Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner’s been in Iowa the past couple of days, laying more groundwork for a bid for the Democratic party’s presidential nomination in 2008. Warner spoke this morning before the Des Moines Area Chamber of Commerce after a weekend of meetings with Democratic party activists.
Warner spoke briefly at Senator Tom Harkin’s steak fry in Indianola. “I still probably need a little bit more time to introduce myself. I was coming in…I introduced myself. They said: ‘Warner. Politician from Virginia. Are you the guy that married Elizabeth Taylor?'” Warner said. “No, but I tell you, that other John Warner is actually doing the right thing standing up against our president right now.”
Republican John Warner is among the U.S. Senators who’ve voted down President Bush’s proposal to allow hard core terror suspects to be subjected to electric shock, forced nakedness or one technique in which a subject is immersed under water. Mark Warner, the founder of Nextel, served one term as Virginia’s governor — all that’s allowed since that state’s constitution which has a one-term limit for the state’s governor.
Warner has made frequent trips to Iowa this year, often helping Democrats on the 2006 ballot raise money. “I know you. You know. It all starts in Iowa,” Warner said. He suggested Democratic victories in 2006 would help Democratic chances of winning the White House in 2008. Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack’s going to New Hampshire this week. He’s scheduled to speak at a college in Manchester, New Hampshire on Thursday night, then on Friday he’ll appear at a town-hall-style meeting on another New Hampshire college campus.
Later Friday Vilsack will sit down for pizza with party activists in two different towns before making an appearance at an establishment called the “Poor People’s Pub” where he’ll meet with “Moose Mountain” Democrats. This past weekend Vilsack spoke to about three-thousand Iowa Democrats who were in Indianola to attend Senator Tom Harkin’s steak fry.
“Eight years ago we started this journey together. Very few folks thought we had a chance. We confounded the pundits and we began the process of changing the direction of this state,” Vilsack said. “I want to tell you that I stand here today ever so proud, ever so proud to be an Iowa Democrat.” This coming Saturday Vilsack will be the keynote speaker at two Democratic Party fundraisers in New Hampshire.