Senator Warner in Staunton....

Yesterday, the local news reported on a visit by U.S. Senator John Warner to Staunton. Warner, the senior Senator from the Commonwealth, is generally well liked for his moderate approach to politics. I too, generally have a favorable opinion of Senator Warner. Senator Warner appears to prefer statesmanship, whereas his Senate counterpart, Senator Allen, appears to prefer fierce partisanship.

During the summer recess, Senator Warner is doing a bit of traveling around the Commonweath in order to catch up with his constituents. Therefore, yesterday Senator Warner was in Staunton. Here's the catch: I was shocked to hear that Warner's visit to Staunton was his first since the 1970s. Wow!

In defense of Warner, it's apparent that neglecting to visit the "Queen City" (with a population of 25,000 +/-) has obviously not been a detriment to his reelection bids. Regardless, I still feel that if you showed a picture of Senator Warner to 25 random people - in any city/place in the Commonwealth - maybe 5 would could identify him as "some politician from Virginia", maybe? I guess that's what living for 30 plus years inside the beltway will do for you.

As I see it, Warner's future as a Senator is likely coming to an end in 2008. If Mark Warner fails to capture the democratic nomination for the Presidency, or a VP spot, then he'll likely refocus his attention on Senator Warner's Senate seat, which will be up for grabs in 2008 as well. If it does indeed "play out" this way, this time Mark Warner would probably be assured a victory. Therefore I wouldn't be too surprised if sometime in 2007/early 2008 Senator Warner announces his retirement, but this too will be contingent upon the fate of the Commonwealth's other Warner.