Virginia’s own delivers for DNC

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner told Democrats Tuesday night that Barack Obama is the candidate to offer opportunities for all Americans, and the candidate to restore America’s standing in the world.
And in delivering the keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Warner said the November election for president is not about partisan politics, but one much more important.
“This election isn’t about liberal versus conservative. It’s not about left versus right. It’s about the future versus the past,” said Warner.
Warner said the United States only has one shot to get things right, and said Obama would be the candidate to assure “a fair shot for every American. When we look around today, we see that for too many Americans that fair shot is becoming more of a long shot.”
In a direct shot at the Republican administration of George W. Bush, Warner said “two wars, a warming planet, an energy policy that says let’s borrow money from China to buy oil from countries that don’t like us. How many people look at these things and wonder what the future holds for them? Their children? Their country? How many?”
Warner said a John McCain administration would provide more of the same including “a plan that would explode the deficit that will be passed on to our kids. No real plan to invest in our infrastructure. And his plan would continue spending $10 billion a month in Iraq. I don’t know about you, but that’s just not right. That’s four more years we can’t just afford.”
Warner said Obama will rebuild America’s military and its alliances, defeat terrorism and restore the country’s leadership.
The U.S. Senate candidate and former Virginia governor also harkened back to his administration when he faced a budget shortfall and a sluggish economy.
“Working together — a Democratic governor with a two-to-one Republican legislature and a whole lot of good folks who didn’t see themselves as either Democrats or Republicans, but as Virginians — we closed the budget gap, and Virginia was named the best managed state in the nation,” Warner said.
Across Virginia on Tuesday night, Democrats gathered to watch one of their favorite sons deliver his address. Just outside Staunton, area Democrats huddled at the home of Lee Godfrey to watch Warner, and later, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Godfrey, who narrowly lost as a candidate for the Augusta County Board of Supervisors a year ago, said she wanted Warner “to unify Democrats” with his address.
“He’s good at bringing the two sides together,” she said.
Riley Murray, an Augusta County Democrat, said he hopes Warner can bring undecided Virginia voters into the fold for Obama and help him win as the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry Virginia since Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
“The last 10 percent, the undecided voters are the issue,” Murray. “They know Mark.”
While Warner has said his appeal to Virginia voters is not enough to garner votes for Obama, a political scientist said the ex-governor’s popularity can still swing voters.
“He [Warner] can use his popularity to say ‘if you like me, you will like Obama,’ “ said James Madison University political scientist Bob Roberts.