My Open Letter to Gov. Mark Warner of Virginia re Presidential plans

[yankeefanatic3]

Write to Governor Warner and tell him how you feel... http://www.governor.virginia.gov/Contact/email_form.html

August 29, 2005

Dear Governor Warner,

I was shocked to hear today that you are planning to announce that you will not be challenging Sen. George Allen next year for the Senate. As Virginia’s most popular Democrat, you would have made a great candidate – in fact, you were even leading Senator Allen in polls that have been conducted! There appears now, to be no other viable Democrat that can oust Allen.

Before you make your decision official tomorrow, I want you to consider the ramifications of what you are planning to do:
-George Allen will more than likely be re-elected soundly without your candidacy, as you are the only Democrat in Virginia that has a decent approval rating.
-Democrats will have a much harder time regaining the Senate.
-Many, many Democrats frustrated with Senator Allen will be upset with you.
-George Allen may very well become President of the United States in 2009, since you are choosing not to stop him.

I suppose there would need to be a phenomenal miracle needed for you to reconsider your decision not to challenge Allen. However, since you’ve hinted around that it’s clear you won’t, I’ll get right down to the point of why I am writing to you tonight.

If your decision not to run for the Senate has to do with your family or personal reasons, then I respect you. (Most Democrats now adays don’t want to run for “personal reasons” – so you would just be in the norm!)

However, if your decision has anything remotely close to the rumor that you are running for President, I warn you, it’s a lost cause. But this wouldn’t be possible, would it? After all, you are in the single digits in the polls…that can’t be an encouraging sign for you, can it?

Let me keen you in on the facts. You are more popular in Virginia than you will be in America, at least with the party you would attempt to seek the Presidential nomination from. You have signed a measure banning civil unions and blatantly discriminated against the GLBT in your own state, you have signed a bill that denies basic benefits to Virginian immigrants, you actively promote the insane idea of competition in the public schools, you believe that the UN should only be in existence when it helps America, you supported the job-losing NAFTA, you support AK47’s on our children’s streets, you want to tell us what to access on the internet – hello??? Which party are you attempting to represent? No offense, but there’s a reason why you’re down in the single digits—you don’t speak for the Democratic Party.

If you run for President, every one of us is going to remember your decision not to help us take back the Senate. And if Allen is elected President, everyone will remember how you could have easily stopped him. There is no way that I would consider voting for someone who does not do what they can to help our party. Sure, there are issues where we disagree, but that can be dealt with---however, if you can’t also make a sacrifice for 75% of the wings of the Democratic Party, we, frankly, won’t nominate you.

In fact, I will personally work against your nomination—solely because of what you’re doing today.

So, tonight, I am hoping that you are indeed as selfless as you claim to be and that your choice not to run for Senate was for personal reasons. If it was not, no one will forget your selfishness and how you could have helped us take back the Senate and did not.

It is a sad day in America when a decision by someone of our party strongly helps the people in the other party.