The least surprising result of the night is now official: Democrat Mark Warner has defeated Jim Gilmore in Virginia, claiming the seat of retiring Republican Senator John Warner. Mark Warner, a mega-popular former governor who was ready to run for president this year until Barack Obama unexpectedly showed interest in the race during the Read More
Determining when the 2008 presidential race actually began is an inexact science, but a strong case can be made for the early summer of 2004. John Kerry and George W. Bush were locked in a tight battle in that year’s election, but several developments back then set in place some of the fundamental dynamics that Read More
A quick review of the most prominently featured speakers over the first three days of the Democratic convention – which ones helped, which ones hurt, and which ones did neither.
Monday:
As in 2004, the three broadcast networks ignored the keynote address at the Democratic nomination, sticking with their usual prime-time entertainment line-ups in the 9:00 to 10:00 hour.
That created an extra challenge for Mark Warner, this year’s keynote speaker, to make his address so compelling that the networks would end up talking about it Read More
Suddenly, the decision to anoint former Virginia Governor Mark Warner as this year’s keynote speaker doesn’t seem that wise.
Warner will address the convention between 9:00 and 10:00 (E.S.T.) tonight, the main non-Hillary Clinton event of the night. On paper, he’s a logical pick–a moderate former business executive who won massive popularity in Read More
Quick question: Will the broadcast networks – all of which shunned Barack Obama’s keynote address in 2004 only to end up talking about him for the rest of the week (not to mention the next four years) – rethink their policy and air Virginia Governor Mark Warner’s keynote address tomorrow night, even though it Read More
Earlier this week, I wrote about the recent history of Democratic convention keynote speakers and how many had gone on to national prominence, and even – in the case of 2004 keynoter Barack Obama – to a future Democratic nomination. This track record is partly attributable to the actual speeches that were delivered (particularly Read More
You’ve probably seen the news that Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and the odds-on favorite to replace John Warner in the Senate next year, has been tapped to deliver the keynote address at the upcoming Democratic convention.
It’s causing a mild stir because many believed that the keynote Read More
This post has it right: No one saw this one coming. Senator Jim Webb, the former Republican and Reagan-era Navy secretary who has been touted as the perfect tough-guy complement to Barack Obama, unexpectedly and very publicly withdrew his name from VP consideration today.
The most immediate beneficiary of this could be Read More
Three months ago, I picked up some chatter from supporters and associates of former Virginia Governor Mark Warner about the possibility that he might end up as Barack Obama’s running-mate. Apparently, Robert Novak is hearing the same thing.
In his weekend column, Novak wrote: "Warner, a strong favorite to be elected Read More
