Little birdies are whispering that Mark Warner will not be running for Senate in 2008.
This falls in line with my earlier thoughts. At that time, I said:
I will be quite surprised if he runs for the Senate seat, even if John Warner retires, as has been rumored.
Down in the comments in that post you’ll see why I thought he wouldn’t run for Senate: Warner is a leader, not a follower.
Of course, we now know that John Warner is running again.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
aaaaaarrrrrrgggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
actually I always thought he would run for Gov in 2009
Wow, this is very very interesting. As Alice points out, one must now wonder if he will be running for governor in ’09. I do have to wonder, however, if he won’t be running for Senate so that he’ll be considered for a potential Vice-Presidential candidate.
Yep, I think this is pretty good for the “Warner 2009” movement. Now Deeds and Moran are running for AG and LG.
Great! Bob McDonnell scares the crap out of me! What a nightmare if that should ever come to be.
That surprises me. I figured Mark Warner was a lock for that run.
As for John Warner, I am sure that we will see a big conservative movement to get someone to challenge him in the primary, perhaps Bob McDonnell or even George Allen (who would need to be able to have a solid campaign team behind him this time to avoid the troubles of the last election). Whether anyone will challenge Warner though is certainly up in the air though.
CR – George Allen won’t challenge John Warner.
Is this really a surprise?
As has been noted numerous times at my joint, there are really different personality types needed to be successful in the legislature and in the executive branch. Moreover, the US Senate has not proven itself to be the perfect launching site for the White House.
A sitting US Senator has not been elected president since 1960, nor has a candidate whose primary elected credential is being in the Senate been elected. Our presidents since JFK have been former VP’s (Johnson, Nixon, Ford, GHW Bush), sitting or former governors (Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and “W”). A ton of senators have taken a shot at or won the nomination (Harris, Muskie, McGovern, Church, Bayh, Teddy K, Mondale-76, Hart, Tsongas, Dole, McCain, Kerry, Baker, and probably a few I have forgotten), but the path has not prove fruitful.
If you want to lead, and make things happen, then an executive position-governor, cabinet, agency head-is the place to be.
If you want to set policy, go to the legislature.
And neither Brian Moran nor Creigh Deeds would run for Lt. Gov.
This doesn’t come as a shock to me, as the only speculation has been hopeful chatter in comments sections.
As for Bob McDonnell or George Allen running against Sen. Warner, I’d think we have a better chance of seeing Warner in a primary for Gov. in ’09. After John Warner campaigned so hard for Allen this past year, I don’t see how that is even being speculated.
McDonnell would be an attractive conservative choice, especially since I can’t recall him voicing any approval of Sen. Warner, but I think the AG is dead set on Governor in ’09.
that is to bad i would like to see a real democrate in the senate not a fake like current senator of the GOP, I hope someone takes out the senator from either side,the old man needs to go.
Vivian, the only reason the little birdies are telling you M. Warner is not running for the Senate is that they know J. Warner is running for re-election. Not that M. Warner would not beat him, mind you, but it would be a very uncomfortable experience since the 2 Warners have formed a collegial political relationship that includes many mutual supporters. If the seat were open, M. Warner would run for it in a heartbeat.
And, by the way, are you saying that Jim Webb is not a leader since he is in the Senate?
I imagine that if Mark Warner wanted a seat in the Senate, we’d be talking about Senator Mark Warner, and not Senator Webb.