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The eyes of the nation were on Alexandria’s own Mark Warner Tuesday evening, as Virginia’s former governor delivered the keynote address for the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
DENVER — Former Virginia governor Mark Warner, in his keynote address to the Democratic convention, accused the Bush administration of bad policies that have left the nation worse off and said Republican John McCain would deliver "more of the same."
Mark Warner is a popular man in Old Town. His house on South Lee Street is an attraction, and bumper stickers for his Senate candidacy can be seen all over the city. During the former governor’s keynote address to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, friends gathered at Chadwick’s Restaurant on the Strand to celebrate the man who used to be called "His Excellency" on a regular basis by the General Assembly.
Democrats could cite many reasons for tapping former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner to give the keynote address at their national convention Tuesday night. Here’s the executive summary: Highly successful venture capitalist becomes even more successful governor of a swing state seen as critical to Democratic presidential hopes in 2008. Also: Democrat sinks deep roots in a gun-toting, NASCAR-loving culture long ceded to Republicans – and wins.
What struck me most about former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's keynote address last night is how his themes have hardly changed one iota since his 2001 campaign for governor. For example, here's the section about Lebanon, Virginia from his speech:
Listening to several speeches, it seems eems like the past versus the future is going to be the general election theme. Gov. Mark Warner gave a curtain-raiser to what the Obama campaign hopes is a winning general election message -- Barack Obama is the man of the future, who understands the uncertain and changing world we live in now. John McCain is a man of the past.
Something remarkable just happened on MSNBC. Chris Matthews spent at least two minutes, maybe three, musing over the substantive argument in a convention speech. It happened right after former Virginia Governor Mark Warner finished his keynote address. Matthews seized on Warner's line about the importance of asking Americans to make sacrifices--and Bush's failure to make that request after 9/11. Matthews then went on to talk about the importance of solidarity and its place in the Democratic Party's identity.
Mark Warner says he needs to cross another potential career off his list—early morning TV or radio host.
99.9 percent of the time, the man or issue I agree with belongs to a Republican. My wife is just the opposite, voting 100 percent of her time for Democrats, so we tend to cancel each other out. But with the Hokie athletic program on the rocks, I did what I had to do. I said out loud, with God as my witness, that if Warner got the Hokies through this and into the ACC, then whatever office he ran for, whenever he ran for it, I’d vote for him and I’d support him.
I was around in 1997 when Republican Jim Gilmore ran for governor on the slogan "No Car Tax." Silly me; I thought that if Virginians elected him, we'd be getting rid of our car tax. Hahahahahahaha!
The first debate took place this morning at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. Here is our fact check report from the debate, which highlights the mischaracterizations that were made.
RHETORIC: Gilmore says that Mark Warner is “on the record repeatedly opposing efforts” to increase domestic production of oil and natural gas [Gilmore campaign release, 7/15/08].
REALITY: Governor Warner has said that he is in favor of off-shore exploration and drilling for oil and natural gas.
RHETORIC: Delegate Kirk Cox wrote an op-ed distorting Mark Warner’s budget record.
REALITY: Governor Warner inherited a $6 billion budget shortfall thanks to Jim Gilmore’s and turned it into a surplus.
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore told reporters drilling for oil will immediately drop the price of oil.
REALITY: Drilling now “would not have a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.”[more…]
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore claims that he was able to “invest in public safety… by careful investing.”
REALITY: The GOP-led Senate Finance Committee said his ‘01 budget proposal would “weaken” Virginia’s public safety. [more…]
GILMORE RHETORIC: Gilmore said there were no offshore drilling spills after Hurricane Katrina.
REALITY: A study commissioned by the U.S. Minerals Management Service stated there were 70 spills. [more…]
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