Mark Warner: Boldly Eschewing Principles Since 2000
By Chris | April 22, 2008
Filed Under Mark Warner, U.S. Senate |
Mark Warner obviously thinks very little of the voters of Virginia.
I can think of no other explanation for the absurd mantra that Warner is now trumpeting in his campaign for the United States Senate: that of the “Radical Centrist.”
First of all, the very concept of a radical centrist makes absolutely no sense. A radical is an uncompromising extremist, a centrist is one who lays claim to compromise and middle-of-the-road politics. These two things are mutually exclusive.
Basically, what Warner is conveying with this made-up label is that he will steadfastly refuse to take a stand on any issue of importance in this campaign. By proclaiming himself a “radical centrist” Warner seeks to avoid answering the very questions that are essential to knowing what he will do if elected to the Senate. Further, he seeks to avoid being forced into the same corner as 2001, where he had to either lie to the people of Virginia about his plans for raising taxes or tell the truth and risk losing the election. In case you forgot, he chose the former.
I certainly hope that the voters of Virginia will not be fooled by this condescending semantic trick. Political veterans know exactly what Mark Warner won’t tell you he’ll do if he’s elected to the U.S. Senate. Mark Warner will caucus with the Democrats and, on every vote that matters, he’ll do exactly what Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy ask him to do. Only on the votes that don’t matter will Warner break with his Party leaders so that he can maintain the veneer of the “radical centrist.”
The truth is Mark Warner always has been and always will be a classic northeastern liberal. He’s just hoping you won’t notice long enough to get him elected.
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4 Responses to “Mark Warner: Boldly Eschewing Principles Since 2000”
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Good Call on this one, you’ve nailed it on the head. The label is nonsense. As for this point:
“Mark Warner will caucus with the Democrats and, on every vote that matters, he’ll do exactly what Harry Reid and Ted Kennedy ask him to do. Only on the votes that don’t matter will Warner break with his Party leaders so that he can maintain the veneer of the “radical centrist.”
We only need to look to Jim Webb to see who is pulling his strings. The only good thing about him, is that he hasn’t gone ‘Murtha’ on us yet!
Welcome aboard Chris! You’re right, that’s actually pretty funny, in an “oxymoronic” sort of way :). While i don’t know if i’d affix a northeastern lib button to warners lapel, i certainly don’t see him as a centrist or heaven forbid DINO.
Seem’s like he’s tring to portray himself along the lines of a Phil Bredesen or Howard Dean (don’t laugh, i’m referring to pre-2003 Governor Dean, not presidential candidate Dean or DNC head Dean). To me, that label works better running as an exec than as a legislator though.
cite?
Radical Centrist? That’s a new one to me. Kind of a twist on the old “militant moderate”.
By the way, there is nothing saying Mark Warner will decline to express an opinion on anything. Radical centrist only describes that his opinion is apt to fall either way or perhaps sometimes somewhere in the middle (and thus not make the extremists from either side happy).
By the way, I am not a whole hearted supporter of Mark Warner. I will confess that I lean in Mark’s direction out of the gate, however I am pleased that Jim Gilmore is apt to be the Republican nominee. I like both Jim and Mark and would not be ashamed to admit that I voted for either of them. I am tickled that I will be offered two such wonderful choices to decide from.