Breaking News: John Warner to retire at end of term

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This is really a great shame for the state.  Warner has been a great senator, one of the best that Virginia has ever had.  The only good thing about this retirement is that it means that the Democrats should be able to take the other Senate seat in 2008.

[Verily]

Mark Warner will probably run now, and I can't see Tom Davis (or anyone else) defeating him.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I agree.  Warner is still very popular, and he would have been able to defeat Allen in 2006; now that he doesn't have ot face off an incumbent, he's in a much better position.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

YES!

Has any Senator ever retired and been replaced by someone with the same last name before?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

[quote author=I'm In The Mountains, I'll Call You Next Year Has any Senator ever retired and been replaced by someone with the same last name before?
[/quote]

Yes: Harry F. Byrd Sr. was replaced by his son, Harry F. Byrd Jr.  They were from Virginia!

[AndrewTX]

That's sad.  Senator Warner is a great man, and has done great things for the Commonwealth of Virginia.  I'm glad, for atleast a short time, I was able to call him my Senator.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Great news, it's always good to see a Republican who had a reputation for being more moderate than they actually were to leave.

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

I'll believe a Warner-for-Senate campaign when I actually see one.

[Conan]

Frankly this is a win win if Mark Warner doesn't run. Republicans will still have to pour money into this race.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Frankly this is a win win if Mark Warner doesn't run. Republicans will still have to pour money into this race.

Kaine would probably still have better than even chances.

[HardRCafé]

Warner is still very popular, and he would have been able to defeat Allen in 2006;

So would Gumby.

[Sensei]

If M. Warner runs, he should win hands down. Great chance for a dem pickup. and if this happens i think there's a good chance we see a President Warner in 2012.

[Conan]

If M. Warner runs, he should win hands down. Great chance for a dem pickup. and if this happens i think there's a good chance we see a President Warner in 2012.

I dont think he'd primary a president.

[© tweed]

Mark won't run

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If M. Warner runs, he should win hands down. Great chance for a dem pickup. and if this happens i think there's a good chance we see a President Warner in 2012.

So you think the GOP will retain the White House in 2008?

[Rob]

Great news, it's always good to see a Republican who had a reputation for being more moderate than they actually were to leave.

^^^^^

This joke voted against his own Iraq resolution.

[Sensei]

If M. Warner runs, he should win hands down. Great chance for a dem pickup. and if this happens i think there's a good chance we see a President Warner in 2012.

So you think the GOP will retain the White House in 2008?

I phrased that wrong.

In the event that the GOP wins the white house in 2008, Mark Warner stands a good chance at the presidency in 2012.

[Boris]

Is Warner even charismatic or interesting? I don't think I've ever heard him speak.

[gorkay]

Barring unforeseen events. Mark Warner would be a shoo-in if he ran. I don't see any Republican out there who can beat him. Tom Davis would probably be the GOP's strongest candidate. I think Jim Gilmore and George Allen have fantasies of running, but they wouldn't stand a chance.

If Warner doesn't run, it puts the Democrats in a quandary. The only other Democrat I can think of who would be a really strong candidate would be Tim Kaine, but if he runs and gets elected, it hands the governorship to the GOP, since our lieutenant governor is a Republican. On the other hand, the Dems may well decide gaining a Senate seat is worth giving up a lame-duck governorship.

John Warner was a good Senator and a good man. Although I often disagreed with him on the issues, I always respected his integrity. I will always remember how, even under intense pressure from the state and national GOP establishment, he refused to endorse Oliver North when he ran for the Senate. BTW, I wonder how many of you remember how he came to win that Senate seat in the first place? He ran for the Republican nomination in 1978 and actually finished second to Richard Obenshain. (The seat was open because William Scott, elected in the Nixon landslide of '72 and subsequently named "the dumbest man in the Senate," decided not to run again, under threat from the Republican party of being deprived of the nomination if he did.) But Obenshain was killed in a plane crash and Warner was named to replace him. In the general election, he won a very narrow victory over Andrew Miller, who had been a very popular two-term attorney general. (Miller had been considered a sure thing to be elected governor in '77, but he shockingly lost the Democratic party primary to Henry Howell. The sense that his heart wasn't fully in his Senate run cost him votes, and maybe the election.)

[Democratic Hawk]

I, too, wish Sen. John Warner well in his retiirement. He has served the Commonwealth of Virginia well and with distinction

I hope former Gov. Mark Warner seeks the Democratic nod. He'll be a worthy successor and will make a worthy senator

Dave

[Dan the Roman]

Actually assuming the Democrats win the state senate, Kaine running is actually a really good idea. It does make Bill Bolling governor, but he is probably the weakest republican and is no match for Mark Warner. Furthermore, if the Dems take the State Senate, then the Senate President will replace Bolling as LG, giving the Democrats the ability to to try and hold the office as an incumbent. If all goes well, come 2010, you would have:

Sen. Tim Kaine
Gov Mark Warner
Lt. Gov Cregh Deeds(or whoever)

[Verily]

Yes, the gambit of giving the Republicans the Governorship while Kaine takes the Senate seat is probably a beneficial one for the Democrats. Bolling only gets to be Governor for a year before coming up against Mark Warner (who, if he doesn't run for Senate, will definitely run for Governor), against whom he doesn't have a prayer.

By contrast, Warner could run for Senate now and win even more easily than Kaine would, but then the Democrats would have no solid candidate for Governor in 2009.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

2008: Kaine elected Senator
2009: Warner elected governor
2013: Kaine elected Governor, appoints Warner Senator
2014: Warner elected Senator
2017: Warner elected Governor, appoints Kaine Senator
2020: Kaine elected Senator


And so on...


That'd be hilarious.

[© tweed]

Kaine won't run either.  it'll be a second or third tier candidate for the Democrats.

[Kevinstat]

Does Virginia have a one consecutive term limit for Governors?  It sounds like it.