Mark Warner Kicks Off His Bid for Senate

"He ran the state as well as it's been run," said John Blankenship, a retiree from Abingdon who said he has voted both for Democrats and Republicans.

Warner holds a commanding lead in every poll, though it is expected to narrow as the election gets closer. National political watchers at this point see Virginia, still considered by many as a conservative Southern state, as having the Senate seat most likely to turn from Republican to Democratic.

Gilmore and Marshall will compete in a state convention this month to determine who will be the Republican nominee. No matter who wins, Republicans are expected to paint Warner as someone who is out of touch with Virginians and who broke his campaign promises as governor.

"He can be beaten," said J. Tucker Watkins, a Republican activist from southern Virginia. "We need to explain to people in Virginia that he didn't live up to his promises."

After saying on the campaign trail that he would not raise taxes, Warner pushed for a $1 billion tax increase in 2004 to balance the budget and preserve money for education and social services, a move supported by moderate Republicans.

Jim Hyland, chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee, said the key for the Republican candidate will be to raise enough money to revisit Warner's record, including his failure to spend much-needed money on transportation.

Warner, a wealthy venture capitalist who co-founded Nextel, has a huge money advantage over his potential challengers. He had $4.4 million in the bank as of March 31, while Gilmore had $208,000 and Marshall $20,000.

Del. Christopher B. Saxman, who is co-chairing presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain's Virginia campaign, said Gilmore or Marshall will benefit greatly from McCain's double-digit support in the state over either potential Democratic presidential nominee.

But Linda Wyatt, a Democratic Party leader from Roanoke, said Warner ran for office in the "heyday" of the Republicans' popularity nationwide and still managed to win by more than any other Democrat in recent years. "He has proved himself to be a statesman," she said.

In his remarks Sunday night, Warner touted his gubernatorial successes and only touched briefly on his Senate campaign issues. He never mentioned Gilmore or Marshall by name but took a couple of jabs at Gilmore for leaving the state with a deficit.

He talked about developing a plan to start bringing troops home from Iraq, relying less on foreign energy sources, expanding health care, boosting education in an effort to compete in global markets and spending more on infrastructure before natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina occur.

Analysts say Warner needs to run the same way he did in 2001, when he cast himself as a moderate Democrat who would bring a common-sense business approach to the state while staying above the partisan fray.

"He needs to convince them he hasn't changed," said Quentin Kidd, a political science professor at Christopher Newport University, which has polled Virginians on the Senate race.