"Why wait? Mark in 08!"

Apologies for the lack of posting lately. Once again, I've been real busy at work, and to top things off, I just picked up an iPod, which I have been playing with (and playing) during most of my spare time.

Anyway, here's the best Warner08 article I've seen in a while, from (of all places) London's Times:

On the day before Thanksgiving a group of 70 or so unwontedly jovial and bibulous Democrats and their friends were taking part in what has become an annual event. The host was Mark Warner, the Governor of Virginia, a youthful looking 49-year-old with a smile as wide as the Potomac River. He and his friends have been gathering on this Wednesday for almost 20 years — since he started out as an entrepreneur in the cellular telephone business.

This year, for one very obvious reason, the crowd was bigger and livelier than ever before and the conversation was about only one topic. Warner is an emerging contender for the Democratic nomination in 2008. Shares in the telegenic governor were already riding high before November 2. But with Mr Kerry’s defeat, widely seen as another lesson in what happens if you nominate a northeastern liberal Democrat for the presidency, they soared.

His appeal is clear — he is a southern Democrat who holds high office, and an election winner in a part of the country that President Bush won easily last month. He has done his best to keep the lid on his supporters’ enthusiasm, but the buzz at the Palm that day was that Mr Warner is already up and running. The presence there of high-powered political operatives — including Joe Trippi, who masterminded Howard Dean’s meteor-like campaign this year — suggests that there will be no shortage of useful support if he begins a run for the White House when his governorship comes to an end in 2006. Mr Warner has money too — he is a self-made multimillionaire and is already eagerly fundraising among supporters.

Steve Brady, Mr Warner’s former business partner, captured the enthusiastic mood at the Thanksgiving party, giving a rousing speech which ended when he took off his jacket to reveal a T-shirt emblazoned: “Why Wait?” on the front and “Mark in 08” on the back.

The subhead on the article is titled "The Democrats already have a front-runner for their next attempt on the White House" and the article's emphasis on Warner implies that he's the man. While it's far too early to anoint Warner a front-runner (his national name recognition is still very low), there's no question that he's emerged as the new face to go with the usual suspects like Hillary, Wes Clark and John Edwards.