Va. Gov. Takes Steps Towards Presidential Run. Warner Forms PAC, Hires Former Gore Aide. With this PAC, he could run either for Pres. or U.S. Senate.
Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner (D) is forming a federal political action committee and has hired a former top aide to Vice President Al Gore to advise him on national politics, the governor's top political aide in Virginia said.
The new PAC, which has not been named, will allow Warner to begin raising money for a possible run at the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 while he finishes out his term in Virginia.
Warner has raised millions for One Virginia, which reported a balance of $1.6 million as of April 1. But federal law prohibits the governor from spending money raised in his state PAC on a federal campaign.
Warner has not said whether he is going to run for president, although he is mentioned frequently among Washington pundits as a centrist Democrat who might win in conservative states that Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) lost to President Bush in 2004.
The Virginia governor has also not said whether he will challenge U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who is up for reelection next year. Warner would need a federal PAC to raise money for a Senate race.
Warner had no national profile for most of the first three years of his administration, as he struggled initially with soaring deficits and later spent six months battling with lawmakers over what he termed tax reform. In 2004, the Republican-controlled legislature approved a $1.5 billion tax increase for the state's two-year budget over the objections of Virginia's top GOP leadership.
That victory -- and Kerry's loss in states such as Virginia -- helped propel Warner to national prominence. He is often mentioned along with Kerry, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as possible Democratic contenders.
Skeptics in the party say Warner is too moderate to capture the nomination of a party still dominated by powerful, liberal interest groups. Others say his support for a tax increase will be a serious liability in any campaign. And some have pointed out that Warner, who has held only one political office, is not familiar with the ways of Washington politics.
(6-10-05, The Washington Post.)
The new PAC, which has not been named, will allow Warner to begin raising money for a possible run at the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 while he finishes out his term in Virginia.
Warner has raised millions for One Virginia, which reported a balance of $1.6 million as of April 1. But federal law prohibits the governor from spending money raised in his state PAC on a federal campaign.
Warner has not said whether he is going to run for president, although he is mentioned frequently among Washington pundits as a centrist Democrat who might win in conservative states that Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) lost to President Bush in 2004.
The Virginia governor has also not said whether he will challenge U.S. Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who is up for reelection next year. Warner would need a federal PAC to raise money for a Senate race.
Warner had no national profile for most of the first three years of his administration, as he struggled initially with soaring deficits and later spent six months battling with lawmakers over what he termed tax reform. In 2004, the Republican-controlled legislature approved a $1.5 billion tax increase for the state's two-year budget over the objections of Virginia's top GOP leadership.
That victory -- and Kerry's loss in states such as Virginia -- helped propel Warner to national prominence. He is often mentioned along with Kerry, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico as possible Democratic contenders.
Skeptics in the party say Warner is too moderate to capture the nomination of a party still dominated by powerful, liberal interest groups. Others say his support for a tax increase will be a serious liability in any campaign. And some have pointed out that Warner, who has held only one political office, is not familiar with the ways of Washington politics.
(6-10-05, The Washington Post.)
posted by Sid Cottingham | 12:16 PM
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