Mark Warner's keynote strictly an opening act
DENVER -- Barring an unexpected political collapse, Virginian Mark Warner will be heading to the U.S. Senate after November's election.
He may one day emerge as a serious, well-funded presidential contender.
But if he does, it's doubtful his turn as the keynoter at this year's Democratic National Convention will be remembered as a moment that gave his political career a measurable boost (as Barack Obama received from his keynote address in 2004).
The arena at Pepsi Center was largely full when Warner, the former governor of Virginia, took his place on center stage. But much of the crowd was still milling about. His audience wasn't rude, and some of his lines got some decent cheers.
But most inside the hall seemed to be saving their full attention for the night's headline event -- Hillary Clinton's speech.
Warner himself wryly took note of his situation as he wrapped up his remarks, saying:
As governor of Virginia, it was humbling to occupy a position that was once held by Thomas Jefferson. Almost as daunting as delivering the keynote speech four years after Barack Obama or speaking before Hillary Clinton.
He gets good marks for self-awareness.
-- Don Frederick
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Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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Mark Warner gave a good speech. It was interesting, insightful, and intelligent. I think he may run for higher office, and a shot for Presidency, whether it be in 2012 or 2016 (depending on who wins this time), is not out of question, especially since he was a potential Presidential candidate before. I think he would make a great President. I do, however, also agree with the article that his speech was not as great as Obama's 4 years ago. However, he still gave a good one and is a good leader.
Posted by: A | August 26, 2008 at 10:14 PM
I guess the idea here for the working class when all of the so called Democrats in office is that even if one day they will not be as well healed, maybe their kids will be. Right now though comments like the one by Nancy Pelosi that "Democrats must reach the working class." says it all. Today the people that call themselves Democrats are not members of the poor working class anyway but rather looking at government as the means to send more cash flowing through the hedge funds they operate. What a joke or a scam the word Democrat has become.
Posted by: Mark Davis | August 27, 2008 at 01:58 AM