Mark Warner's speech at YearlyKos
| By ajentleson - Jun 10th, 2006 at 5:37 pm EDT |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress at Yearly Kos | Campus Progress Blog |
Former Virginia Governor and '08 hopeful Mark Warner was the keynote speaker at the third day of the YearlyKos convention. This was the first time I've ever heard him speak, and he seemed to connect with the crowd at times. Indeed, his personal story is compelling -- living out of his car at age 26, he got into the nascent cell phone industry and helped found Nextel. He went from business into politics, getting involved with the state party and eventually being elected governor of Virginia.
His list of aconcrete ccomplishments as governor is impressive by any acccount, ranging from improving inner-city schools to balancing the budget to expanding broadband access in rural communities. Overall, both his record as governor and the thrust of his speech emphasized effective problem-solving over partisanship.
The crowd seemed impressed by his accomplishments, and he got applause on lines like, "we need a foreign policy that unites our friends and divides our enemies -- not the reverse," and for being in favor of net neutrality. To me, the general enthusiasm seemed ample but not overwhelming. The crowd seemed to hunger for more red meat, more Bush-bashing, and talk of people power and how bloggers are changing America. On that front, for better of for worse, Warner did not deliver.
His list of aconcrete ccomplishments as governor is impressive by any acccount, ranging from improving inner-city schools to balancing the budget to expanding broadband access in rural communities. Overall, both his record as governor and the thrust of his speech emphasized effective problem-solving over partisanship.
The crowd seemed impressed by his accomplishments, and he got applause on lines like, "we need a foreign policy that unites our friends and divides our enemies -- not the reverse," and for being in favor of net neutrality. To me, the general enthusiasm seemed ample but not overwhelming. The crowd seemed to hunger for more red meat, more Bush-bashing, and talk of people power and how bloggers are changing America. On that front, for better of for worse, Warner did not deliver.
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...Also, on Net Neutrality, I've found myself leaning from "slightly in favor" to "slightly against" after reading the National Review's editorial on the subject. The market for broadband access does seem significantly competitive, and this could open up a whole new realm of entrepeneurial opportunities.
I'm not seeing a really compelling case for Net Neutrality; different levels of service are available for pretty much every other form of private infrastructure, and the world does not end.
Democrats would surely flock to him, whereas some middle-of-the-road cannot help but love him.
Virginia has stayed red for the last two elections -- being that Warner is from Virginia, if he could win the primary, a bid at the White House -- especially against a weak Republican opponent, doesn't seem too unlikely.