Outside of Va., Warner's National Ambitions Shine

Warner did not say he is running for president, though the one-day trip was organized and attended by Monica Dixon, the former Al Gore staff member who works for Warner's federal political action committee, Forward Together.

And the visit made clear that Warner does not intend to drop out of politics when his term ends in January.

In what is evolving into an early, out-of-Virginia stump speech for the one-term governor, Warner said economic competition from abroad threatens to leave Americans behind.

Warner recalled a recent trip to India, where he witnessed poor children learning to surf the Internet on U.S.-made computers. He said the scene made him proud but also wary of the technological competition coming from abroad.

"The race is on for the future," he said. "Who's going to win it? Who's going to get there first?"

He said that challenge provides opportunity for politicians in both major political parties.

"The party that gets that right will lead the nation," Warner said. "The nation that gets that right will lead the world."

The speech also included a renewed Horatio Alger, up-from-the-bootstraps biography, in which Warner described his first two jobs after law school. He drove his first business into bankruptcy and failed at real estate, he said. He was sleeping on friends' couches before eventually investing in cell phones.

" 'Warner, you're crazy,' " he recalled his friends saying. " 'Who's going to want a car telephone?'

"Anytime you're around me, please don't turn off your cell phones. You hear an annoying sound. I hear, cha-ching, cha-ching."

Aides said Warner probably will take a month or two to travel with his wife and three daughters after he leaves office.

Most of his advisers are convinced that he will not challenge Virginia Sen. George Allen (R), who is up for reelection next year. A battle with Allen, who is considering his own presidential bid, would be bitter, costly and potentially lethal to the reputations of both men.

There had been speculation that Warner would seek to become chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, the centrist organization that Bill Clinton used as a springboard to the presidency.

But that post will be assumed by Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack this month. And Sen. Clinton reportedly is ready to assume a new policy role at the group.

Some advisers have said Warner, a multimillionaire, could spend the next two years traveling across the country, quietly building relationships. He did the same thing in the years before he ran for governor, setting up venture capital funds and becoming known in rural parts of Virginia.

"He's got all the gifts of intellect and vision," said Fred DuVal, an Arizona politician and former Clinton administration official who has known Warner for years. "Now, he's introducing himself."