Champion Vacillator Won’t Run for Prez

Mark Warner, the former Democratic governor of Virginia, announced Oct. 12 that he would not seek the presidency in 2008. I know, you’ve probably never heard of the guy, but here’s why that little item is good news.

Warner was promoted by some Democratic leaders and big money men as the "anti-Hillary," a centrist whose past electability in Virginia could help Dems finally crack the South in a national race. In fact, Warner was a mealy-mouthed moron who seemed to prevaricate on virtually any issue he was asked about. Sound harsh? Well, don’t trust me. Read an article the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran about him in April. In contrasting Warner to Wisconsin's own Sen. Russ Feingold, Warner comes off as particularly craven and inarticulate.

In the story, both Warner and the Journal Sentinel repeatedly refer to his centrism ("the sensible center is wide open" said Warner), his being a "moderate," and the belief of many party leaders that he is "a more viable candidate than Feingold." Warner declared: "I think there is a whole new (political) center... If you want somebody who’s going to check every box on Democratic orthodoxy, I’m not going to be the guy."

The Dems need to move beyond criticizing Bush to articulate their own agenda, Warner said. But other than touting "gun rights" (undefined any further than that), there is nowhere – nowhere – in the article any indication, let alone clarity, about what Warner thinks that agenda should be. In that broad, bold "center" that Joe Lieberman keeps praising, Warner has had plenty of room to prevaricate about everything. Although the war is not going well, he doesn't think we should set a deadline for pulling our troops out. He supports Bush's "No Child Left Behind" law but not its implementation.

And Warner gave this incredible response to a question about whether expanded government wiretapping is illegal. This is verbatim:

"Yes. I went to law school. I never practiced, so I’m not going to – I just came back. I was up at Harvard and got a couple of, spoke, there was kind of a fellow up there, had tried to bring in some of the law professor types. And, boy, you know, after two or three hours of going around and around – net, probably yes. But there are arguments both ways you know. And I hope one of thing things that absolutely – in my gut, it sure does seem wrong."

Well, that makes everything perfectly clear.

What a blessing this man is not running for president! If folks think Bill and Hillary’s triangulation is bad, seems like this guy would have been a purveyor of octangulation! His inarticulation seems to be the result of half of his brain feverishly working to determine how many votes he might be losing by taking one position or another.

Let’s hope Mr. Warner has a happy retirement, or, that if he must come back in 2012, he’s developed a backbone.