Warner's Triumphant Legacy No Easy Feat

"It's probably one of his biggest successes," said Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), who is also a presidential prospect and a future rival. "Some will applaud it. Some will criticize it. I didn't think a tax increase [was] necessary. But . . . working in a bipartisan way is very important, and he did that."

The Early Struggle

Forty-one days into his governorship and Mark Warner was already impatient.

His first legislative session had produced little other than budget cuts. And on the hottest issue of the day -- whether to allow Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to hold sales tax referendums to raise money for transportation-- the governor was on the sidelines.

So on that Tuesday evening in February 2002, Warner told his senior aides that he was done watching the legislative process grind away. The next day, he said, he would announce his intention to lead a campaign for higher taxes in the two congested regions.

His advisers balked. They warned that his support could backfire in the legislature, and they reminded him that during his campaign, he had promised not to raise taxes.

"I'm not here to discuss it -- I'm here to tell you what I'm going to do," Warner said. His news conference the next day made front-page headlines and set Warner up for the biggest failure of his term.

His backing helped get the tax plans on the ballot, but voters rejected them.

"Even getting defeated is better than sitting on the sidelines," he said. But in speeches for months afterward, Warner joked "I still have the scars on my back" from the whipping he took.

His second year in office wasn't much better.

His promise to work across the aisle reflected a naivete that initially stymied him. He tried to cut deals with a firm handshake -- only to find them not honored by lawmakers, lobbyists or business executives.

In one instance during his second General Assembly session, more than 50 House delegates signed on to a bill seeking to allow future governors to serve more than one term. Warner backed the effort but found his prestige diminished when many of the co-sponsors voted against it.

A week later, he came out swinging in favor of a bill that would make wearing a seat belt mandatory. A perennial loser, it initially passed in the House, but a GOP delegate changed his mind, killing the effort and prompting a leading Democrat to wonder aloud on the House floor about Warner's savvy.