Just three days after 21st Senate District Republicans selected Del. Dave Nutter to challenge incumbent Democrat Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Edwards formally launched his reelection campaign in downtown Roanoke. Everyone was there–the candidate, his staff, party activists and local elected Democrats–except the one headliner touted by the Edwards campaign: U.S. Senator Mark Warner (Radical Centrist-VA).
It appears that after having been hyped as a special guest, Virginia’s junior senator instead attended a naturalization ceremony elsewhere in the city (Warner did attend a fundraiser for Sen. Edwards later that evening). The case of the missing headliner prompted Roanoke Times political reporter Mason Adams to wonder if the Edwards campaign started their reelection effort with a gaffe (an auspicious way to begin when you’re facing your most serious opponent in over a decade).
Considering the swirling rumors that Sen. Warner is considering running for a second term as Virginia governor in 2013, could the politician who has succeeded in winning statewide office (twice) by convincing downstate conservatives that he is not a liberal, and who is eying 2013 be afraid to be associated with a “progressive” that Not Larry Sabato considers “one of the best” in the state senate; “someone who isn’t a Blue Dog or a Salslaw puppet”? Could it also be a prelude to the Warner for Governor campaign’s strategy? By not lending his star-power to Sen. Edwards’ reelection bid, he will be able to run for governor under the banner of: “Gov. Warner: counter-weight to the ‘far right,’ Republican-controlled General Assembly?”
Of course, other possible–and more probable–theories include: Sen. Warner did not attend because he thinks Sen. Edwards is a lock for reelection or because this was a genuine scheduling conflict. All the same, it’s fun to consider alternative explanations of the missing headliner…especially on a slow Monday.
