Ex-Gov. Warner calls for 'results, not rhetoric’

ABINGDON

Former Gov. Mark Warner kicked off his campaign for the U.S. Senate on Sunday, calling himself a “radical centrist” and pledging to bring a bipartisan spirit to Washington.

“It is time for a new approach in Washington: results, not rhetoric; and progress, not delay,” Warner, a Democrat, told about 250 people from Southwestern Virginia attending a barbecue dinner at a local middle school.

“The old practices of left and right, or red versus blue will not work at a time when our challenge really is future versus past,” Warner, 53, said. “If we work together to get our nation fixed, I’m confident our best days lay ahead.”

Warner, who was governor from 2002 to 2006, is unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Two candidates are vying for the Republican nod: former Gov. Jim Gilmore and Del. Bob Marshall of Prince William County.

Although Warner did not mention Gilmore by name, he took a few shots at the man who preceded him as governor. He blamed Gilmore for

leaving the state in financial disarray and understating the scope of the problem.

“Everyone was amazed that the budget shortfall my predecessor left behind was four times greater that he said it would be,” said Warner, who had to make $6 billion in adjustments to balance the budget during the stalled economy in 2002.

Warner offered little in the way of policies during a 20-minute speech in which he rued the high price of gas and said the United States must withdraw from Iraq.

Warner chose to open his campaign in Abingdon because it is where he kicked off his 2001 gubernatorial campaign.

Warner announced his candidacy in September by e-mailing a videotaped statement to supporters. He pledged to work across party lines to break gridlock in Washington but offered no specific stands on issues.

Advisers said he will begin to assert policy positions during his three-day swing across Virginia. The major leg of that trip will come today with scheduled stops in Roanoke, Norfolk, Richmond and Alexandria.

He is slated to speak in downtown Norfolk at 11:55 a.m. by the battleship Wisconsin near Nauticus.

Campaign aides said he will receive endorsements from retired Navy Adm. Harry Train, the former commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet, and retired Vice Adm. Al Krekich, the former commander of Naval Surface Forces, Pacific Fleet in San Diego.

Warner is the only Democrat seeking the Senate seat that has been occupied by Republican John Warner – no relation – for the past 30 years. John Warner announced last summer that he would not seek re-election this year.

Republicans will decide their nomination at a state convention May 31, and Gilmore, who served as governor from 1998 to 2002, is widely believed to be the frontrunner.

Mark Warner succeeded Gilmore as governor. In 2004, he stitched together a bipartisan coalition in the legislature that passed a record $1.4 billion tax increase to help education, health and public safety.

Warner left office in 2006 with positive job performance ratings from about 75 percent of Virginia voters, according to public polls. He was unable to seek re-election because Virginia bars its governor from serving successive terms.

Warren Fiske, (804) 697-1565, warren.fiske@pilotonline.com