RK ARCHIVE - How Long Warner's Coattails?

Warner's amazing abilities on the stump are well known. great video He was tireless in his support for Tim Kaine in 2005, and in 2006 for Jim Webb. During his brief exploration for the presidency, he was widely regarded as the most engaging and exciting speaker of all of the candidates.

All of this just begs the question of how long can a politician's coattails be? With Virginia a dead heat in this year's presidential election, Warner has what it takes to convince rural voters to trust Obama. Moreover, Virginia Democrats are contesting every one of 11 congressional districts, a feat we haven't achieved in my memory. How many great Dems can Mark Warner push over the top?

Mark Warner left office with an astonishing 80% approval rating and his influence and reputation have only expanded since then. After leading the charge for democrats at every level of elected office, drawing the limits on Mark Warner's coattails is a fool's errand. As with Warner's own career prospects, there may be no end in sight.

Comments

It shows what one incredibly committed guy can do (adshubert - 6/17/2008 9:39:55 AM)

This probably will gush much too much, but when I arrived in Northern Virginia in October of 1994, Democrats were just beginning to feel the wane of the party as the old guard faded and the GOP began its (brief) ascension. But the legend of Mark Warner was already in place: a young, energetic, dynamic, intelligent, handsome, self-made multi-millionaire who, after witnessing the collapse of Mary Sue Terry's seemingly inevitable run to the governorship, realized that the party was in serious trouble, especially in rural areas where a long-stale machine had collapsed. He took his considerable resources--both time and money--and sunk them not only into a Senate race that ended up much, much, much closer than anyone ever predicted, but also in rebuilding the Democratic party in "ROVA" by travelling tirelessly to the smallest hamlets in Southwest to spread the moderate Democratic message that he knew would eventually appeal once again to the electorate. It took a few years for it to take hold and we suffered more losses as the party shook itself out of its doldrums, but the foundation was set. Our recent run of beyond-remarkable success on virtually every level and our incredibly bright prospects for the future with a new generation of progressive leadership taking hold of the Commonwealth is a testament to Warner's commitment, strength, leadership, faith, dedication, and unwavering belief in the Democratic Party and more importantly the people of Virginia. Thank you Mark Warner for keeping the Democratic Party's hopes alive even in the darkest of times. We all owe him more than we can ever repay for his 20+ years of service to Virginia, so let's keep working tirelessly to deliver the Commonwealth to Obama and of course bring our champion to the Senate.

Can a guy be too popular? (Silence Dogood - 6/17/2008 5:02:07 PM)

The way Republicans have been with-holding their support from Gilmore or actively supporting Warner, I won't be surprised if, when all is said and done, there aren't more than a few Republican voters who feel fired up about voting to elect Mark Warner as Virginia's next United States Senator. It's not just Democrats he exites--the man is, rightfully, universally loved in the Commonwealth.