Mark Warner Conference Call: Keynote Speech Preview

Gov. Warner: Greetings from Denver, where it's been a long day already.  As I told the Virginia breakfast meeting this morning, one more career I need to cross of my list is early morning radio host.  I've done lots of interviews so far.  There's great energy/enthusiasm here, a great kickoff last night...concert at Red Rocks with Dave Matthews.  

I'm very excited about tomorrow night.  I went through one more round of speech prep this morning at the convention hall, which is a security challenge (it will be interesting to see if that turns out to be too much of a burden).

Heads up about the speech: this is a real chance for Virginia to shine, to explain how we got Republicans and Democrats to work together on issues, how we didn't leave behind SWVA and Southside, how this election isn't about red/blue, left/right.  

Reporter questions and Mark Warner answers are on the "flip."
1. Preparations, coaching for speech?

I have been working on the speech since I was asked to deliver it. We're 98% of the way there. Michael Sheehan, the speech coach extraordinaire, is helping.  I saw him yesterday, saw him today.  In terms of the substance of the remarks, I said early on that if they wanted a slash-and-burn speech, that wasn't me. I've been very pleasantly surprised that they have not tried to influence the speech. This is a real Mark Warner speech...that may be a mixed blessing. I feel like it's what I want to say.

2. You've given many speeches, but not on this grand stage. Feeling any pressure?

Barack Obama's speech four years ago was probably the best keynote speech.  I've got a great opportunity to tell the great story we were able to do in Virginia, information technology jobs in SWVA.  I've got some good material, may not be the soaring rhetoric of Sen. Obama.  It's a challenge and also an opportunity.

3. Anything in your speech on minority business procurement?

We've seen those numbers go up during my governorship.  I'm going to talk about how everybody needs to get the fair shot I got, that Barack Obama got. A piece of this has got to be that part of the way we do that is to make sure that Democrats support folks that are built towards success.  With success comes responsibility.  Sen. Obama has earned overwhelming support in African American community.  We're all in this together.  We can't leave folks behind in a world changing as rapidly as it is.  Countries looking for economic supremacy in the 21st century.

4. There's a growing sense that Obama can't beat McCain being nice, what are your thoughts on that?

I disagree with your fundamental premise. When they asked me to speak, they knew what kind of message I'd want to convey.  Other speakers will point out McCain's continuation of Bush policies. American people are looking for who can actually get things done, fix things when they're struggling with high gas prices, loved ones being deployed in combat for 2nd or 3rd time, education, health care. I'm going to add my sense of how we get that done.

5. Red/blue divide...there are voters in Fairfax County who are enthusiastic about your campaign and Gerry Connolly's, but talking about splitting their ticket and voting for John McCain.

I'm asking Virginia to give Sen. Obama a chance to make his case. Most folks haven't really focused in on the race, even though it's gone on forever.  Challenge is to take enormous enthusiasm around Obama candidacy and translate it...concerns over economic uncertainty, America's role in the world, failed energy policies, etc.  I will acknowledge that there are folks who Sen. Obama hasn't closed the deal with, but I don't believe that Sen. McCain has either.

6. Addressing a national audience not familiar with Virginia, but with Virginia in the balance, what type of impact do you hope to have?

When I was with Sen. Obama in Martinsville...lot more enthusiasm today than a decade ago.  I hope to go down there and say this man will bring in policies at the national level that will complement what we've done at the state level.  Don't believe what you've heard over the internet, don't believe the distortions, this is a man who has lived his own uniquely American dream story, two young kids struggling through the same kind of challenges we all do.  We'll see that from Michelle Obama tonight. Give this man a chance.  At the end of the day, the candidate has to be able to close the deal themselves.  You can't transfer from one person to the other.

7. It sounds like your speech will be a counterpoint to partisanship we're going to see in this convention.

I don't know what all the other speakers are going to be doing or saying, I just know that I've got a record in Virginia, I've got a view on how government , I've got a view on how neither political party has a monopoly on truth or patriotism or all the answers.  The Obama campaign knew that.  I'm very pleased that there hasn't been more pushing on me to alter messages.  This is a pure Mark Warner speech...no PowerPoint presentations.

8. How much is the state really in play this year?

I think Virginia's got a 44 year history against you, but lots of new voters...Obama campaign has 30 offices in state.  More than 100 people at a Manassas office opening in the middle of August.  There's enormous energy and enthusiasm, that bodes well. There are parts  of the state where Obama has to translate the enthusiasm of some into a willingness of others to actually listen, make a judgment on who's going to get this country fixed.  I have enormous respect for Sen. McCain, but too often his policies don't reflect the Sen. McCain of 2000 where he actually was the maverick. If people look at who will actually get this country fixed, they'll come down on side of Sen. Obama.

9. Parallel between fondness for John Warner and John McCain, straight talk mavericks?

I think an awful lot of Virginians have enormous respect for John McCain's service to our country, he truly is an American hero. But it seems that the John McCain who ran in the Republican primaries this year walked away from his previous commitments on deficits, climate change, bipartisanship. John McCain's policies have changed. John Warner, his policies didn't change. You never like to lose, but if there ever was a race I don't have regrets about who won, it's 1996 because John Warner's been a great Senator, friend of mine.

10. Are you convinced bipartisanship is a message this convention really wants to hear?

There may be parts of the speech that won't get a lot of applause.  I gotta say what I believe will get our country back on the right place.  People want to get stuff done, see results, don't trust either party enough to give them a blank check. I'm not going to say one thing in Richmond and another thing in Denver. Some folks may not like that, but I'm a job applicant.

11.  Why wouldn't someone in Fairfax who would vote for you wouldn't vote for Barack Obama?

This is about a future being transformed by globalization, technology change, energy policy, really doesn't have a Democratic or Republican label to it...not traditional left/right divide.  Bipartisan energy plan, needs to be about both the supply and demand sides.  I think Sen. Obama comes out way ahead.

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