According to the Virginian Pilot, Senator John Warner has called a press conference for 2pm Friday in Charlottesville, where it is expected he will announce whether he’s running in 2008.
Today’s editorial in the Pilot urges him to run again, despite his age.
Warner is uniquely suited to serve a central role in what will be the nation’s most critical and treacherous mission over the next few years.
[…]
But even if his health slips in his mid-to late 80s, the service he can provide over the next few years – particularly on military policy, but on energy and other matters as well – outweighs that risk.
The state and nation will be well-served if John Warner decides to go for one more term.
No doubt it was this kind of response that Warner hoped to elicit by his comments last Sunday on Meet the Press. However, those comments make me think he is leaning towards not running.
I asked Mark Warner Monday night whether he would run for the seat should John Warner retire. As usual, he was noncommittal.
I still will be surprised if Mark decides to run. That choice simply closes too many doors for him. I asked him if he had been contacted by any of the campaigns about being the VP. He said it is much too early for the campaigns to be doing that – and I agree. Nevertheless, we all know that should he run for Senate, he is taking himself out of any VP consideration, something that I mentioned to him and that he acknowledged was something he has already considered (of course).
So the question remains: who will be the Democratic nominee if not Mark Warner? And, if John Warner decides to run again, will the Democrats challenge him?
Technorati Tags: John Warner, Mark Warner
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
I think JW will run again. He could not live with himself if he walked away from the mess in Iraq. I think he may feel some responsiblilty for the President he supported. That’s OK MW can run for Gov. again!!
I’d rather see Warner in the governor’s mansion with redistricting after the ’10 census. The future of the Democratic Party is at stake. Let someone else run for senator. Prospects for the Dems in the Senate are bright, even without Lieberman fi he switches.
I don’t think Warner would turn down a spot on the ticket but that’s not where his heart is.
John Warner runs again, we don’t challenge him. If both Warners decide not to run, we have to hope to God that Gilmore wins the nomination. Even though it means sacrificing a house seat, I’d love to see Boucher run for the Senate.
Now *there’s* a healthy approach to a functioning democracy . . .
MB, are you offering to run? 🙂
If you are MW, why not just stay at home and commute across the Potomac, rather than relocating your family for the third time in 8 years?
And MW is more than classy enough to play down his interest in the Senate out of respect for JW.
This from someone who’d just as soon see JW run again.
Sure, why not? I’m not sure the state Dems would be so thrilled with the resulting surge in contributions to the state GOP . . . . 🙂
If John Warner runs, I think we need to draft Don Beyer! I’ll even create the website!
MB for Senate. I can see the bumper stickers now. Heck, if you run, I’ll break my rule & put your bumper sticker on my car 😀 (Now, you have to know that I’ve only ever put one bumper sticker on my car.)
ND – I don’t know that you could convince him to run. If JW retires & MW passes, I think Don Beyer would be a very good choice.
I hope that Mark decides that he can make a more lasting contribution to society as Governor.
But that leaves us needing a candidate. I am here to announce that I’ll run. I have never been found guilty of lewd behavior in a bathroom. I have never worn a diaper when being serviced by a prostitute. I have never been filmed uttering an ethnic slur.
Put me in, coach. I’m ready to play.
So if John Warner is not too old, why is Doug Wilder?
The primary is shaping up 🙂 We have two candidates so far. Anyone else willing to step up?
anon – I think they are both too old.
I would like to announce, in the interest of party unity, that I am withdrawing from the primary and throwing my support to cvllelaw (until a tape of him out at LBJ park is released, anyway. Because really, who would go *there*?). Plus, winning V’s bumpersticker primary may well have been the high point in my campaign. Nothing could beat that.
I feel the groundswell already. Now, if I could just get my wife to agree, I could keep the momentum going… But if Mark runs for Senate, I’m in for Vice President. In addition to the above qualifications, I can also offer the following credentials: I didn’t smoke dope, I have not cheated on my wife, and I did actually finish in the top half of my law school class. (For those who remember the 1988 campaign…)