What to expect from Gov. Mark Warner…

Tonight, Gov. Mark Warner will deliver his keynote address to the Democratic National Convention. I will be watching anxiously, but it’s already being reported that his speech contains many elements that probably won’t go over very well with the very Liberal Democratic base (A.K.A 99% of the delegates in attendance). Even Warner himself thinks so:

Former Gov. Mark Warner plans to offer a lesson in Virginia-style bipartisanship to thousands of hardcore Democrats in his convention keynote speech Tuesday night.

“There may be parts of the speech that aren’t going to get a lot of applause,” Warner said Monday, “but I’ve got to say what I believe will get our country back on the right path.”

Someone suggested to me that he might be tamping down expectations. After all, the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote speech is bound to be a pretty tough act to follow. I, however, am willing to take Gov. Warner’s statement at face value, having seen him speak at the Shad Planking, the Virginia State Democratic Convention, as well as at his first debate with Jim Gilmore. He’s not someone who makes any attempt to elate the Liberal wing of the Democratic Party. He may use the term “radical centrists” tonight to describe the coalition that we should attempt to build in Washington in order to break the partisan gridlock and “get things done.”

To an activist in the Democratic base, that sounds an awful lot like: “We need to water down our Party’s progressive ideals and principles to make them more palatable to our friends across the aisle. And by
‘friends across the aisle,’ of course, I mean the same people who have enabled and contributed to the erosion of America for the past 8 years. That’s the only way to pass legislation.”

If Governor Warner insists on pushing bi-partisanship in his speech, and doesn’t want to crash and burn with the audience, he has to approach it with an attitude similar to Joe Biden’s in his speech at the 2007 Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner when he said:

Ladies and Gentlemen, you know, it’s very much en vogue for us to all talk to you about the consensus we can generate to lead this country, But, I want to make it clear to you: I’m running for the Democratic nomination as a Democrat, and there are certain things I will - and we should not - compromise on with anyone at all.

I have nothing against people with moderate points of view. In fact, I recognize that any healthy political system requires that there be moderate voices. However, Governor Warner does need to make it absolutely clear to everyone watching the speech that, should the Democratic Party gain the White House and pad its Congressional majorities, its bold agenda for change in America will not be hijacked and stripped down by Republicans in the name of “compromise.” That’s politics as usual and it’s not the message of Barack Obama or the Democratic Party, nor is it what the American people are asking for.