Mark Warner To Keynote Convention



We were kind of stunned when Mark Warner decided to run for John Warner's Senate seat when he had a solid shot of being the Democratic nominee or at the very least the Running mate. That's how important Virginia is to the Democrats, and that's how powerful Warner is in the state. Watching Mark Warner on C-Span at Davos -- yes, we do watch those things -- rendered us with awe. Most people take a decade to fully grasp international affairs, and assuming Warner -- a former nuts-and-bolts Governor -- had little experience in the subject, he acquitted himself well on the global stage next to people who have studies the subject in-depth for years.

It is said that the popular Warner, once named the best Governor in the nation, almost singlehandedly delivered the job to the intellectually lightweight Tim Kaine. And Kaine is considered a frontrunner. So, imagine if Warner was available.

But it was not to be. In the Senate -- and warner is a certainty -- Warner will see a lot of action. Now word that Barack Obama has chosen him as the keynote, as a symbol of the future of the party. From Politico:

"Reflecting new Democratic optimism about the South, former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner will keynote the party’s national convention in Denver two weeks from now.

"Warner appealed successfully to NASCAR Democrats in his election as governor, running strongly in rural areas and with working-class social conservatives.

"Warner, 53, briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination but dropped out to pursue a U.S. Senate race against another former governor, Republican Jim Gilmore. Warner is far ahead in polls and fundraising.

"Democrat Barack Obama is targeting Virginia as a traditionally Republican state that he could turn blue this year.

"The resources his campaign are pouring into the Old Dominion are emblematic of the party’s optimism about cracking into the GOP’s solid hold on the South’s electoral vote.

"Warner has a post-partisan message that’s similar to Obama’s."

Somewhere John Edwards is eating his fists, coiled in the fetal position ...