Amen.

Every so often (for some of us more than others), we come across someone else who says something we were trying to say in a much better fashion. The point I was making in my last post (that Warner's recent comments re: the national party were disappointing, especially in a tactical sense) was made more thoughtfully in this contribution to the Draft Mark Warner mailing list by a poster named Debo, which I will reprint in full:

I'm not surprised at the reaction to MW on the MyDD posting. I myself was offended when I read his comments to the LA Times, it was poorly worded and he really shot himself in the foot with that kind of talk . He was right when he implied that you don't win over the center by being a lock step party loyalist, but I'll also add that you don't win your party's nomination by thumbing your nose at its core voters either. Remember John McCain in 2000?

Could it have been his lack of national experience or just a "tell it like it is" moment? In either case, I'd say it hurt more than it helped. Clinton supported the death penalty, welfare reform and a middle class tax cut while being pro-choice, sufficiently pro-gay rights and pro-affirmative action, a mix the party base could tolerate. He didn't even do the Sista Souljah thing until he'd wrapped up the party's nomination. The good thing for Warner is nobody is paying much attention now and maybe it will be forgotten by the fall of 2007, the bad thing his opponents in the 2008 primary will use it against him. Contrast Warner with another strong centrist like Evan Bayh, who in my view is our real opponent. Both are getting favorable press and have cross over appeal. However, Bayh who doesn't wear his "Look..I'm a Democrat too" label, hardly disses Dean or Move On either. He naturally criticizes Bush but at the same time offers friendly advice as to where his party needs to be in 2008. Will this absolutely pay off in the end? I don't know, but I'm not hearing any complaints.

Unlike the GOP, we don't hand over the nomination of our party to some establishment guy cos it happens to be his/her turn. You've got to earn it by fighting for it, something I hope is not lost on any aspiring nominee.

Debo

By the way, if you're interested in Warner's potential candidacy, and you haven't already, you should join this group on Yahoo. They're doing more to promote Warner's candidacy than this semi-regular (to put it very charitably) blog.