Two politicians named Warner — former Republican Senator John Warner and his successor, Mark Warner — participated in a panel discussion on Friday, June 20, at the University of Virginia.
The occasion was the 16th Annual Virginia Political History Project, which began with a screening of the Emmy award-winning documentary film, “Out of Order,” produced by the UVa Center for Politics. The short film focuses on the decline of civility and comity in the U.S. Congress. Both Warners are featured in the film, along with former Senators Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) and current Senator Susan Collins (R-Me.), who is retiring after this term.
Although the conversation lasted more than an hour, I want to bring attention to one amusing exchange. In discussing his endorsement of Mark Warner for a second term, John Warner said, “I stirred up a few feathers here not long ago but anyway, he’s on his own. This state’s going to have a good Senate race. He’s got a strong opponent for a change, a good strong opponent. So they’ll duke it out and the best man will win. That’s the way it goes.”
To that, moderator Larry Sabato replied, “I think Ed Gillespie could use that segment in a TV ad. We’ll see whether it shows up to balance things out.”
If the Gillespie campaign wants to “balance” Republican John Warner’s endorsement of Democrat Mark Warner, they can lift it from the video, below. His comments start at the 25’25” mark.
There are other amusing moments in the video, including John Warner’s characterization of “octogenarian senators” and how that played into his decision not to seek a sixth term in 2008. Watch too, for how the younger Warner squirms when asked to “name names” of Senators who do not work well with their colleagues. He does have good things to say about Georgia Republican Saxby Chambliss, among others, but he bites his tongue rather than call out those he would rather not be re-elected.
@rick_sincere | facebook.com/ricksincere | Rick Sincere’s posts
