Warner ready to work

By Bob Stuart

Published: November 5, 2008

Fresh from a decisive victory in the Virginia U.S. Senate race Tuesday, Mark Warner said the onus is now on producing results for Virginia residents and the country.

The Democrat and former governor captured more than 64 percent of the vote against Republican and former Gov. Jim Gilmore, and in the process garnered a million more votes than Gilmore.

“There is momentum,’’ Warner said of Democrats who will be occupying both Virginia U.S. Senate seats in January and the governor’s mansion. “I don’t think there is permanent political realignment ... We’ve got to produce. Virginians are more independent and less partisan than folks in most states.”

Warner said the top priority for him and others in Senate will be to “get this economy jump started.”

“We’ve still got a weakness in the financial system,’’ he said.

As he previously stated, Warner wants the U.S. auto industry to produce fuel-efficient vehicles and he would like to see three years worth of purchase orders for those vehicles from different levels of government in the U.S.

Warner said a complete energy strategy for the country would include more research and development and equalizing the tax code.

Private capital for energy is needed, he said, much like it was received for the wireless and IT industry two decades ago.

Warner said there will be many roles he can fill in the Senate.

“There is the legislative role and fighting for your state,’’ he said. “Trying to fill John Warner’s shoes will be a tall order for anyone. I look forward to working with Sen. (Jim) Webb on projects that will be helpful to Virginia including our military installations, helping our veterans and making sure our research institutions are on the cutting edge.”

He also said President-elect Barack Obama must work to find ways to cut federal spending.

Obama’s narrow victory in Virginia resulted from the candidate’s devotion to the state, Warner said.

“When he came to Bristol, I tried to personally vouch for him,’’ Warner said of Obama’s first visit to the state earlier this year.

But he said Obama revisited the commonwealth “time and again. He came to Roanoke, to Lebanon and to Bristol. He put the emphasis on Virginia. That’s one of the reasons he was able to carry the state.”

While Warner now must focus on his new job as Virginia’s junior U.S. Senator, higher office is not out of the question.

Political science professor Bob Roberts of James Madison University said Warner could emerge as a running mate for Obama in 2012 depending on what Joe Biden decides.

“Warner might be someone Obama looks to,’’ Roberts said. He said Warner as a pro-business candidate would offer a strong complement to Obama.