Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner has often spoken of the two options he must choose from: a Senate bid in 2008, or a return to the Governor’s mansion in 2009. There is also the talk of a third “choice”: accepting a hypothetical VP nomination on the Democratic Presidential ticket next year.
Today in Roll Call (subscription only), John McArdle takes a closer look at Warner’s deliberations. The big news is: Warner will reveal his decision sooner rather than later.
Monica Dixon, a senior adviser to the former governor, said Wednesday that her boss intends to make his political plans known sometime “within the next week or so.”
Warner would face a tough choice. Known to have Presidential ambitions (he terminated a potential 2008 candidacy last year), Warner is said to enjoy the executive lifestyle of the Governor’s office, and another successful gubernatorial term could be more helpful in a Presidential campaign than having to deal with the baggage of a Senate term. But an open Senate seat in Virginia would be his to lose, and could add another dimension to his resume:
But people who know Mark Warner well say a Senate bid makes sense for him at this point in his political career.Steve Jarding, Warner’s campaign manager during his 2001 gubernatorial run, said he has advised his old boss to make the jump to the Senate.
“He’s been a chief executive now,” Jarding said. “He knows that playing field and he performed well in Virginia. … He accomplished a lot. And I think that part of who Mark is is complete.””
When Mark Warner lost to John Warner in 1996, “there was a part of him who thought that [the Senate] isn’t the best place [for him],” Jarding added. “But that was then, and I think he has since then come a long way.”
[…]
Rhett Walker, a political consultant in Virginia who has been involved in numerous statewide political campaigns, said a Senate seat would not only improve Warner’s name recognition outside of Virginia, but also provide him with experiences that he couldn’t get serving in state office.
“Although the common wisdom has been that it’s better to run for national office as a governor, I personally think [Mark Warner] is looking at the trend that people are going to be demanding more experience on international and national defense,” Walker said. “Leading a trade mission in Virginia is one thing, but that is no substitute for getting true experience with international affairs and national defense, which you would be getting in the U.S. Senate.”
Jarding also adds that biding his time for a VP slot would be too frustrating for Warner:
“I think he’d be on anybody’s short list and would be a tremendous choice” for vice president, Jarding said. “But my own sense is that … Mark looks and says, ‘I’m not going to wait for someone else to make a decision. I need to make a decision for what I believe is in the best interest of those who I want to serve … and if that means that takes me off the [vice presidential] list, then so be it.’“I’ve been in the business a long time,” added Jarding, a veteran political operative who currently works for Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). “I believe that any time you put yourself in a situation where you make a decision based on what you predict somebody else might make you probably made a bad decision.”
Unlike Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, it looks like Mark Warner won’t be teasing us for too much longer.
Is it totally impossible that he runs for Senate then drops his bid if he gets picked as VP? I seem to recall VA has a pretty late primary, and I strongly suspect the people of the state would understand his switching races. Although once he has announced for Senate, I am sure the DSCC would lean on the Dem nominee pretty hard to choose someone else.