Mark Warner Wants to Spend Time With His Family.
By amba | Related entries in Breaking News, Elections, General PoliticsYeah, right.
Either that’s standard chintzy cover for an under-the-table deal with Hillary (a deal cozy?), or it’s true and therefore he’s the man we would have wanted for president: the man sane enough not to want to run for president. The Great American Catch-22.
I have never shared other centrists’ enthusiasm for Warner. He may have been a pragmatic and effective governor, but in his utterances he seemed to me the bland and cautious, “trimming” kind of centrist. I share many people’s nostalgia for Bobby Kennedy, but looking like a bad cartoon of him (the hair, the teeth) does not alone make a man presidential. I think he would have made a weak candidate, unelectable for different reasons than Hillary. So I don’t agree with those who think the Dems’ shot at the White House in ‘08 has just been set back.
So now what? *Shrug.* As a nonpartisan, my only dog in this fight is the hope of a fair and vigorous contest and at least one good choice. Among the remaining Dems, I have been most impressed by Wes Clark, though it’s painful to me to watch him doing the obligatory shilling for the likes of Ned Lamont. I know those are the dues that have to be paid to play in the big sandbox, but it’s yucky.
Of course I’m an Obama “fan,” and of course the less he pleases the blogo-mandarins of the left, the more he appeals to me:
[Obama had said:]
One good test as to whether folks are doing interesting work is, Can they surprise me? . . . And increasingly, when I read Daily Kos, it doesn’t surprise me. It’s all just exactly what I would expect.
[T]hat centrist credential burnishing has been going on for some time. [ ... ] Obama’s statement is pretty consistent with his disdain for the base of the Democratic Party and of a piece with his flirting with the DC Beltway mentality. You can be sure that David Broder loves this kind of stuff from Obama. I do not.
But, to say it yet again, it’s too early for him. Obama could be wasted in this contest. He’s not going to beat McCain or Giuliani. Sure, you can lose the presidency and win it later (see Nixon, Richard), but why would Dems want to risk their rising star becoming that kind of damaged goods? Let him keep his virginity a while longer.
Which means, I hope the Repubs nominate somebody I can vote for. Good riddance, George Allen. Mitt Romney I don’t know nearly enough about. Even before 9/11, Rudy was the kind of mayor who would be a good president. I’d vote for McCain, though a number of people I respect think he’s either a calculating grandstander or nuts.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 12th, 2006 and is filed under Breaking News, Elections, General Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
October 12th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
The only issue with the Nixon comparison is that he did serve as VP for Ike prior to losing to JFK. Obama wouldn’t even have that going for him.
October 13th, 2006 at 5:41 am
Mark Warner really did a great job in VA - but he came off kind of dopey in his campaign ads - maybe he simply decided that Hillary was going to kick his butt in the primary.
If he thinks that he doesn’t have a reasonable chance of winning, spending more time with his family seems a lot more attractive. A serious run for President is a lot of work. So I don’t blame him in the least.
He has hinted that he’d going to try to get into some office in that timeframe. I’m thinking maybe he’ll run for Senate - a Senate run keeps you a lot closer to home, and he has the statewide popularity to have a great shot at it. I believe John Warner’s coming up for re-election in ‘08, though he’s pretty popular as well. But John Warner will be 81 then - maybe he’ll retire.
October 14th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
I also agree about Clark - he’s a brilliant strategist, articulate and calm in his presentation; Presidential, strong, not afraid of force but not eager to use it either. The kind of sanity we need in the Presidency now.
March 10th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
i thnk bush is a very crappy president