Mark Warner Dismisses Speculation He's Inching Back Into 2008 Presidential Race
By BOB LEWIS
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. - Mark Warner's recent travels look like a revived presidential bid. Not so, says the Virginia Democrat.
"I have no intention of getting back in the race," Warner told The Associated Press late last week, just hours before he headlined a dinner in South Carolina for about 50 people who had supported him in the early primary state.
The former Virginia governor surprised the political world last October when he abandoned the 2008 race despite raising more than $6 million and hiring veteran strategists. Warner, 52 and the father of three daughters who range in age from 12 to 17, cited his desire to spend time with his family.
Since then, he has dismissed about 35 members from a staff of 40 at Forward Together, his Alexandria, Va.-based political action committee. At the offices, framed photos have been removed from the walls and are stacked on the floor of the reception area.
Still, a trip to an early voting state such as South Carolina has stirred speculation and some Democrats wonder if Warner could be persuaded to change his mind. In October, he did say his decision on 2008 "doesn't mean that I won't run for public office again,"
Former South Carolina Democratic Chairman Dick Harpootlian isn't convinced Warner is out.
"He certainly didn't rule it out," Harpootlian, one of Warner's supporters, said in a telephone interview Monday after talking to Warner last Friday. "I asked him to get back in. I told him I don't want an answer tonight.
"I told him a lot of Americans had made sacrifices for the good of their country" and that he should reconsider, Harpootlian said. "I don't know if his intentions right now are to get back in the race, but there may be a little bit of buyer's remorse on his part about getting out."
Recent gatherings with supporter networks in South Carolina and New York and similar plans for Atlanta do little to dispel notions like Harpootlian's. Nor does Warner's penchant for thinking out loud.
Warner spokesman Lars Anderson said Warner has not changed his mind about 2008 since his announcement last fall, even as the multimillionaire businessman spends his days on issues that sound like a campaign platform.
"He still wants to be part of fixing America's problems," Anderson said. "He's looking at several different options for connecting the dots between things like fixing the nation's health care system, global warming, national security (and) job creation."
What about becoming a running mate, allowing a northern Democrat to balance the ticket with a centrist Southerner?
"The vice presidential race is out there, but the Democratic Party needs a nominee first," Anderson said. While Warner "will support the Democratic Party's nominee," Anderson said, he's a long way from backing any of the Democrats who say they're running next year.
Copyright © 2007 ABC News Internet Ventures |
