WSJ's Seib: Party Irregular: Can Warner Show Democrats a Path?

[question everything]

CAPITAL JOURNAL
By GERALD F. SEIB

Party Irregular: Can Warner Show Democrats a Path?
November 17, 2004; Page A4

(snip)


As Democrats ponder that question (Who can actually lead that revival?), they may want to remember that there is a particular kind of leader who in the past has succeeded in shepherding them out of the political wilderness: a moderate Southern governor who knows how to win in those red states, who is able to win over Republicans and who can speak to the middle on social issues... Three years ago, Mr. Warner was comfortably elected the Democratic governor of Virginia, a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1964. Like nearly every governor, he has struggled with a deep budget crisis. In his case, he has had to do so in an essentially conservative state alongside a state legislature solidly in Republican hands.

(snip)

The first step, he says, is to get to the center on social issues -- gun rights and abortion in particular -- so they don't overshadow everything else. That, Mr. Warner says, was the key for many of the Democrats who have succeeded at the state level recently. "They didn't let the social issues dominate the campaign," he says. "You may not even get to the point where you get a fair hearing on health care or the economy or job creation if think the candidate doesn't share their values." In his case, Mr. Warner says, he actively went after gun owners and has supported their rights since taking office. Similarly, "we didn't allow abortion to become the polarizing issue," he says. "I support a woman's right to choose but think there are some limits on late-term abortions that make sense."

(snip)

For Mr. Warner, 49 years old, the point probably was easier to make because, while he has a long background in Democratic politics, he is best known as a successful businessman who parlayed a well-timed entry into cellphones and venture capital into a tidy personal fortune. That gives him the aura of a Democrat who knows something about how to run a business.

(snip)

Can Democrats follow that pattern in a Washington now run even more firmly by Republicans? Unclear. More important is the fact that Democrats out in the states -- the one place where their party actually gained ground on Election Day -- now have a chance to become the party's genuine leaders. Mr. Warner has only one year left in his current office, but odds are you haven't heard the last of him.

Write to Gerald Seib at [e-mail]

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110064794870576041,00.html

[ClassWarrior]

1. ~yawn~

blah... blah... in order to be better Democrats... blah... blah... we have to act like RepubliCONS... blah... blah.. blah...

Typical.

NGU.

[joelogan]

2. oh boy! We can trust the Wall Street Journal, boys and girls!

Anyone the WSJ writes about in any semi-favorable way is to be avoided like the PLAGUE!

I hereby deem Warner of VA as a Republicrat (which means a lot of latte-sipping Democratic party Internet activists will LOVE him).

[question everything]

3. Weelll, I don't know Warner - was hoping for inputs from Virginians

but I do know that the last three Democratic presidents DID come from the South and two of them were governors. As a matter of fact, except for papa Bush, the last four presidents of both parties, starting in 1976, were governors. This was why many supported Dean and Graham.

If we selected Kerry because he was "electable" these reasoning are not that much off the wall. Again, unless you know for a fact that Warner is a DINO.

[joelogan]

5. The WSJ favorable article tells me all I need to know

THey like him, therefore I hate him.

[KoKo]

4. Woweeeeee! Warner rides to the rescue and WSJ alerts us Dems.....

I'm so excited...just can't tell you....peeing in my pants I'm so excited...Warner...