Mark, his name
Last week, I was speaking to a neighbour who had come home for vacation from the USA. The conversation beat upon the normal lines, and moved (predictably) to the battle for Washington 2008.
From whatever little gyan we get from our local media, we might be led to believe that Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton would be the undisputed Democrat nominee. And that to take her on, the Republicans would field Condoleezza Rice (despite her opting to play club football). My neighbour revealed that Senator Clinton, though a probable candidate, isn’t by any means the automatic choice. One of the strong contenders from the Democrats is Mark Warner.
Mark R. Warner stepped down as Governor of Virginia in January 2006, after four years at the helm, in which time, he turned around Virginia’s fiscal position — from a $6 billion deficit to a $544 million surplus! He is considered as one of the most popular governors of Virginia (with an approval rating of 74%, the highest ever recorded), and was named in Time’s Top 5 Governors last year.
A Southern Democrat (like Bill Clinton), Warner is considered a strong contender “because of his wide appeal to independents and moderate Republicans, and his high popularity in a relatively Republican state.” (Wikipedia).
He can also take heart from the fact that history is on his side — every Democratic President since Lyndon B. Johnson has been from the South.
Related posts:
- Daily News endorses Obama Philadelphia Daily News today endorsed Senator Barack Obama for next week's...
- Wolf Blitzer If I could vote, and if my vote were to go to the person who came up with the...
- The Quotable Obama I must concede that every time there is a debate among the Democrats, Senator...
- Republican Media Machine The Republican Media Machine is underway already. Of course, you may wonder...
- Obama Barack Obama came up with probably the best comeback line of the 2008 Elections...
slightly uncomfortable with the focus on fiscal performance in evaluating a statesman …
Finally its people of a country you know, not Employees of Country Inc.
Warner is a strong candidate and will probably be the best choice if the democrats want to win the general election. But the problem is democratic party is mostly left wing liberals who like to choose libral candidates from states like northern states or california. Hillary is the favorite as far I can see to win the democratic nomination. But she will find it very hard to win the general elections.
Republicans face the same problem with right wing conservatives. They would prefer to have senate majority leader Bill Frist (if he is not affected by the SEC investigation). But he is unlikely to do well in a general election. I think Rudy Guliani is a better bet for Republicans but I am not sure if the right wing conservatives really would like a former mayor from NY to be their candidate.