While his election is a foregone conclusion, former governor of Virginia Mark Warner is worth voting for. Warner has proven himself a capable politician and more importantly, an exceptional public servant. His political accomplishments include engineering the revitalization of the Virginia Democratic Party, getting conservative voters to vote democratic, and paving the way for two men to become top elected officials in Virginia (Governor Tim Kaine & Senator Jim Webb).
In 2005, the magazine Governing rated Virginia as the best governed state in the nation, calling it “the best managed state in the nation.” During his time as governor (Virginia governors are not permitted to seek consecutive terms), Warner pulled Virginia out of financial ruin, reformed the tax code and made the state’s largest investment in education. His work in Virginia received numerous accolades; Forbes magazine called it the “best state for business” and Education Week Magazine said that it was the best state for a child’s education.
Warner, a moderate, has worked with Republicans and Democrats in order to achieve results that worked. He has been tested and proven that he is one of the more capable politicians in the country. His experience as an executive garnered him attention in both the media and DC circles that thought of him as being able to launch a serious White House bid in the 2008 election (Warner decided not to run in October 2006), being the Democratic VP candidate for Barack Obama (he has publicly announced he will not accept the Democratic VP nomination) and even being the model for the “new Democrat.”
Mark Warner has proven that he can be a successful elected official and achieve results. It is for that reason, as well as reasons too numerous to cover in this post, that The Centrist Voice endorses Mark Warner in the 2008 Virginia senate race.
