Saturday, October 14, 2006
Editorial: Mr. Warner isn't going to Washington
Virginia's former governor offered a centrist choice to head the Democratic ticket. Too bad it is not to be.
From the RoundTable blog
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Former Gov. Mark Warner has left the field of presidential politics, for the time being, at least. His decision is a blow to the hopes of many Americans, and we count ourselves among them, for a return to a more centrist, less bitterly partisan governance.
Of course, Warner had no lock on the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, and whoever leads the party ticket has no guarantee of winning. But a contest between a pragmatic, flexible, moderate Democrat such as Warner and a similarly inclined Republican would be ideal.
Such a match would offer the country its best chance to fill a desperate need: a chief executive who would step firmly to the center and work at being president of all of the American people.
Until Thursday, Warner looked like the quintessential presidential hopeful, coming out of a successful term as a Democratic governor in an old-school conservative state, raising millions of dollars for his party, traveling widely and making frequent trips to the candidate testing grounds of New Hampshire and Iowa.
His startling turnaround led observers to speculate immediately that perhaps low name recognition, especially when compared to front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, or even Republican Sen. George Allen's bruising re-election battle this year caused the former governor to lose heart. Maybe.
National politics is a brutal blood sport, but Warner is a picture of self-confidence. Absent some shocking revelation, the public should not be so jaded that it cannot take him at his word.
Warner offered the most admirable of reasons for stepping aside: He said he doesn't want to put his "real life" on hold, a life that includes three adolescent daughters and an elderly father, to commit himself totally to a two-year marathon race for the White House.
He is right in anticipating that the grueling run would demand all of his energy, and that those two irreplaceable years of family life would be crucial ones. This is not a politician who spouts a lot of "family values" rhetoric, but one who apparently values family over his intense political ambition.
A refreshing twist.
Warner's decision is a crushing disappointment, of course, to staffers, volunteers and party regulars, who might see his missed opportunity as a betrayal of shared dreams. His popularity among Virginians ensures that he will remain a potent political figure in the commonwealth, though -- and perhaps on the national stage.
Warner for vice president? Who knows?
