Distant Early Warner

The Once and Future Warner (0.00 / 0)

I was hoping you would post on this story.

There was a lot of buzz this summer re: Warner, and he certainly knew that by coming out here to help for our elections that he was establishing early connections.  I was sad to see him leave the race, just as I was starting to learn more about him.

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 20:47:53 PM CST

When I say he had his crap together (0.00 / 0)

I mean he really had his crap together. His staff was great -- and you know personally that they found our coverage of him on their lonesomes an pointed people to it, and while the Stoddard Dems/Bob Englund deserve major props for the event, Warner made sure everyone knew about it in advance as well... I heard about it from three or four different people, who had heard about it from a variety of channels.

I mean, he and the Stoddard Dems got 250 or so people up to Stoddard...

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 21:15:21 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Handing out black t-shirts at the (0.00 / 0)

state convention didn't strike me as the swiftest move.  And then his X-mas card arrived with no indication who it was from--no signature, no return address, no nothing

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by: hannah @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 18:04:51 PM CST

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did Anyone Else notice... (0.00 / 0)

The t-shirts were all one size? Large.

I may have been wearing a Mark Warner shirt today were it not too big...

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by: Nicholas Gunn @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 18:09:00 PM CST

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Ha! (0.00 / 0)

I didn't go to the State Con.

But I do remember a couple of prominent Dems looking a little lost in those big "I'm really Bobby Kennedy" shirts after that.

I think the people I was impressed with I hit through the internet mostly... so maybe not local and not ground troops.

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by: Mike Caulfield @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 20:06:43 PM CST

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I guess I missed the buzz... (4.00 / 1)

I saw Warner a few times over the summer and missed the buzz.  While Warner was always very articulate and had a good message, he never really seemed to hit it off with activists.  Edwards, Bayh, Biden, Richardson, and Vilsack had/have key activists in their corners, Warner didn't seem to have anyone.  Even after dumping more than $200,000 in the state for House and Senate candidates, the NHDP, and the Governor, he still had very little to show for it. 

Nonetheless, the buzz is still active that he is jumping back in.  Rumors are his National PAC Director was at the Lynch Election Night Party (instead of in VA with Warner and Jim Webb).  His national organization is still operational.  And I got one of his Christmas cards this week. 

Also on the radar, Dodd sent out Thanksgiving cards, Vilsack sent out Christmas cards (paid for by Vilsack for President), and Obama has been sending out postcards to key activists. 

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by: transplanted @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 08:23:36 AM CST

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One more. (4.00 / 1)

I also got a Christmas card from Al Gore. What is he up to?

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by: gradysdad @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 09:13:37 AM CST

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I have some sympathy (0.00 / 0)

The 2008 campaign is starting way too early, mostly because Bush is such a thoroughly discredited lame duck. Candidates need to  maintain a full-time campaign for two-plus years, which can drive people from the race.

But I don't think candidates can re-enter the race or wait too long. I disagree with Kos: Gore can't wait until fall 2007.

Warner was never my first choice. I don't dislike him but any appeal he had to me was mostly "electability" stuff. (I never heard him in person; that might have changed my view completely.)

There's still speculation that John Warner will retire in 2008 and Mark will run for THAT office. Potential campaign workers will worry that Sen. Warner will annnounce his retirement in January and Gov. Warner will again abandon the Presidential campaign.

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by: elwood @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 21:11:30 PM CST

Even if . . . (4.00 / 1)

. . . John Warner does not retire, Mark would still be well-advised to challenge him.  Mark Warner is probably the only Democrat in Virginia who could defeat John Warner, especially in the wake of a disastrous war that will still hang around the collective neck of the Republican party.

On the other hand, Mark Warner could bring a lot to the table as a veep candidate, especially if paired with a Westerner like Richardson.  Building the party in the southwest and mountain states, plus adding the only southern state that has any large-scale blue tendencies right now, will be the strongest possible means against the Republicans.  We need a Westerner (read: RICHARDSON!) on the ticket ESPECIALLY if the Republicans nominate McCain.  The West is a major growth region for the Democrats, but ONLY IF WE WORK TO MAKE IT HAPPEN!  I actually think New Hampshire's blue streak bodes well for Democrats in the West, since New Hampshire shares many libertarian tendencies with states like Montana and Wyoming. 

Frankly, I'm glad Warner's out and Bayh is out.  I hope Kerry stays out, too.  If the final slate of "mainstream" candidates consists of Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, and Wes Clark, with Kucinich, Gravel, and possibly Sharpton running as "fringe" candidates to bring certain issues to the debate, it'll be much better than the overcrowded field we saw in '04.  Each candidate will get more of an opportunity to stand out and differentiate him- or herself from the others.

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by: The Caped Composer @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 21:36:54 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Warner-Richardson (0.00 / 0)

or vice versa: have we ever had a ticket of two governors?

Edwards-Richardson might be a more likely pairing.

I think I agree on putting someone from the West on the ticket to help cement our recent gains. Gov. Schweitzer probably belongs on the short lists.

On "major candidates:" Joe Biden will be there too...

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by: elwood @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 21:44:03 PM CST

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Oh, please, no! (0.00 / 0)

Edwards at the top of the ticket is an absolute disaster!  The guy has no substance!  He knows how to smile, but that's it.  He's got only one term in the senate under his belt, AND he's inarticulate.  Surely you remember Dick Cheney mopping the floor with him in the debate!  Please, New Hampshire, DO NOT get suckered in by the Edwards show!  He can't run this country, and he CERTAINLY can't beat John McCain!

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by: The Caped Composer @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 23:23:50 PM CST

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I disagree. (0.00 / 0)

You obviously have not seen him personally or in any of his recent appearances on television. Last week he appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews and he was fantastic. Edwards has been spending a lot of time in Iowa and he must be doing something right because a recent poll showed him pulling way ahead of Senator Clinton there. I like what he has to say and yes, he says it is an articulate way.  Somebody told me that the Clinton people are more afraid of him than Senator Obama.  I think that Edwards will hold his own in the living rooms of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. I look forward to his campaign here.

Right now, in the polls nobody can beat John McCain.  If we use that as a measuring stick, nobody creating running or thinking of running on the Democratic side would win.  Just think of how McCain manhandled Obama when they had their dustup.  You have to think about two years from now when they are running in the General Election.  Edwards and Obama will be twenty or twenty-five years younger than McCain (the comparison in ages will be useful), both of them will be against the war (McCain will have supported putting more  troops in) and McCain will have sold his soul even more to win the Republican nomination.

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by: gradysdad @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 04:47:55 AM CST

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Actually the new Newsweek poll (0.00 / 0)

Has Clinton beating him and Obama in range.

McCain is self-destructing. His support for escalating the Iraq War is supported by about 10% of the public. I doubt he will be the nominee.

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by: elwood @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 05:27:45 AM CST

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Hard to imagine (0.00 / 0)

the press giving him a pass on reentering the race (we don't really need to go through the flip flop thing again)... what is he going to say... "On second thought, I have decided that my family is not so important after all."

One could also argue that it was Warner that helped start the race so early with the event at yearlykos.

It just does not seem practical.

Hope > Fear




Create a free Blue Hampshire account and join the conversation.

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by: Mike Hoefer @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 22:23:22 PM CST

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asdf (0.00 / 0)

I think Warner is responding the the general outcry of "too bad, I really liked Warner" when he left the race. 

I am guilty, too.  As soon as he left the race, I sat and reflected an all his good qualities that now I can't potentially have in a candidate.

If he gets back in, it could be GOOD for him by tapping into all that energy that finally showed itself.

It could also be bad for him... no one likes a flip flopper.

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by: Nicholas Gunn @ Mon Dec 18, 2006 at 23:37:47 PM CST

Well, *I* didn't get any damn (0.00 / 0)

Christmas cards.

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by: Laura Clawson @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 00:37:21 AM CST

Me too. Must be the war on Christmas. n/t (0.00 / 0)

birch, finch, beech

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by: Dean Barker @ Tue Dec 19, 2006 at 04:29:48 AM CST

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