Politics for a lifetime

Barnie Day was a Democratic delegate from Patrick County from his election in 1997 through the 2001 session. A former county administrator and business owner, he is now a banker.

Members of that community smiled and applauded politely, but some, certainly, did so nervously. (More on that in a paragraph or two.)

One thing is certain. No, two things are certain.

Certain Thing Number One: The six-point plan will give Warner a political raison d'etre for the two years left in his administration, and may, in fact, leave him at least positioned for further action.

Certain Thing Number Two: Tax reform, as envisioned by his administration, will not be, strictly speaking, revenue neutral.

An efficiency squeeze (hence, the nervousness) is part of the initiative, as is a plan to rely heavily on federal matching funds. And there are signs that the economy, though still on the floor, is at least still breathing, and may be regaining consciousness. But a billion dollar budget gap elsewhere is already on the table, as is a $300 million increased enrollment request. Add a half a billion to it for this one, and the Wizard of Oz would have trouble conjuring it all up out of "revenue neutral."

Though short on specifics, and on identified money, nonetheless, it is a clever plan -- so clever that even the governor's adversaries were temporarily muted -- and one that varied constituencies can find some ownership in.

The let's-run-government-like-a-business crowd will cheer the efficiency squeeze, and the business language with which it is communicated.

On a voluntary basis, school divisions statewide, beginning with Richmond and the counties of Roanoke and New Kent , will be offered auditors, budget and 'turnaround' specialists with which to wring the waste out of their systems.

Recognizing that state audits of local systems will quickly sort school divisions (the good, the bad, the ugly comes to mind) a lot of local school superintendents and school board members will greet this one with the enthusiasm usually reserved for root canals. But given the sometimes adversarial nature of the relationship between local boards of supervisors (who must raise the money) and school boards (who spend it), they will find it hard to resist the public pressure of "let's-see-how-we're-doing" calls by local governing bodies.

Count, too, in that nervous crowd some of the college and university presidents.

A truly remarkable, maybe even revolutionary, let's-think-out-of-the-box component of Warner's education plan -- it, too, driven by a business mindset -- is an intent to measure, and by implication, to fund-the state's public colleges and universities by "output" (graduations) rather than by "input" (admissions).

This redefining of "performance" at colleges and universities, coupled with an almost-as-radical reconsideration of how best to cast the senior year of high school (Warner proposes an intense jump-start on college or trades-driven vocation emphasis), is a safe bet to get a look from the national education community.

Politically, such is the stuff that national reputations are sometimes made.

And then there is the timing, the pacing of the roll-out itself. For once, Warner has decided to use the fabled bully pulpit of the governorship in a way that makes perfect sense.

By doling out the plan over the next six to eight weeks he, in effect, will focus and define the public debate going into the Nov. 4 elections, and -- and -- praise be, give Democrats statewide something warm and comfortable to cozy up to as winter approaches.

This one hits a lot of the right buttons.

Virginians get "Education for a Lifetime." And Warner keeps alive, all protestations to the contrary, at least an option: politics for a lifetime.

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