2008 Election

Good for Mark Warner.

By Maegan Carberry ⋅ August 13, 2008 ⋅   Email this post ⋅  Digg This ⋅  Share on Facebook ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

I saw Mark Warner speak at a small event in LA earlier this year; while he’s no BO with a microphone, he did engage the crowd with some entertaining stories and compelling progressive arguments. I thought, at the time, that he’d make a decent Veep choice, but everyone was enamored with his fellow Virginian, Jim Webb (including me). Looks like that won’t be happening, since the VP’s slot has been devoted to Military Night.

Surely HRC supporters will be up in arms that she has to share the convention spotlight with him, but it’s also a subtle reminder of why she doesn’t add anything to the ticket: She’s redundant. We need an old Southerner who has had either financial or military success. All but the most militant PUMAs will hold their nose and vote for BO in November; Obama needs to close the deal with traditional red state voters.

From Politico’s story on the announcement of Warner’s keynote:

Reflecting new Democratic optimism about the South, former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner will keynote the party’s national convention in Denver two weeks from now.

Warner appealed successfully to NASCAR Democrats in his election as governor, running strongly in rural areas and with working-class social conservatives. …

Warner’s a rising star in the party, paired with the established force of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) on the second night of the convention. The duo is designed as a powerful display of the strength of the Democratic Party headed into the fall.