Gov. Mark Warner takes aim at Bush

[wyldwolf]

WASHINGTON -- Gov. Mark R. Warner delivered a rare attack on the Bush administration Wednesday, saying the president squandered an opportunity to unite the country in a "call to common purpose" after the 2001 terrorist strikes on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Speaking at a televised luncheon of the National Press Club, the Virginia Democrat said Bush could have used that moment of national unity to rally the country to take on big tasks like reducing the budget deficit or tackling health care problems.

"Instead, what we got was folks like me got a tax break," said Warner, a multimillionaire businessman who is exploring a potential presidential campaign in 2008.

interest in a Warner candidacy has grown in recent months among pundits and some Democratic officials, who see him as a relatively successful Democrat from a conservative "red" state who could compete in the conservative South - long the party's geographic weak spot.

An unscientific poll of 90 Democratic insiders, published in May by the National Journal, found that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton was the overwhelming party favorite for the presidential nomination. Warner placed third, just behind former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, the 2004 Democratic vice-presidential nominee.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-46593sy0jul07,0,4029427.story?coll=dp-headlines-topnews

[Cha]

1. bush missed a lot of

"opportunities"..that was just one of them.

Good On Ya, Gov Warner~!

[FrenchieCat]

2. So the 1992 candidate is catching on?

Great!

So glad he's coming out with something we haven't heard. That Bush should be held accountable! No, I guess others have said that. Excuse me....for my mistake.

Where does Gov. Warner stand on Iraq? Has he made mention of that yet?

Just a little more ink, another terrorist attack, and we're out for another 4 years. :shrug:

[blm]

3. Exactly what the 2004 nominee said repeatedly, but the media ignored.

Funny, how they think it needs to be heard NOW....now that it can't hurt the Bush boy.

[FrenchieCat]

5. Rather blatant and amateurish....

if you were to ask me.

It so political and serves no purpose at this point.

Here we have London getting hit, and he comments on 2001. How late can one be? :shrug:

Guess that's what happen when the candidate from '92 (without the charisma) gets into the "let me now start talking foreign policy" to rev up my creds.....has something to say.

[Cocoa]

4. regarding National Journal

isn't that the same publication that rated Kerry and Edwards the two most liberal Senators, based on ridiculously flawed research, and which became a centerpiece of Bush's campaign?

[FrenchieCat]

6. How many threads do we need

on this "Tough" aiming, punching, and socking it to Bush....presidential aspirant?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1913899

Same press interview story....

still stuck in 2001! :eyes:

That man sure knows how to get a lot of mileage out of saying one little peep about what so many have been saying for ages!

Guess that's what happened when you are crowned prince of the candidates.

[Texas_Kat]

7. Interestingly, here's some snips from Fournier's original article

Warner did not take issue with President Bush's policies on the Guard and Reserves, though advisers said there had been plans for him to do so.
<snip>

My humble interpretation: "I need to say something -- anything-- about national security so the safest thing to say is 'I don't think Americans care who fixes this problem, but Americans do want to see this problem fixed. They want to make sure we have the strongest military in the world.'" and yes, Gov. Warner, we want whirled peas....too.

He offered no reform policies of his own. The only negative chord he struck was after the speech, late in the question-and-answer session, when he said Bush failed to convert the post-Sept. 11 spirit of patriotism into a campaign on behalf of some important domestic issue such as education, the deficit or health care.
<snip>

My humble interpretation: "Hmmmm, Let's see if I can turn this question into something that I have a prayer of answering."

Afterward, Warner's advisers said he decided to tread cautiously because it was too early in the presidential election cycle to criticize Bush or lay out his own national security agenda.
<snip>

My humble interpretation: "Presenting a plan to beef up the National Guard as an added expense to the states that are already swimming in red ink sounds like a really dumb idea when I say it out loud in front of somebody who might ask how I intend to pay for it. Back to the drawing board."

A moderate, Warner has a fundraising base in the high-tech community and is putting together a political team stocked with presidential campaign veterans.
<snip>

My humble interpretation: "moderate" = "I'll say anything to anyone". "Fundraising base in the high-tech community" = "Shipping high tech jobs overseas means the high rollers in the high tech industry will have more to give my campaign" and FINALLY, "a political team stocked with presidential campaign veterans."

"Grassroots?" oh, yea, the little people......They stuff envelopes don't they?"

http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050706/ap_on_go_co/warner_iraq