I'm one of his constituents and he's wise NOT to run - at least not as a Republican.

Oops, I put this on the wrong thread originally:

Warner's retirement sets up an interesting potential battle between two former Governors, assuming they both decide to run, and win their respective party's nomination. Mark Warner should have the Democratic nod for the asking, while Jim Gilmore will likely face primary opposition from Rep. Tom Davis, who represents a Beltway district. Gilmore should have the advantage in the primary, having run and won two statewide races previously and being more conservative, although Davis' supporters would argue he has better chances of winning in November by virtue of his popularity in Northern Virginia.

This would be the second such match-up of former Governors for a Virginia US Senate seat in only eight years, since George Allen unseated Chuck Robb in 2000.

In any case, Warner won't be terribly missed. He was only there by a fluke of nature anyway, having lost the 1978 nomination to Richard Obenshain, a Reaganesque conservative, who died in a plane crash and was replaced by the 2nd-place Warner.

The change of any republican winning in the increasing blue state of Virginia is slim. The Democrats will probably get one more seat on their way to 60 seats. Of course, when the Democrats get 60 seats in the Senate, the Republican party becomes totally irrelevant to politics in the U.S. and will then quickly cease to exist.

The Republicans will probably not keep this seat, but I can't help but say "Don't let the door hit you on the way out".
I lost the last bit of patience with him when he joined the Gang of 14. Always there to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.

Warner was great Senator. He brought a sense of rational discourse on Defense issues....
He also understands that he would be 87 at the end of this term....Now if a certain Dem named Byrd would do the same thing.....

by the way...someone who serves and is re-elected as Warner was...is not there by a fluke...

I wish him a healthy rest of his life...and will certainly buy his book when he writes it.

"and will certainly buy his book when he writes it."

I heard it'll come with it's own crayons ;)

Actually ..., screw it.

let the Dems take over the Senate, and the House ..., and the flippin' WH for all I care.

After two years of the inescapable bullshit that'll follow (up to and including a rash of terrorist strikes all over the world), the media will turn on them, and the moderates will follow and all of a sudden, it'll be cool to be conservative again.

Kids are only liberals out of defiance of "the man" and whatever bullshit their teachers/parents tell them. When being "liberal" is part of the "machine" then kids'll rebel.

Hell, maybe a liberal gov't will be the death knell of the Democratic party - if only that the Dems won't have anyone else to blame for their idiocy.

People are gonna' die, we're going ot be flooded with illegals and the world will turn to shit and ... as always, the conservatives will be the ones to come in and clean up the mess.

One less RINO in the Senate. He will now retire from the Senate and live off the Tax Payers for the rest of his life. I do not bid him well.

Superdestroyer you are utterly and completely a fool.

Good ridance. Another country-clubber goes by the wayside. Just another self-important, humorless a-hole with just enough power to be very dangerous to the American Fighting Man.(Kinda reminds one of several "center right" types right here on OTB, er, I mean, here at the Wizbangs -Minus the power part.) Praise be to Reagan. Geez, wake me when the rest of these, "go along to get along", types have given up the political ghost.

Next up for the boneyard on my list ? Arlen "What's my vector?" Spectre. Maby if Sen. Graham is inspecting his colon when ol' Arlen goes, we can get a 2 for 1 deal.

What do you think the Democrats will do with 60 seats in the Senate in addition to Hillary Clinton in the White House and control of the House. The Democrats will be able to pass another round of campaign finance reform, a new fairness doctrine, hate crime legislation, and a new civil right act. All of those along with Demcoratic party controlled redistricting and the Republicans will probably have less than a 1/3 of the elected positions in the U.S. And then, why would anyone donate to a political party that has no chance of ever winning a majority again?

In the long run, the real legacy of President bush is that he will probably be the last Republican President before another period of one party rule in the U.S.

Superdestroyer,

I like the part where you say they will be tough on National Security,oh,you didn't say that,well with the thought crime law,guess thats all they need,maybe you should lay off the weed a little,k.

I have the utmost respect for Sen. Warner, who has tended to follow a defined ideology and been willing to buck his party when necessary.

Warner is really one of the last of a dying breed of American statesmen; I've followed his career for some time, and he's always had a good sense of when to put politics first and when to put policy first. Not to mention the ability to couch politics far more subtly than some others.

Of the potential individuals to succeed him, Tom Davis is an excellent candidate. He represents the district adjacent to mine, and he's bene a tireless, effective advocate for his constituents.

In terms of homeland security, Davis is also an excellent candidate because he came up through municipal government, with time spent on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. He would bring to the Senate a solid understanding of how individual communities deal with the issues facing them in the war on terror. And because the DC area encompasses two states and the District of Columbia, he has a solid sense of regional interstate partnerships.

Of other potentials:

Jim Gilmore may have more potential as a representative of Virginia than Davis. Davis certainly has solid credentials, but I'm not sure if he could represent the needs of Virginia's rural areas as well as Gilmore potentially could. Gilmore cut his teeth in the Richmond area, so he's likely to have a better sense of the needs in Virginia's Southside and central areas, where factory jobs have been going overseas for a couple decades now. Northern Virginia, by contrast, has had fairly reliable prosperity because of the "Silicon Dominion" tech corridor and its main growth industry -- government.

Mark Warner might be a capable candidate. However, he's cut from much the same cloth as Tom Davis, even though the two hail from different parties.

Who might be other potential competitors?

--|PW|--

The Democrats will be able to pass another round of campaign finance reform, a new fairness doctrine, hate crime legislation, and a new civil right act

You forgot socialized medicine, a new 75% tax bracket, prohibition of religious speech outside of one's home (will probably fall under the hate crimes legislation), gay marriage, late term abortion and elective infanticide up to 72 hours after birth for any "defect" in the newborn. That will probably be required under the new socialized health care system - no reason to pay for defective kids all their lives.

And finally, the democratics will be able to finish "fixing" the military. No more volunteers. All conscription for all services. After you've been conscripted and the initial obligation is done, the democratics will have legislation to decide if you can leave or if you are suitable for continued service in the conscripted forces. Can't leave those kind of decisions up to the individual. Might wind up with people who like it and are good at it. Have to make sure you have a force of disgruntled, unhappy military to make sure they are an ineffective fighting force. That will keep any neo-cons from using military force to occupy any more countries. Besides, they'd be too useless to try to overthrow the new socialist order government.

Then, for the coup de grace - substituting the Constitution with the Communist Manifesto.

Maybe you have missed the Demcorats publicly discussing bringing back the Fairness doctrine so taht they can eliminate Rush Limbaugh and the rest of (white) talk radio. Maybe you have forgotten that one of the purposes of McCain-Feingold was to eliminate the advantage that Republicans had in fun raising. Maybe you have forgotten that the current civil rights act forces Southern States (the current Republican base) to get its redistricting plans approved by the Department of Justice.