We’re all back from our kick-off tour around the state, and we’re energized by the enthusiasm we saw. Folks from every corner of the state are excited about Mark Warner’s campaign to bring some Virginia-style results and independence to Washington. Here is some of the television coverage we’ve seen over the last couple of days about our events.
On Day Four of our official kick-off tour, Governor Warner visited the Vanasse Bait and Tackle in Hampton, a gathering spot where the locals come together to share lunch and political gossip.
The Daily Press was there:
On Wednesday, Warner parachuted in on Vanasse’s shop to chat with local conservatives over Styrofoam bowls of fresh seafood. “My whole reason for running is that we need to move past partisan labels,” Warner said. “We have enough challenges. We need to take off our D and R caps and work together.”
Later, he stopped by the 40th Annual Eastern Shore Seafood Festival in Chincoteague, where he joined Governor Kaine and the Marshall Tucker Band.
Day 3 of our kick-off tour ended with a stop in Harrisonburg. Despite the threat of rain, an enthusiastic crowd of over 250 people came out to the steps of the Rockingham Courthouse to show their support for our campaign for U.S. Senate.
On his way to the rally, Governor Warner stopped by Clementine, a local restaurant, where he greeted old friends, new supporters, and recent graduates of James Madison University.
After walking down Main Street from Clementine to the Courthouse, supporters from all over the Valley cheered Governor Warner as he made his way through the crowd and onto the stage where local Grammy-nominated musician Scott Christopher Murray played ‘Shenandoah.’
At the rally, the rain that was about to pour down held off, and by the end of Governor Warner’s speech, the sun started poking through the clouds.
The Daily News Record reports:
Warner was introduced by a series of speakers, including Harrisonburg Mayor Rodney Eagle.“He took the bull by the horns and got things going,” said Eagle, an independent seeking re-election this fall. Rockingham County Sheriff Donald Farley, also an independent, lauded Warner’s performance as governor. But he lamented Warner’s decision earlier this year to seek the Senate seat instead of running for governor again next year.
“But I know,” Farley said, “the rest of the country needs him.”
Governor Warner began his speech by thanking his family and sharing a story from the first stop of his kick-off tour. In Abingdon on Sunday, Delegate Bud Phillips introduced Governor Warner by calling him “the best Governor of Virginia since Thomas Jefferson.” Governor Warner’s daughter, Eliza, who traveled with her dad on the first two days of the tour, reminded him not to believe everything he heard.
Throughout the speech, Governor Warner emphasized his commitment to continuing the bi-partisanship he practiced during his administration. From reducing dependence on foreign oil and increasing investment in green jobs to education standards and fiscal responsibility, Governor Warner affirmed that “good ideas don’t have a D or an R attached to them.”
Governor Warner concluded his speech by asking the crowd to re-hire him—this time as a U.S. Senator. The crowd responded enthusiastically with cheers and applause.
About 300 people from the Charlottesville community – from students to business leaders to elected officials of past and present – joined us for the kick-off event on the Downtown Mall this afternoon.
About 300 people from the Charlottesville community – from students to business leaders to elected officials of past and present – joined us for the kick-off event on the Downtown Mall this afternoon. Charlottesville Mayor David Norris, who took time out of his Election Day schedule, joined Councilman David Brown to help introduce Governor Warner.
The Governor was introduced by Bill Crutchfield, an online consumer electronics entrepreneur from Charlottesville – and a Republican. “We need more bridge builders like Mark Warner,” he said.
From the Daily Progress:
At Tuesday’s rally, University of Virginia Medical Center cardiologist Dr. George Beller said Warner is the right choice for expanding health-care coverage and reducing the high costs of medical care, which threatens to put America at a competitive disadvantage with other countries. Beller’s late wife, state Sen. Emily Couric, is the namesake of UVa’s future clinical cancer center, a project funded in part by Warner’s administration. “Sen. Warner will quickly emerge as a bipartisan leader in ensuring that every American will have access to high-quality, affordable health insurance,” he said.
The Governor also talked about his relationship with retiring U.S. Senator John Warner, whom he ran against in 1996 but whom he now considers a great friend. From The Hook:
“When I was governor, on every issue, Sen. Warner was right there with me on the tough ones,” said Warner. When reporters asked him to elaborate, he said, “I have a bipartisan focus on results, the same way he’s led the United States Senate. The last thing we need is another partisan extremist.”
WCAV gave a great summary of the event:
At Governor Warner’s kick-off event at Monument Terrace Lynchburg today, Army Reserve Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Chapman talked about the need to support our troops not only when they are in combat, but once they are home.
Chapman, a Purple Heart recipient, served a year in Iraq between 2005 and 2006 and was tasked with training the Iraqi Army during combat missions.
Standing in front of a statue honoring a World War I doughboy, Governor Warner thanked Chapman for his service and said that our country was doing a disservice to our veterans by not giving them first-class health support once they come home. “We owe them that debt of gratitude,” he said.
Before Chapman spoke, a group of veterans, led by Steve Bozeman, presented the colors and led the crowd in the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, a ritual they do every Friday at the Monument in support of the troops.
The Governor was introduced by former Republican State Delegate Preston Bryant, who currently serves as Governor Tim Kaine’s Secretary of Natural Resources. The Lynchburg News & Advance reports:
“I am a Republican, and I am supporting Mark Warner for the United States Senate,” Bryant said, to cheers from a crowd of about 250 at the foot of Monument Terrace during Warner’s noontime campaign stop in Lynchburg.
He talked about Governor Warner’s desire to work with members of both parties to make government work and to meet the needs of Virginians. He also gave the Governor credit for turning around the “economic mess” his administration inherited from his predecessor while still investing in Lynchburg’s schools and fire departments.
Delegate Shannon Valentine introduced Secretary Bryant, and talked about how excited she was about the Governor’s run for the U.S. Senate.
Del. Shannon Valentine, who now fills the House seat Bryant previously held, said she has “great hope for our country because of a man named Mark Warner.” She said Warner’s election as governor seven years ago opened the door for new leaders in Virginia.
Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster was on hand, along with former State Senator Elliot Schewel, who delivered a fiery speech about the budget mess left by Governor Warner’s predecessor:
“He left office with one of the lowest approval ratings of any governor in recent history, and he left Mark Warner with the worst budget deficit in the history of our state.”The budget crisis turned around during Warner’s four years in office, partly because Bryant and a hand-ful of other Republicans supported a tax increase that Warner proposed.
“Mark Warner ended his term with a surplus,” and “one of the highest approval ratings of any of our gov-ernors in recent years,” Schewel said.
From left to right: Delegate Shannon Valentine; Governor Warner’s wife, Lisa Collis; Governor Warner; Lynchburg Mayor Joan Foster. Photos courtesy of Frank Poytner
A crowd of 150 gathered for breakfast this morning at the Main Street Restaurant in Martinsville for the sixth event of our kick-off tour. Governor Warner traveled to Southside Virginia to visit with friends in the former “Sweatshirt Capital of the World” – a community rocked by job losses due to big changes in the textile industry.
From the Martinsville Bulletin:
Warner said if elected, he will help Henry County and Martinsville by moving forward on construction of Interstate 73 and securing federal support for retraining workers.“We need a world-class, educated work force” to compete in the global economy, he said.
Times are getting tougher, he said of the economy, but he peppered his speech with optimism for the future.
“This is a community that for most of the 20th century carried the rest of Virginia on its back,” he said. “We’ve still got a ways to go, but I think we’ve turned the corner.”
Delegate Ward Armstrong praised the Governor for paying attention to Martinsville and Henry County during his term, and for helping local officials bring new jobs and greater opportunity to a community in desperate need of both.
“We need a senator who cares about all regions of Virginia, not just the more populated areas,” Armstrong said.Armstrong and Martinsville Mayor Kimble Reynolds Jr. recalled Warner standing in a pouring rain in Fieldale talking to workers who lost their jobs when the Pillowtex plant closed in 2003.
Sen. Roscoe Reynolds, D-Ridgeway, and city Sheriff Steve Draper also spoke glowingly of Warner’s record.
“During his four years, there were 34 announcements of expansions, new jobs coming to Martinsville and Henry County,” Sen. Reynolds said. “When fully implemented, there will be 3,500 jobs in Martinsville/Henry County that weren’t there before his administration.”
Governor Warner was introduced by Eric Penn, pictured at right, an associate minister, an employee at a new company Governor Warner helped attract to Martinsville and a part-time student at the New College Institute (NCI).
Governor Warner championed NCI to and worked with local and regional leaders to provide enhanced worker training and higher education options for residents of Martinsville and Henry County. As governor, Warner and the General Assembly committed more than $1 million in seed money to begin planning for the NCI.
“Because of Governor Warner, citizens in our community now have more opportunities,” Penn said.
The last kick-off event of the day was in Northern Virginia, at the Carlyle Club in Alexandria. There was awesome energy with over 500 people waving signs and cheering. The enthusiasm was enormous and the with help of a great staff, we had a great event to end a great first day.
When Governor Warner arrived at the venue, he was greeted with a crowd of over 30 people waving signs and cheering as he entered the room. Folks starting arriving for the event as early as 5:45pm – more than an hour before the call time. By 6:15, there were over 100 people waiting, all excited and ready to launch this campaign.
Congressmen Jim Moran and Congressman Bobby Scott joined former Lt. Governor Don Beyer in praising Governor Warner for his record and achievements. Sen. Jim Webb was on hand and introduced Governor Warner as “the next junior senator” from Virginia.
Governor Warner said that it was great to be home after a long day on the road, and that he was humbled and determined by the response he’s seen and not take anything for granted. From the Washington Post:
“If you hire me as your next United States senator, we’ll prove that even in Washington we can bring Virginia independence that will provide real results,” Warner said in a 20-minute speech.
Hundreds of supporters greeted Governor Warner at stops in Norfolk and Richmond this afternoon, as we continued our kick-off tour around the state.
In Norfolk, numerous veterans were on hand, including Admiral Harry S. Train and Vice Admiral Alexander J. Krekich, both of whom participated in the program and introduced Governor Warner. Also on hand were over 50 elected officials from the Hampton Roads region, including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
Former Congressman Owen Pickett and Congressman Bobby Scott, both of whom stressed Governor Warner’s pragmatic approach to problem solving and fiscal responsibility.
On the way out of town, Governor Warner and his family stopped by the famous Doumar’s Cones and Barbecue, where he had lunch and met several local residents, including a group of students from nearby Norfolk State University.
Later, he arrived in Richmond, where he spoke at the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park. Delegate Jennifer McClellan, flagged by several health care professionals, greeted a crowd of several hundred people, including many Richmond-area elected officials, members of the General Assembly, and community activists.
With a special focus on health care, Julia Melendez, a mother who benefited from the FAMIS program enacted under Governor Warner’s leadership, spoke of the Warner administration’s success in providing health care services to Virginia’s most needy children and adults.
Congressman Bobby Scott and Governor Tim Kaine joined Ms. Melendez in celebrating the Warner administration’s accomplishment in signing up an overwhelming majority of eligible children in FAMIS, a program dedicated to ensuring that Virginia’s underprivileged children receive the necessary medical care to grown healthy.
Governor Warner concluded both events with a focus on bipartisanship and his desire to bring to Washington the same kind of success and results that his administration was able to bring to Virginia.
Around 250 people turned out early this morning for our Roanoke kick-off event, where Governor Warner stressed his commitment to a bipartisan approach to fixing our nation’s problems.
Sheriff Gerrold Holt set the tone and welcomed the crowd to the New Fire Station #1 in Roanoke, along with Mayor Nelson Harris and David Carson, the chair of the school board.
Heywood Fralin, introduced the governor. Fralin is a Roanoke Valley business and community leader and has been a long-time supporter of Republican candidates and committees.
The Roanoke Times filed on their website:
Mark Warner, who forged working coalitions with Republican legislators during his gubernatorial term, acknowledged voter disdain for the entrenched partisanship in Washington and vowed to seek bipartisan alliances in the Senate.“I don’t think the American people trust either party enough to give them a blank check,” Warner said.
To showcase Warner’s bipartisan appeal, the campaign had Roanoke businessman Heywood Fralin, a longtime supporter of Republican candidates, introduce the candidate at his firehouse rally.
“My guess is that everyone here pretty much has the same priorities,” Fralin said in his introduction of Warner.
They also have some great video from the rally:
UPDATE: The Star City Harbinger blog has a great report with great pictures (including the one above) from this morning’s event.
In his introduction of Mr. Warner, Heywood Fralin boldly declared that “the [Commonwealth] is in good shape because of the Warner Administration. Unfortunately, the Nation is not in as good shape.”
The elder Fralin went on to tout the accomplishments of Mr. Warner, a centrist Democrat, who transcends “partisan politics” and offers “real solutions to real problems.”
...
Earlier in his speech at Roanoke’s Downtown Fire Station, Warner reminded the crowd why he was here in the Star City: “What I love about this country is that everyone gets a fair shot . . . Why am I here? Why did I start here 7 years ago? Because Southwest Virginia hasn’t always gotten a fair shot from Richmond. I will work so everyone gets their fair shot.”
Governor Warner formally launched our campaign for the U.S. Senate tonight with a barbecue dinner in Southwest Virginia. It was the first event of a four-day, 11-city tour around the Commonwealth, where we hope to see folks from every corner of the state and embark on a long campaign to bring Virginia-style results to Washington.
Over 250 people came out to a barbecue dinner provided by Wayne Thomas, a.k.a. Uncle Odie’s BBQ, at E.B. Stanley Middle School in Abingdon. Several “Sportsmen for Warner” and “Abingdon is Warner Country” signs lined the wall as the local bluegrass band Wires and Wood provided the music. They even revived the 2001 “Warner” campaign song. Governor Warner was joined by his wife and two youngest daughters.
Governor Warner was introduced by Jessica Holbrook, who grew up in Russell County and now works for CGI, high-paying, high-tech company located Southwest Virgina. She talked about about the opening of CGI in Russell County, which Governor Warner often lists as one of his favorites days as governor, and said that it provided an opportunity she never thought she’d have growing up.
In his remarks, Governor Warner talked about the need to bring fresh thinking to the way things are done in Washington. Per the Virginian-Pilot:
“It is time for a new approach in Washington: results, not rhetoric; and progress, not delay,” Warner, a Democrat, told about 250 people from Southwestern Virginia attending a barbecue dinner at a local middle school.
“The old practices of left and right, or red versus blue will not work at a time when our challenge really is future versus past,” Warner, 53, said. “If we work together to get our nation fixed, I’m confident our best days lay ahead.”
The Associated Press talks about why we launched our campaign in Southwest Virginia, a region that holds a special place in Governor Warner’s heart:
The first stop … (that) kicks off his campaign in earnest was politically and sentimentally significant for Warner. Abingdon was the first event in his 2001 race for governor, a victory that broke a brief GOP stranglehold on political power in Virginia.But it is also a region that Warner cultivated heavily when he was governor, pushing economic development projects into the depressed region and highlighting its Appalachian culture.
“Southwestern Virginia is a part of Virginia that often doesn’t get a fair shake from Richmond,” Warner told about 240 people gathered in a middle school cafeteria for a Sunday afternoon Democratic barbecue.
“I’ll work with anyone to make sure everyone gets a fair shot,” he said.
Another earmark of the rural strategy Warner used seven years ago to win over people who had usually favored Republicans in the 1990s were also there: a bluegrass band, Wires and Wood, played a toe-tapping ballad to Warner that became a campaign standard for Warner in 2001.
Warner also dusted off other familiar themes from his earlier run. He railed against partisan gridlock in Washington and promised to become a “radical centrist” in a sharply split Congress.
“Washington watched as jobs were shipped overseas,” he said to an ovation from a crowd drawn from a region that watched coal mining jobs dwindle in the 1980s and ‘90s.
The Washington Post spoke with some of the folks in the crowd, who talked about Governor Warner and his record as the state’s chief executive:
“He’s just done so much for everyone here,” said Shirley Hall, who came to the dinner with her husband, Jim, from Castlewood, 25 miles away. “He don’t forget us.”...
“He ran the state as well as it’s been run,” said John Blankenship, a retiree from Abingdon who said he has voted both for Democrats and Republicans.
Check back here throughout the next couple of days as we post reports from the field as Governor Warner makes his way around the state. And if you go to one of the 11 events across Virginia, please send us your pictures and video! You can email them to us at announcement@markwarner2008.com, or upload them to a photo-sharing website and send us a link.
We’re looking forward to see a bunch of you out there over the next couple of days!
If you’d like to help the families affected by Monday’s tornadoes, please visit one of the following relief organizations to help our friends rebuild and recover:
>Adam White, our regional political director, was with the Governor during his most recent Hometown Day stop—which coincided with Earth Day. Here is his report from the field:
Governor Warner celebrated Earth Day on Tuesday with a Hometown Day visit to Chesterfield, Caroline, and Richmond.The day began with a visit to the Sustainability Park, a business park emphasizing and facilitating eco-friendly companies in Chester. The Governor met with the founders and tenants of the park to discuss the present and future relationships between industry, business, and environment. At the end of the visit, Governor Warner planted a dogwood sapling at the park and promised to use the Sustainability Park as an example of how we can grow our local economies and protect our local environments simultaneously.
Our next stop took us to Beach Station for a lunch with business leaders from Chesterfield County. Beach Station, a recently renovated historical landmark near a former rail hub in Chesterfield, served as a beautiful setting for Governor Warner to meet and speak over 60 local business people.
Next the Governor helped officially break ground at the site of the new Virginia State Fairground in Caroline County. The new fairground is located on the spot where the legendary Secretariat was born, and with such historical significance, it was only appropriate that the Governor broke ground the old fashioned way—a wooden plow pulled by two mules!
To finish out Earth Day, Governor Warner visited a company founded by some of Virginia’s own Darden Business School graduates. They founded Intrinergy in order to help manufacturing companies turn their own waste into gas and electrical energy to be reused in the manufacturing facilities. The fascinating process not only saves the manufacturers money, but it reduces carbon emissions and landfill waste significantly. Intrinergy is just another great example of how industry and environment can co-exist and was a great way to finish Earth Day.
Governor Warner’s “Hometown Days” tour took him to Leesburg and Loudoun County on Friday.
The Governor was invited to speak to about 70 small business owners attending a Loudoun Chamber of Commerce conference on IT at The George Washington University’s satellite campus in Ashburn. The Governor spoke of the dramatic IT reforms he initiated in state government when he served as Governor.
“Coming from the private sector, I know my way around a balance sheet, so you can imagine my surprise in 2001, just 10 days after I was elected Virginia Governor, when we discovered that the budget shortfall my predecessor had said was $700 million was really $3.8 billion.“That $3.8 billion shortfall eventually mushroomed into a $6 billion budget gap. My first thought was, ‘Too late for a recount?’
“But right away, our team made hard choices to fix what was broken. We made tough budget cuts.
“We also launched a top-to-bottom reform of how government operates. And we pushed hard on many fronts to harness technology to produce better service delivery for our customers and create long-term savings for the taxpayers.”
Governor Warner’s reforms consolidated 90+ separate state agency IT functions into a single agency, and the IT reforms in purchasing and day-to-day state government operations already have produced more than $250 million in taxpayer savings. The Governor also improved and expanded an online purchasing portal, eVA, which allows state government to leverage its purchasing power to achieve lower prices and additional savings when it purchases goods and services.
Governor Warner then visited with executives and scientists at the new Howard Hughes Medical Institute facility, where world-class research in the human sciences is being conducted. The effort to lure the economic development prize started during Governor Warner’s term, and he said he was excited about the potential of the Howard Hughes facility to transform the economy of Loudoun County and the outer Northern Virginia suburbs for years to come.
Our friend, Sen. Mark Herring, assembled another 50 local business owners and community leaders for an informative question-and-answer session during lunch at Lightfoot Restaurant in downtown Leesburg.
Governor Warner asked the crowd for their support to go to the U.S. Senate to form a bipartisan coalition to produce real results on healthcare, energy policy, and economic competitiveness.
Afterwards, Governor Warner visited with merchants and customers along Leesburg’s quaint King and Market Streets. He greeted diners at the Leesburg Restaurant, and spoke about current economic conditions with the owners of Caulkins Jewelers and the Georgetown Cafe & Bakery.
We briefly stopped by the offices of the Loudoun Times-Mirror for a spontaneous interview, and then toured and spoke to residents at Falcon’s Landing, an upscale independent living facility in Sterling.
We ended our day with the Governor’s rousing speech at the Loudoun County Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner, where former Governor Warner joined Governor Tim Kaine, Sen. Herring, and Del. Dave Poisson in rallying more than 300 local Democrats to continue their progress in “turning Virginia blue” this Fall.
Here are the remarks made by Governor Warner at Wednesday’s Shad Planking.
Every year since 2001, the year’s political candidates are given a few minutes to speak, often giving light-hearted speeches with jokes about their competitors. This year, the candidates for the U.S. Senate were given a chance to speak about their campaigns to replace Senator John Warner. Governor Warner took the opportunity to note that he was the only Democrat at this year’s Shad Planking, and joked about the Republican’s nomination contest.
Not every candidate’s speech was as light-hearted. Jim Gilmore took the opportunity to attack Governor Warner in a speech filled with factual errors and exaggerations. Here’s how the Associated Press summarized the events:
Warner talks unity; Gilmore rips Warner
By BOB LEWIS | AP Political Writer[...]
Warner spoke first, so Gilmore’s comments went unrebutted, but Warner said before the afternoon speeches, “I’ll be glad to contrast my record of fiscal administration with Gilmore’s any day.”
Taking only gentle jabs at his Republican rivals, Warner chose to compare himself to the incumbent senator.
“My goal would be to go to the United States Senate and try to form a coalition of 10 to 12 senators – bipartisan – and create the radical centrists, because at the end of the day, that’s the only way we’re going to get the kind of transformative change that this country needs,” he said.
Without a primary opponent, Warner was free to reach out not only to Democrats but Republicans in the crowd. And there were Republicans present willing to at least consider Warner.
Among them was Jim Wilson, for decades a conspicuous volunteer for Republicans John Warner, George Allen and even Gilmore. He served in Gilmore’s administration. But on Tuesday, he walked the grounds of the Shad Planking handing out Warner yard signs.
“He’ll be more like John Warner than anybody else,” Wilson said.
UPDATE: Here is a sampling of the coverage of this year’s Shad Planking, courtesy of the DPVA:
Our staff is back in the office today, after spending two days down in Wakefield for the 60th Annual Shad Planking. We covered Wakefield top to botton with our blue “Mark Warner” signs, clearly winning the traditional sign war that precedes the event.
The Washington Post agrees:
Warner did win the traditional Shad Planking battle among the candidates to erect the most signs, with thousands of blue signs that stretched for miles leading into Wakefield, about an hour southeast of Richmond.
Special thanks to all the volunteers that came out to help us put up signs around Wakefield, including the staffs of State Senator Creigh Deeds and Delegate Brian Moran. Here are some pictures from yesterday’s event:
