Oops! Mark Warner broke the cardinal rule of presidential campaigning: NEVER let VP ruminations out of the bag before the official announcement! While all of us news-hungry journalists are avidly speculating, passing around scuttlebutt and trying to promote our iconoclast favorites, there is always an air of ambiguity around the shrouded running mate selection process -- and rightfully so.
For the Veep Hopeful, actively campaigning for the #2 spot rules out other ambitions -- like a future Presidential run, for example (just ask Al Gore!) It can be politically damaging to both parties if premature running mate talks leak out. The candidates need to wisely and thoughtfully choose who they surround themselves with, since "guilt by association" is a very real thing. Also, if one VP hopeful comes out a bit too brazenly -- and the candidate chooses NOT to select that person -- then there could be a big media ordeal. Candidates generally like to keep all options open and save their speeches for WHY they chose a particular running mate, rather than defending why they DIDN'T choose someone. Even so... former Virginia Governor Mark Warner blabbed to insider Robert Novak that he's on the list for Obama's VEEP.
So, who is this audacious fellow anyway?
Credentials:
Governor of Virginia (2002 - 2006)
Chairman of the Virginia Democratic Party (1993 - 1995)
Co-founder of Nextel
Current Job: Running for Senate in 2008. He also serves on the boards of National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the CNA Corporation
Security Experience: He served on the national security taskforce and co-chair the transportation taskforce of the Bipartisan Policy Council (2007).
Background: Mark Warner hails from Indianapolis, Indiana -- and, like many congress officials, was the first person in his family to graduate college. He graduated from the George Washington University and Harvard School of Law. He got his start working for Senator Chris Dodd in the early 80s, while making his first fortune investing in technology.
Warner's Agenda: A New Energy Policy, Health care, The War, Being Competitive (Jobs/Education) and Improving Infrastructure. Mark Warner holds similar policy views as Obama -- and he's long been touted as someone who can bridge the Bipartisan gap, which is critical for making the "change" Obama professes really happen.
Star Achievements: As governor, he inherited $6 billion in economic shortfalls and ended with a surplus by revising the tax code, creating jobs and making "business-like reforms." He used the money to invest in K-12 education and cleaning up the Chesapeke Bay. So Warner could help Obama achieve all his lofty goals by finding a realistic way to make it happen... of course, the taxpayers may not be too happy with some of the inevitable hikes on consumer goods.
He was named one of Governing Magazine's "Public Officials of the Year" (2004), TIME Magazine's "America's 5 Best Governors" (2005), and was mentioned in Newsweek's "Who's Next" article (2006.)During his tenure, Governing Magazine called Virginia the "best governed state" and Forbes Magazine called Virginia the "best state for business." Education Week said Virginia was "the best state for children" on the basis of economic opportunity. The widespread acclaim can't be denied and the importance of bringing a business sense into governing can't be overstated. Mark Warner brings that "real world experience" to the table, which some analysts say is critical to the Obama campaign.
Possible Snafus: The Republicans have been gearing up to issue the beating of a lifetime on Mark Warner for a while. They've already launched a "Don't Mark Warner" website with an extensive laundry list of grievances. They allege that he flip-flopped on illegal immigration, that he's the "godfather of payday loans," that he flip-flopped on abortion, raised taxes across the board (everything BUT income), that he has no real political ideology to call his own, that he allowed state officials in his administration use taxpayer dollars to fund a Zimbabwean safari, that he broke all of his platform promises and that he's not really a fiscal conservative, as he professes. Yikes! Whether true or untrue, those allegations sound like a lot of baggage that "Clean-Slate" Obama really doesn't need.
