The View from Over Here

There has been a lot of speculation in the media about who Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will pick as his running mate. 

 Everyone agrees that Virginia is likely to be a pivotal state in the upcoming presidential election.  And, Virginia’s governor has been a darling of many in the GOP (Guns, Oil, Plutocrats).  Who could be better than Gov. Bob
McDonnell, a longtime, hardcore conservative who is quick on his feet (much
more so than the wooden Mittens) and has done well disguising himself as a moderate while Governor.  Thus, he would complement the thuggishly conservative Romney and possibly secure Virginia for the GOP in November.

 But, then Governor Bob let his guard down.  His GOP colleagues pulled a few of their classic moves that resulted in Virginia, and Governor Bob, getting the glare of national publicity when they performed a particularly funny episode of  culture wars.  And they chose women, who make up about 51 percent of eligible voters, as the target of their legislative escapade.  They passed a law requiring that women seeking an abortion first undergo a vaginal probe, presumably administered by a certified Republican legislator.  Women were outraged.  So much so that one of them, my state Senator in fact, responded with a proposal to require that men undergo a rectal exam before receiving medication erectile dysfunction.

This humorous bit of innocent hazing in the form of a law by those closest to Governor Bob hurt his chances among the uneducated nationwide. In fact, many believe Governor Bob got scratched from Mitten’s VP list altogether.  But, I don’t think my GOP friends should give up hope.  There is someone else in our midst with the qualities the Mittster seeks. 

At first blush, you might think I'm kidding, that he wouldn’t qualify because he is nominally a Democrat.  But, like Governor Bob, Senator Mark Warner really is at heart, confirmed by his record, a Republican.  And, a softer, gentler one than the Mittster.  Like Governor Bob, he would complement the top guy on the ticket.  He polls well in VA, and could bring the Commonwealth (Get it?  A good pun because he and Mitt have wealth in common,) into the GOP column on election day.  And, few in Congress have been more of a thorn in the side of Barack Obama than Mark

Warner.

Seriously, look at Warner’s record.  He opposed the Public Option, a key element of the President’s health reform plan that would have forced some real competitive pressures on the insurance moguls—and his lack of support may have been the death knell for the public option.  Several unions supported Warner when he ran for the Senate in 2008. The representatives of working men and women were pushing for new legislation to remove some of the barriers to organizing and negotiating collective bargaining agreements.  Warner winked and told them working people could count on him if elected.

He was elected and did absolutely nothing to support those who had worked so hard for him.  When President Obama proposed cap and trade legislation to control  pollution, Mark Warner followed his friends and contributors in the coal crowd and again bailed out on the President. 

 Most recently, Senator Warner was seen introducing legislation to delay the implementation of the Volcker Rule, a regulation to limit big banks’ gambling with depositors’ money.  Jamie Dimon, top dog at J.P. Morgan, lobbied for exactly that action.  That’s right, lobbied against a rule that it appears Morgan promptly violated to the tune of $3 to 5 billion of their customers’ money.  Now
it turns out that Senator Warner, who was doing Dimon’s work in the U.S.
Senate, got a big chunk of his total contributions last year from the very same
J.P. Morgan.  Imagine!  Now, really, is this the behavior of a genuine
Democrat? 

This fellow Warner may in fact be the answer to the GOP’s prayers to bring Virginia into the fold in November.