Jim Webb's campaign said that he was considering running as an independent. Jim Webb drops out of Democratic race

Former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb announced Tuesday that he will drop his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

"I fully accept that my views on many issues are not compatible with the power structure and the nominating base of the Democratic Party," Webb told reporters at the National Press Club in Washington. The current Democratic hierarchy, he said, "is not comfortable with many of the policies laid forth, and frankly I am not that comfortable with many of theirs."


On whether he would continue to call himself a Democrat, Webb responded, "We'll think about that."

"The Democratic Party is heavily invested in interest-group politics," he said, and that could exclude groups it means to include, responding to a question about his reluctance to embrace the Black Lives Matter movement and to call on the removal of the Confederate flag from federal grounds.

In an email to reporters on Monday evening, Webb's campaign said that he is considering running as an independent.

But on Tuesday, he said only that he was considering the possibility. "We intend to spend the next couple of weeks talking to people," he said. "People I have not felt comfortable talking with as a Democratic candidate, but a number of people who have reached out over the past year who have encouraged me to run."

Webb said he “would have significant financial help” if he ran as independent, based on what people have told him.

He also said he believed he could beat Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in a general election. “If we ran an independent race that worked and got traction, I honestly could see us beating both of them."

Webb struggled to raise cash against his Democratic opponents and has reported taking in just under $697,000 in his recent filing statement with less than $317,000 on hand — less than Harvard law professor Larry Lessig, who did not qualify for last week's debate in Las Vegas, an event where Webb felt he did not get enough time to speak. In the same period, Hillary Clinton raised nearly $30 million with $25.7 million on hand.

Webb's spokesman, Craig Crawford, said he had "sensed" that the former senator was going to make the decision in the last few weeks — "definitely before" the first Democratic presidential debate.

But Webb didn't tell him of his decision until this past weekend.

"He said he wanted to consider this and talk about it," Crawford said. He received the text of Webb's announcement Tuesday morning, he said.

If Webb does decide to run as an independent, Crawford said he would likely bring in new voters from labor "and then some of his supporters from Virginia."