The Warner Legacy

In Virginia, from John to Mark.



A very popular governor may end up facing the governor he replaced, Jim Gilmore, under whose "leadership" Virginia was mired in debt. Warner turned that around and ended up wildly popular. The thought of Warner getting to re-run the 1997 governor's race after Virginians have seen that his methods were obviously superior gets me giddy. Tom Davis, a faux-moderate Congressman from the Northern VA area, is also looking to get in the race. So Republicans have a bloody primary and Warner gets to run the general election right now.

If you look at the Senate landscape, Virginia, Colorado and New Hampshire look pretty good right now, and Minnesota, Maine and Oregon will be competitive. Nebraska can be a win if we get the right candidate, and Ted Stevens is in a lot of legal trouble in Alaska that could endanger THAT seat. Not to mention an open seat in Idaho, falling approval ratings for Liddy Dole in North Carolina and Pete Domenici in New Mexico and John Cornyn in Texas...

I'd rather be in the Democratic position than the Republican. And once again, Chuck Schumer gets his top recruit to run, which the NRSC has found impossible both this cycle and last. That speaks to long-term trends.