"He made our dreams come true"
Governor Warner toured the Germanna Community College's Daniel Center for Advanced Technology in Culpeper today, a workforce training facility that he helped build before and during his term as Governor.
"He made our dreams come true," said Connie Kincheloe, a member of the Virginia Board for Community Colleges.
Governor Warner encouraged local officials and community leaders to build a technology center at Germanna Community College as early as 1999, before making investments in the overall community college system as Governor. When construction costs left the facility millions of dollars over budget, Governor Warner identified the funds GCC needed to move the project along to help prepare the community's students for the high-tech jobs that are moving into Culpeper.
The Governor toured the facilities today and received a demonstration of the advanced technology that allows it to connect with other GCC campuses.
After meeting with the students, Warner was honored at a lunch attended by nearly 170 local residents.
The crowd was attentive, and expressed their concerns about education reform, health care reform, and unfunded mandates passed-on to localities by the federal and state governments. The Governor said that, as a U.S. Senator, he will work to get Virginia the money it needs before forcing additional requirements upon the state and its localities.
By the end of the lunch, the crowd was ready to help Governor Warner get to the Senate.
"He's ready for it," said one voter who attended. "We need that kind of sense in Washington."
UPDATE: The Free-Lance Star wrote about Governor Warner's committment to reject extremism when he gets to the Senate:
The Culpeper Star-Exponent also wrote about the visit and posted this video of his remarks at GCC:"I'm independent-minded," he said, adding, "We need to say no to extremists on both sides." ...
Warner told the mixed, but mostly Democratic audience that he sees a "window of opportunity" for America after a new president--whoever that is--is inaugurated next January.
"This country needs a win and a sense that we can get things done," he said. "Americans are fed up. I don't think they trust either party."
Warner, who stressed his bipartisan efforts while serving as governor from 2002-06, said that if elected to the Senate in November, one of his goals would be to form a small group of senators from both parties that he called "the radical centers."
He said this core group could be key to bringing Americans together again and getting the country moving forward.