Speech in Arizona Discusses Medicaid, Deficit Reduction -- and the 2008 Presidential Election
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 11, 2005
PHOENIX -- More than 2,000 miles from home, one hardly needs to be coy about intentions.
So Virginia's Democratic Gov. Mark R. Warner wasn't.
In front of 400 Arizona Democrats on Saturday night, Warner dropped his familiar, "I'm just focused on being the best governor I can be" routine. That's an applause line in Virginia, where Warner will be chief executive for a few more months.
Instead, Warner gave a speech to the Arizona Heritage Dinner that focused on where national Democrats need to go -- and what kind of person they need to pick -- if they want to recapture the White House and the Congress from Republicans.
"Americans want somebody who is going to be straight with them even if telling the truth may not be what they want to hear," Warner said as he called for bipartisan efforts to confront the deficit, Medicaid spending, health insurance and education. "This country is ready for a party and leaders to reclaim the sensible center. My fellow Democrats, it ought to be us."
Warner delivered the campaign-style message haltingly, having practiced it only a handful of times. But it was welcomed by the audience of activists. Like Virginia, Arizona is a solidly Republican state with a Democratic governor. Its legislature is firmly controlled by the GOP, and eight of its 10 members of Congress are Republicans. President Bush won the state last year by 11 points.
Warner is "very impressive. He's got all the right stuff," said Judy Kennedy, the chairwoman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.
Kennedy said she attended the Democratic dinner because she thinks Warner might run for president in 2008. Last year's dinner featured Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), another possible contender and one who Kennedy said was more polished.
"He's still a diamond in the rough when it comes to presidential politics," Kennedy said after listening to Warner's 35-minute speech. "We loved Hillary. But I think we're realists. I don't know whether she could win the election."
Some don't think Warner could win either. Colin McCracken, the communications director for the Arizona Republican Party, said Warner is a virtual unknown in Arizona. Were he to campaign here, McCracken predicted, Warner would be treated "like an East Coast liberal trying to fit into a western red state."
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) countered that Warner would fit in just fine. She hosted Virginia's governor in smaller meetings with donors, activists, Indian tribal leaders and others before the speech.
"Virginia is not Massachusetts," she said. "He managed that state to be the best-managed in the nation. The Republicans don't have anyone with that kind of record."
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."