Is John Warner running for President?

[wholetruth00]

His latest moves make me think so. He is not only distancing himself from Bush but from the entire Republican party.

[Gabi Hayes]

1. too old, and MUCH too stupid

quite the schwantz, though, according to Liz Taylor

[DemocratSinceBirth]

4. They Stayed In Bed For Three Straight Days...

eom

[ShockediSay]

2. If he is at least he's willing to get us out of Iraq; McCain

is not. McCain just doesn't get it.

[Kingofalldems]

3. Looks to me like he was saying vote for Dems

[KharmaTrain]

5. The Military Is Revolting

Warner's tuned into the military like no other Senator. He's been drifting for a while...remember, he was one of the three Senators who balked at the terror bill...before he caved in on it. I think his trip to Iraq was one bridge too far.

Warner also probably got an earful from the same people Murtha hears from and while John can speak it, Warner's had to suck it up...but now it's getting too loud to keep it down. I keep hearing of the problem in the lower and middle ranks of the military whose contempt for Rumsefeld and his lackeys is like a cancer spreading across the mlitary and is getting worse.

[cynatnite]

8. Hubby's nephew will be leaving for third tour soon...

He told my husband he and most of his buddies don't like bush, but saying Rumsfeld around them is like insulting their mothers. He said most everyone he knows, and these are lower ranking soldiers, hate Rumsfeld far more than anyone else in the administration.

[Burma Jones]

9. May I suggest you say "The Military is in Revolt"

but, you are correct, I've known hard core Marines that have been against OIF since 2003

[Burma Jones]

6. Warner was certainly against Oliver North

when that scumbag ran for Senate in Virginia.

[abluelady]

7. No

And he isn't planning on running for the senate again when his term is up--at least that's the buzz in VA.

[Eurobabe]

10. I get the feeling that Warner is disgusted with this WH

Story here at NY Times:

"The White House, caught off guard by a leading Republican senator who said the situation in Iraq was “drifting sideways,” responded cautiously on Friday, with a spokeswoman for President Bush stopping short of saying outright that Mr. Bush disagreed with the assessment." <snip> "Speaking to reporters on Thursday after returning from a trip that included a one-day stop in Baghdad, Mr. Warner said the United States should consider “a change of course” if the violence there did not diminish soon. He did not specify what shift might be necessary, but said that the American military had done what it could to stabilize Iraq and that no policy options should be taken “off the table.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/world/middleeast/07capital.html?hp&ex=1160193600&en=fe3e1bb831881928&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[CorpGovActivist]

11. John Warner - No; Mark Warner - Yes

John Warner has no credibility on Iraq. As Chair of the Armed Services Committee, he could have held all the hearings he wanted to regarding the information being provided to his office, almost daily, from Halliburton/KBR whistleblowers: http://armed-services.senate.gov/members.htm

http://www.shareholdersonline.org/pdf/092006senateinvestigationrequest.pdf

http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?company=smith+david+allen&CIK=&filenum=&State=&SIC=&owner=include&action=getcompany

John Warner knows how to maintain his facade; but take it from his ex-wife, Elizabeth Taylor: he's an also-ran and a has-been: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Taylor

Now, Mark Warner - that's a different story, and he could easily carry Virginia's 13 electoral votes, flip West Virginia back to Democratic, and pull heavily in Eastern Kentucky, parts of OH, TN, and NC.

- Dave

[blm]

12. No. But there is a backstory to his remarks.

When he and Kerry were first negotiating terms of debate on the Kerry-Feingold Iraq withdrawal bill, Frist offered the bill when it wsn't finished and had a floor vote.

Warner was furious, as he had been negotiating in good faith and by standard Senate rules. So, he intervened, they finished the bill and revoted, but as part of that he also engaged in an old-fashioned debate with Kerry on the senate floor.

Warner conceded several times during that debate on matters like a new resolution dealing with the facts on the ground in Iraq - as in civil war. He conceded that there was never a guideline in place for the mission as it now stands (again, civil war).

So it is crucial for Warner to get to the point where he acknowledges that Iraq is in civil war, but I don't see him doing that to Bush until after the election, sad to say.

It was obvious to those of us who watched the floor debate last July, that Warner was on the verge of turning against the policy and siding with Kerry-Feingold.

If you have some time to watch the debate from Cspan archives, it will do your heart good to see how the senate SHOULD be acting for this country.

[cynatnite]

13. I would like to see that...

I tried searching at Cspan, but can't seem to find it. Help?

[blm]

15. Here's the closest I can get for you

TayTay's copy got erased, but she suggested this:



It is preserved in the Congressional Record.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r109query.html

Enter as Senator: Kerry, John (D-MA)

Enter as keywords: Iraq, withdrawal

Check the option for AND on the terms

The date of the debate is June 21, 2006 so you can either enter that date or sort by date and pick that.

When the page comes up, look for the exchanges between Warner and Kerry. This really was the most informative debate in the Senate this year on Iraq. Kerry and Warner deeply respect each other and respect the fact that each is honorably promoting a point of view the both believe in. I can only wish that Senate debate was like this all the time. Sigh!

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I will conclude. The Senator from Massachusetts and I have had this conversation about that period of history before. We will have it again and again. I recall, I went to the Pentagon in February 1969 and was there for 5 years in the Navy Secretariat. As the Secretary of the Navy, the Senator always said I was his boss. He has been very respectful about that.

I remember when his Silver Star came through our Secretariat at that time. I went back and checked for accuracy, and it was accurate, I say to the Senator. He knows that, and I know that.

>>>>

and globalvillage found a partial transcript here
http://www.veteransforamerica.org/index.cfm/page/weblog/subpage/category_blogs/category/F8170E9F-123F-747A-1BABFA5A6C0FE74A

[cynatnite]

16. Found it...

Thank you so much. Saving it to read tomorrow. :)

[karynnj]

17. Thanks for the link

The Warner/Kerry debate was interesting to re-read in light of Warner's statements yesterday. Perhaps the "timing" will be right. It also seems that Warner almosted helped Kerry make his case by his statements.

[blm]

18. That's what it seemed like to me - Warner and Kerry were actually working

the info to make the case - which wasn't too surprising, since Warner and he had been in serious meetings over the withdrawal plan for the entire week before - and that is why Frist tried to pre-empt the final bill they were crafting, and rushed the early draft to the floor for a vote.

That craven act of Frist's actually ended up driving Warner MORE towards Kerry and Feingold on the issue. That's why I expect that Warner will end up working with them to rewrite the bill, bolstered with the new information they have now. But not till after the Nov election.

[never_get_over_it]

14. He is about six months short of 80 so NO

but he has been around long enough when there was "honest" political debate between the parties and not all the BS that is the current Congress - he is probably just sick and tire of it and thought it necessary to speak the truth...I still wonder why he caved on the detainee (torture) legislation.