"Virginia Governor Takes Steps Towards Presidential Run"

[U2democrat]

washingtonpost.com
Va. Gov. Takes Steps Towards Presidential Run
Warner Forms PAC, Hires Former Gore Aide

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 10, 2005; 11:06 AM



RICHMOND, June 10 -- Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) is forming a federal political action committee and has hired a former top aide to Vice President Al Gore to advise him on national politics, the governor's top political aide in Virginia said.

The new PAC, which has not been named, will allow Warner to begin raising money for a possible run at the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 while he finishes out his term in Virginia. The PAC will be announced formally in July or August, said Mary A. "Mame" Reiley, the director of Warner's One Virginia PAC.

Warner has raised millions for One Virginia, which reported a balance of $1.6 million as of April 1. But federal law prohibits the governor from spending money raised in his state PAC on a federal campaign. Virginia does not put limits on campaign contributions from individuals or corporations.

Reiley said Warner, a multi-millionaire who is limited to one term as governor, has also hired Monica Dixon, Gore's former deputy chief of staff, to be the federal PAC's first part-time consultant.

She said Dixon will help set up meetings between Warner and Democrats across the country as he makes the transition from governor back to private citizen.

"She's coming on board as an adviser to him on the national arena," Reiley said of Dixon. "Monica Dixon will be one of the people advising him. She brings a wealth of national experience. We're delighted that she's coming aboard."

Warner has not said whether he is going to run for president, although he is mentioned frequently among Washington pundits as a centrist Democrat who might win in conservative states that Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) lost to President Bush in 2004.

The Virginia governor has also not said whether he will challenge U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who is up for reelection next year. Warner would need a federal PAC to raise money for a Senate race.

Reiley would not say whether the new PAC, which she called a "federal leadership committee," is designed to facilitate either a presidential or a Senate campaign.

"Not necessarily," she said. "He's not ruling out any of his political options. He'll be traveling and contributing to [other] federal candidates."

Warner had no national profile for most of the first three years of his administration, as he struggled initially with soaring deficits and later spent six months battling with lawmakers over what he termed tax reform. In 2004, the Republican-controlled legislature approved a $1.5 billion tax increase for the state's two-year budget over the objections of Virginia's top GOP leadership.

That victory -- and Kerry's loss in states such as Virginia -- helped propel Warner to national prominence. He is often mentioned along with Kerry, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as possible Democratic contenders.

Skeptics in the party say Warner is too moderate to capture the nomination of a party still dominated by powerful, liberal interest groups. Others say his support for a tax increase will be a serious liability in any campaign. And some have pointed out that Warner, who has held only one political office, is not familiar with the ways of Washington politics.

Warner has been meeting informally with his 2001 campaign manager, Steve Jarding, about his future in national politics and has consulted over the past several months with Doug Sosnik, one of then-president Bill Clinton's top political advisers in the White House.

For the past year, he's also been chairman of the National Governors Association, a position that gives him the freedom to travel around the country.

Last week, Warner traveled to Iowa to prepare for the NGA's annual meeting, which will be held there in July. Warner made the rounds of the state's Democratic leadership, who will be overseeing the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses in the winter of 2008.

Reiley said Warner met with the Iowa lieutenant governor, who is also the chairman of the state Democratic Party, and with two of the potential candidates for governor. He also met with the chairman of the Polk County Democratic Party, which encompasses Des Moines.

While in Iowa, Warner criticized Kerry for failing to appeal to moderates, according to the Associated Press. "I can't tell you where he ever broke with anything in Democratic orthodoxy," the AP reported Warner saying.

In the past several months, Warner has given political speeches in Atlanta and South Carolina and has met with potential donors and supporters in California and New York City.

But he has repeatedly refused to acknowledge an outright interest in running for president.

"If I want to try to do anything else in politics, the absolute way I could limit options is if I mess up the last year as governor," Warner said earlier this year.

© 2005 The Washington Post Company

link

things are looking good for us virginia democrats!

 

[melon]

If Warner has no spine and follows the wishy-washy moderate playbook, then he'll lose like Gore and Kerry both did.

We've shifted from postmodernism to modernism in the post-9/11 era, so concrete solutions to complex answers are demanded these days. He had better be figuring out his answers, rather than trying to court politically convenient answers. The GOP will rip him to pieces and the public will see through the politicking.

I wish I could run for political office sometimes, or, at least, advise someone on how to run.

Melon

 

[BVS]

I wish I could run for political office sometimes, or, at least, advise someone on how to run.

Melon

Me too!!!

The left has lost it's spine. Will someone please fucking stand up to the bully that the Republican party has turned into. This is why I really admired Nader, problem with Nader is he couldn't find a platform other than celebrities. We need more 2 parties to represent this country.

 

[melon]

The left has lost it's spine. Will someone please fucking stand up to the bully that the Republican party has turned into.

The Republican Party knows what it wants, for better or for worse. I don't think anybody knows what the Democratic Party wants, outside of wanting to win. No one likes a nerd that tries to hard to be popular; everyone sees through it and laughs.

This is why I really admired Nader, problem with Nader is he couldn't find a platform other than celebrities. We need more 2 parties to represent this country.

The problem with Nader is the same problem with the NDP in Canada: no one takes them seriously, and many of even their ardent supporters would likely be frightened if they'd actually win such a high office. It's more of a "protest vote," as I see it.

The Democratic Party needs another FDR or (for the Canadians) a Trudeau: a liberal who is proud of what their ideology stands for, but, at the same time, unafraid to take on hard, tough decisions when they arise. In other words, we need a visionary modernist for the 21 century, just as we needed visionary modernists for the post-WWII era up to 1968.

I think it's no coincidence that, these days, Republicans have been touting FDR as some kind of "idol" these days. It's odd, considering he was "evil" in the 1980s, but all it really does is confirm my belief that we've hit a major philosophical switch and it seems that no one has told the Democratic Party the news.

Melon

 

[A_Wanderer]

What the bloody hell does liberal ideology stand for. There was a time when it had entirely different connotations; then conservatives began using it as a derrogatory label and associated with the nutters; then the nutters took it up with pride; and the liberals became classical liberals, libertarians. Is the demographics going in their favour? will they be able to make inroads in growing populations,

What are the Democrats supposed to do? try to emulate the Republicans ~ woo the Christians by adopting a more faith influenced view on abortion, gang up against gay rights and dump the limousine liberal crowd as much as possible. Should it mould itself as a Democratic Socialist party.

I am a very big fan of the 'visionary modernist' leaders, they knew how to play the game, there was definitely a significantly dark underbelly to what they did, but the were generally internationalist in their agenda and unwavering when fighting the great foe of their era. Sadly the only way to produce a decent leader is to get your man elected and put through the tests of leadership.

 

[BVS]

What are the Democrats supposed to do? try to emulate the Republicans ~ woo the Christians by adopting a more faith influenced view on abortion, gang up against gay rights and dump the limousine liberal crowd as much as possible. Should it mould itself as a Democratic Socialist party.

See you are feeding the exact belief of Republicans now, that liberal equals 'socialism', shame on you!

 

[financeguy]

I don't think A-Wander quite said that in fairness, he was just speculating on what routes the Democratic Party should take. Anyway on this side of the pond it's not a crime to be a democratic socialist.

In my view the (infinitessimally small) number of socialists within the Democratic party would be better off saying "Yeah, we're socialists. So what? We're in a minority in our own party, but that doesn't mean we're going to deny our beliefs".

 

[A_Wanderer]

I think that there should have been a question mark instead of a full stop.

Should it mould itself as a Democratic Socialist party?

 

[BVS]

Should it mould itself as a Democratic Socialist party?

No, but that's the problem is that you make the step from liberal to socialism. There's a lot in between.

 

[financeguy]

I think that there should have been a question mark instead of a full stop.

Should it mould itself as a Democratic Socialist party?

No, in the context of American politics that would be political suicide. A shift to the left? Possibly that would make sense, I don't honestly know but they would have to travel a long way to become a Democratic Socialist party.

 

[BonosSaint]

To paraphrase Bush's daddy, the Democrats don't have that "vision thing." They may win in 2008 if the people are tired of the Republicans, but they certainly aren't giving anybody anything to vote FOR.

 

[BonosSaint]

So, if you could vote for anybody you wanted (without worrying whether they'd have a chance to win), who would you vote for?

Right now, the only person I could see myself actually voting for is McCain.

 

[verte76]

So, if you could vote for anybody you wanted (without worrying whether they'd have a chance to win), who would you vote for?

Right now, the only person I could see myself actually voting for is McCain.

Heck, I voted for McCain in the primaries in 2000. I thought we were going to get a Republican president that year, and I preferred McCain over Bush. The Democrats are split, and the Republicans are united. We had some real battles between the Kerry and the Kucinich factions in the local liberal groups. There was even a damn lawsuit in one of the groups.

 

[BonosSaint]

Rush Limbaugh just said some encouraging, supportive things about Governor Warner's chances.

 

[melon]

The Left is in disarray, and, frankly, I'm too young to even get the time of day. No, I'll be told to raise money. Fucking money isn't going to help cover up the fact that the candidates they choose are lackluster invertebrates.

And Howard Dean...every time I start liking this man, he starts calling people inane names. Way to keep the discourse up, Howard! Of course, as DNC chair, he's quite successful. Name calling, apparently, has generated millions more in donations than McAuliffe was ever able to do, and fundraising is the primary function of the DNC chair, not policy.

Melon

 

[Sparkysgrrrl]

One of these days a politician I respect will emerge from Virginia....I just know it....

*keeping the faith