Mark Warner (and Tim Kaine) - "Sensible Centrists"

...all around America, in the heartland -- folks are looking for something else, what I call the sensible center. The sensible center is wide open in this country for any Democrat who can credibly make the case.

Why now? Well, now because for years, if you think about it, the right wing of the Republican Party has asked their candidate to take socially extreme positions, positions outside the mainstream...And now the right wing is asking for their pound of flesh: Terri Schiavo, stem cells, a whole new series of litmus tests. Combine these actions with a failed fiscal policy and America's damaged reputation in the world, and that means a whole lot of independents -- and yes, a whole lot of moderate Republicans, those that consider themselves part of that sensible center -- are looking for a home. And you know what? We -- we Democrats -- can bring them back.

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I would not be standing here as governor of one of the reddest states in America -- Virginia -- if I also hadn't been able to get support from an awful lot of independents and moderate Republicans.

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Now when I got elected following a Republican, as you might imagine, we had to first of all get our fiscal house in order. As a matter of fact, Virginia when I was elected was not only a red state, but a state in the red. It takes awhile to sink that one in. Matter of fact, my predecessor, who had been the chairman of the RNC, left me a budget shortfall six times greater than what he publicly stated. My first reaction was, I think, is it too late for a recount? And after letting that thought go through my head, you know, we went to work to solve the problem.

What did we do? Well, we had to make some cuts. But we also used it as a chance to totally reform Virginia state government. We changed everything from the way we buy light bulbs to the total consolidation of our information technology services to completely reexamining all of the state's real estate portfolio in a way that can save the taxpayer money. Ultimately, as Ethan indicated, we had to close a $6 billion shortfall.

We then went about reforming our tax code with a Republican legislature. We were successful in that, in what's been called the most extensive tax reform in the nation in more than a decade. That allowed us to make historic new investments in education, the key to our future. But at the same time, we kept the focus on making our academics more rigorous, and we actually followed and made sure that those new dollars were held accountable in how they were spent in our schools. Because ultimately -- ultimately it's only the results that matter.

Virginia today has one of the lowest unemployments in the whole country. Virginia has a booming economy. And after a two-year independent study by Governing magazine, Virginia was named the best-managed state in the country.

We did it -- we did it by focusing on what's important for the future of Virginia, not what's politically expedient. We actually did it with support from legislators of both parties. We found common ground in that sensible center.

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In Virginia, we have worked to put down 700 miles of broadband in our rural communities so folks don't have to leave home to find a good quality job. In Virginia, where our economy is booming, we still have 700,000 of our working-age adults -- nearly 20 percent of our workforce -- that don't have a high school diploma because they worked in jobs like textile and furniture and tobacco. Well, we've gone out and actually -- Virginia is a pretty big NASCAR state. We partnered with NASCAR and got Elliott Sadler to be our spokesperson, and we got a "Race to the GED" program, encouraging people to go back and at least get that certificate so they can qualify for 21st century jobs.

In our high schools, we're doing two things. Now in Virginia in every high school, no matter how rural, no matter how urban, we are offering the opportunity for students who are college bound to earn a minimum of a semester's worth of fully transferable college credit in high school. You get a jump start on college. If you're first-generation, you get a chance to experience what college-level work is like. And we end up saving parents across Virginia $7,000 off the cost of higher education.

For non-college-bound students, we're saying this: work with us. We'll guarantee you not only a diploma, but also an industry-recognized certification: computer technician, auto mechanic, nurse's aide. And if that requires a couple of courses at the community college beyond high school, we as part of our K-12 deal with you will pick up the cost of those courses to make sure you've got that industry certification, so that you can go out and actually get a good paying job as opposed to a minimum wage job.

In Virginia, as well, we're starting to reverse the perverse incentive that we have in the Virginia schools, and it may even take place in some of your schools, where we continue to put our least experienced teachers in our most underperforming schools and wonder why don't see change. So what are we doing? I'm recruiting highly successful teachers and paying them a $15,000 bonus to go into our underperforming schools and to stay for three years and improve quality.

Why are we doing this? Because our goal is nothing less than to make the Virginia workforce the best-educated, most innovative, best-connected workforce in the country. We want Virginians to compete against anyone in this global economy, and right now we should be doing this all across the country.

To read Mark Warner's entire speech, which I'm sure Tim Kaine would agree with wholeheartedly, and which Jerry Kilgore undoubtedly would oppose tooth and nail, click here.

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