Harris Miller jokingly describes himself to audiences as "a shorter, poorer version of Mark Warner," the popular former governor who pumped new life into Virginia's Democratic Party.

Like his friend Warner, Miller forged a successful business career by grasping the potential of emerging technologies. Like Warner, he took an early interest in Democratic politics and eagerly accepted organizational roles for the party and its candidates. And, like Warner, his appetite for politics drove him to seek public office himself.

Miller, 54, is pursuing the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, hoping to win the right to challenge Republican incumbent George Allen. The exuberant, bespectacled candidate casts himself as "a Mark Warner Democrat," someone who believes in the party's bedrock principles, possesses business acumen and manages with pragmatism.

"I'm a born doer," he said in a recent interview. "I try to get things done, without compromising my principles in any way."

Miller is waging a spirited primary battle with former Secretary of the Navy James Webb, a self-described "Reagan Democrat" whose campaign has drawn support from prominent national Democrats and retired military officers. Miller is confident that he has a strong network of support among Virginia Democrats to overcome Webb's star qualities and propel him to victory in the June 13 contest.

Miller has built that network through dogged campaigning and years of work as a foot soldier for the party. He has put 22,000 miles on his Mercury Mariner hybrid since beginning his campaign in January, traveling the state to meet with audiences of all sizes. And he has spent $675,000 of his own money to spread his message.

To hear Miller tell it, people are so fed up with President Bush and Congress that even Allen, a former governor and possible 2008 presidential candidate, is vulnerable this fall. Miller rarely mentions Allen without also mentioning Bush, casting the Republicans as philosophical clones.

"Washington is fundamentally broken," Miller said. "People on both sides of the aisle, frankly, have allowed the system to break down where nothing gets done. It's all about the 10-second sound bite. It's all about the attack ad. It's not what's good for this country. And George Allen has been one of the principal advocates of that."

Miller is hardly a Washington outsider, having worked for two decades as a lobbyist on issues ranging from immigration to the Internet. From 1995 until this year, Miller was the president of the Arlington-based Information Technology Association of America, a trade association with a membership roster that includes AOL, Dell, Microsoft and Verizon.

Miller said lobbying constituted a small fraction of his duties at ITAA. He said he spent most of his time "traveling around the U.S. and traveling around the world promoting the Internet."

Miller's crowning achievement as ITAA's president may have been his work on the Year 2000 computer date conversion that had government and industry on pins and needles.

Miller was an early and outspoken advocate for a coordinated effort between corporations and government to combat software problems that could have crippled the economy and left critical defense and aviation systems vulnerable.

"Harris was effective in trying to get everybody to understand that, if it was a big problem for the government, it was an even bigger problem for the government if we didn't have a coordinated effort," said John Koskinen, who served as the federal government's "Y2K czar" under President Clinton and worked closely with Miller on the issue.

"I found Harris very intelligent and thoughtful, very good at pulling people together," Koskinen said.

Miller has come under fire from Webb and some labor representatives for lobbying Congress in favor of laws allowing U.S. tech companies to employ foreign workers and for opposing restrictions on outsourcing work overseas. Miller denies being an advocate for shipping jobs overseas. But, he added, those who want a blanket ban on outsourcing fail to recognize economic realities. Miller said he has advocated "a strategic approach" to globalization issues and charged that the federal government is not doing enough to help the United States stay competitive.

"That's why so many people are fearful about this globalization, because they don't see the government giving them any hope or optimism," he said. "And not just with platitudes about, 'We want to keep jobs here; we want to stop outsourcing.' That's a nice platitude. But what are we really going to do? What kind of investments are we willing to make in our people?"

Miller said he is sensitive toward those who have lost jobs in the globalization wave, including manufacturing workers throughout Southwest and Southside Virginia. He grew up amid dying steel mills and coal mines in western Pennsylvania and watched his own family struggle to make ends meet.

"My dad and mom both worked, but we were always struggling for money," he said. "We lost our house once. We lost a couple of businesses. So I know about how important it is to make investments in the future."

During an April visit to Roanoke's Head Start program, Miller bashed the Bush administration for freezing funding for the national preschool program for low-income children. He has called for greater public efforts to extend broadband capacity to rural and distressed areas, believing the infrastructure can make those communities more competitive.

Miller worked his way through the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with honors before earning a graduate degree at Yale University. He said he caught "Potomac fever" while working as a legislative aide to Sen. John Durkin of New Hampshire in the late 1970s.

Miller made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 1984, losing a Democratic nomination fight in Northern Virginia. But he stayed active in party affairs, serving six years as chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee and working on the campaigns of former Gov. Gerald Baliles and former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer.

"While I've worked with him on party matters, what really impresses me is his command of issues," said Del. Ken Plum, D-Fairfax County, a former state Democratic chairman who has endorsed Miller. "I think that if people take the time to listen to Harris, they will realize what a solid person he is."

Miller said his parents "would be shocked and amazed" to see him running for the Senate.

"My dad always told me to go get a government job so that I could always be sure of employment," he said. "Well now it turns out, ironically, that I'm running for a government job, but not one that guarantees you lifetime employment."