Warner: I'll Vote For Public Option if Health Care Reform Legislation Contains Costs

By GottaLaff

Centrist Mark Warner confirms for the first time that he’d support a health care bill with a public option:

A spokesman for Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) confirms to me that Warner would vote for a health care bill with a public option. "It's not a make or break thing--he wants to see a health reform bill that contains costs, and if it includes a public option...he would vote for it."

The Kennedy Option. Nice ring.

H/t: The Plum Line

Mark Warner speaks

By GottaLaff

Mark Warner sneaked in a slight about China owning us.

And... He actually said the administration's policies are misguided.

And... He said Bush never tapped into the character and resolve of the American people... asking us to step up after September 11th.

And... that McCain would be the same as Bush.

"In four months, we could have an administration that actually believes in science." Zing.

Relatively benign, and there was room for improvement (especially in his speech technique, z-z-z-z-zzzz), but it was not without its moments. Warner actually got a little worked up, and for that we are grateful.

Warner's "race for the future" couldn't come fast enough. This was not inspiring.

Rudy Giuliani v. Mark Warner

By GottaLaff

CNN Analyst Jeffrey Toobin:

Warner and Giuliani will likely deliver two very different speeches.

Listening to Rudy Giuliani reminds me to make mental note. Compare the two keynote addresses that we are going to hear this week and next.

Mark Warner is going to give a classic contemporary Democratic address — careful and cautious. He is going to appeal to bipartisanship. Rudy is going to tear Obama to pieces. It's going to be an extremely negative message.

This is the difference between Democrats and Republicans — and it may be why Republicans have won seven of the last ten presidential elections.

Now we can all get riled up again.

Why?

By GottaLaff

15 minutes wasted:

And while other Democratic convention speakers may attack John McCain and the Republican Party aggressively this week, [former Virginia governor Mark] Warner says he will not.

"They knew when I started this that it wasn't going to be a hard core, red meat speech. If they want that, I'm not their guy," Warner said of the Obama campaign and convention organizers.

Kumbaya was last night. It's time to go for the jugular... at least that's the mood I'm in, and I suspect I'm not alone.

Poll-itics: Obama leads in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, plus bonus Warner tidbit!

By GottaLaff

Lots to tell you:

Political Wire got an advance look at a new Strategic Vision poll in Wisconsin that shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain, 47% to 42%.

The poll has a margin of error of 3 points and will be released tomorrow.

And:

A new Franklin & Marshall poll in Pennsylvania shows Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain among likely voters in the key battleground state, 46% to 41%.

The poll's margin of error is 3.9 points.

Poll director Terry Madonna on Obama: "He's on third base, but so far he can't seem to find a way to get home. Look at the underlying trends. The economy is a huge issue. Bush's ratings are terrible. But too many voters are concerned about Obama's experience, and don't yet have enough confidence in his ability to lead."

I don't like that last part. But moving on: a Mark Warner tidbit to add to Paddy's post:

Marc Ambinder reports that the selection of Mark Warner to deliver the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention "comes on the heels of a secret, last-minute effort to convince Warner to submit his name and record for vice presidential vetting."

Warner "was subject to fairly intense pressure by Obama advisers to allow the team of Eric Holder and Caroline Kennedy to open an account and begin their work."

However, Warner resisted, "citing, as he has done publicly, family concerns and his public pledge to Virginians."

Well then, that settles that.

Mark Warner will keynote Democratic convention

Where am I and why am I awake? At least this is a nice start to the day.

HONOLULU (AP) — Senate candidate and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner is scheduled to deliver the Tuesday night keynote address at this year's Democratic National Convention — the same role that launched Barack Obama to national prominence four years ago.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival during the Democratic presidential primaries, is also scheduled to speak that night, Aug. 26. But Warner is being given the plum position, according to an e-mail that Obama campaign adviser Mike Henry sent to Virginia supporters late Tuesday.

Henry's e-mail, which was forwarded to The Associated Press while Obama is on vacation in Hawaii, told Virginians, "we wanted you to be the first to know." It included a quote from campaign manager David Plouffe.

"Mark Warner is not afraid to challenge the status quo to bring people together and get things moving," Plouffe's statement read. "It's that kind of spirit and innovation that resulted in his selection as keynote speaker on a night when the convention program will focus on renewing America's economy."

Warner: Obama Has Strong Chance of Capturing Virginia

By Paddy


I've always regretted that I missed the chocolate fountain at the first Yearly Kos.....

Former Virginia governor Mark Warner today reaffirmed that he wasn't interested in serving as Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential runningmate because of family concerns, but he left the door wide open to a future national bid.

(snip)

Although he ruled out sharing a ticket with Obama this fall, Warner expressed confidence that the Illinois senator could become the first Democrat in more than four decades to carry the Commonwealth at the presidential level.

The roadmap Warner laid out for Obama -- win major margins in northern Virginia, drive turnout in the outer suburbs of Washington and "not get smoked in the rural parts of the state" -- is a carbon copy of the strategy Warner used to win the governorship in 2001 and that he is implementing in his race this fall against former Republican governor Jim Gilmore.

"It is overwritten that [this] region of the country won't give him a fair shot," Warner said of Obama and his potential appeal in rural America. Warner argued that Obama's message of hope was exactly what many residents of small, rural towns in Virginia and across the country are looking for. "Neither party has offered much hope for rural America in the last 30 years," he insisted.

Gov. Mark Warner no longer an option for v.p.

By GottaLaff

One down, 3,452,935 to go:

Former Gov. Mark R. Warner on Saturday removed himself from consideration as a vice presidential running mate for Democrat Barack Obama.

Warner clarified his intentions for the first time as he accepted the Virginia Democratic Convention's nomination for a U.S. Senate race this fall.

"I have not sought and I will not accept any other opportunity," Warner told cheering convention delegates.

He was one of three Virginia Democrats frequently mentioned as potential Obama ticketmates. Neither of the other two, Sen. Jim Webb or Gov. Tim Kaine, have ruled out a run with Obama.

So who will it be? Who should it be? Is it narrowing down to Richardson, or is there somebody out there who will surprise us? Webb has some issues: He has a Confederate problem, and he may have to explain himself to women voters.