Warner keynote figures in Obama’s Va. strategy

The gritty former textile town of Martinsville, Va., is in the same state as Mark Warner’s mansion overlooking the water in Old Town Alexandria. But the similarities end there.

Old Town is an enclave of prosperity, while Martinsville, a southern Virginia town once dubbed the “Sweatshirt Capital of the World,” has seen its factories shuttered and its jobs shipped overseas.

{mosads}Nevertheless, Martinsville occupies a central place in the political story of the former Virginia governor now running for Senate, who will give the keynote address Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention.

Virginia is important to presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama in this year’s electoral math, and the Illinois Democrat has opened 35 offices in the commonwealth in the hope of turning its 13 electoral votes to the Democratic side.

Warner, widely expected to win victory in his Senate race this fall, has been tapped to bring a simple message to Virginia: We care.

During his term as governor, Warner showered money and attention on Martinsville and the “Southside” Virginia region. He frequently said that a “kid in Martinsville” shouldn’t have to leave town to get a job.

In his keynote, Warner will broaden his message about the downsides of a global economy.

“The challenges in Southside Virginia are no different than the challenges in Southeast Ohio, or the Bootheel of Missouri or Southern Indiana,” Warner said in an interview last week after appearing with Obama in Martinsville. “These regions are all going through transformative change.”

But Warner added, “I don’t think either political party has offered hope to small-town America for the past 30 years.”

Warner’s keynote “will be a forward-looking speech about the solutions we’re right on the cusp of and that we can finally achieve with the right leadership,” according to a source. “It will hit the theme that America won’t succeed if every American isn’t succeeding.”

Warner jumped into Virginia politics in 1989, when he ran the gubernatorial campaign of Doug Wilder. “He didn’t know anything about Virginia,” said Don Baker, the former Richmond bureau chief for The Washington Post who spoke with Warner after his arrival. “But he knew how to learn.”

Today, he’s a dominant figure in Virginia politics, if not the pre-eminent figure. Which is odd, given that Virginia was not so long ago a GOP stronghold. And Warner, who speaks with no hint of a drawl, was born in Indiana and raised in Illinois and Connecticut.

“He’s managed to tap into the NASCAR set in Virginia, which was an incredible achievement since there’s nobody less likely to appeal to NASCAR fans,” Baker said.

Warner is widely cited as a businessman and entrepreneur, which he is. But even his fortune has its roots in politics.

After attending college in Washington and law school at Harvard, he jumped feet-first into the realm of Washington politics. It was while he was working as a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee that former Rep. Tom McMillen (Md.) tuned him in to the profit potential of cell phones. Warner put together groups of investors and packaged applications for cell phone licenses for a fee and a 5 percent ownership stake.

When cell phones took off, Warner made millions. He started a venture capital fund that bankrolled the telecom start-ups, including Nextel. In 2001, Warner’s net worth was estimated at $200 million.

But the interest in politics never faded. He spent $10 million of his own money in 1996 to challenge Sen. John Warner (R), and lost 52-47, the incumbent’s closest call since he was elected in 1978.

In 2001, Warner was elected governor after presenting himself as a businessman who can get things done.

After persuading Republican legislators to support a tax increase to balance the state budget, Warner made popular investments in transportation and education. But it came at the cost of a $1.4 billion tax hike. Republicans said that showed he was a standard “tax and spend” Democrat.

The state gained 150,000 jobs under Warner’s watch, and Republicans don’t dispute that Warner worked hard for hard-hit towns like Martinsville. But they say Republican governors paid plenty of attention as well.

After leaving office, Warner explored a presidential run, positioning himself as the alternative to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). But in 2006, he decided not to run, and in 2007 announced his run for the Senate.

He became the favorite after Virginia GOP leaders pushed aside more moderate Republicans to nominate fellow former Gov. Jim Gilmore. And if he wasn’t being counted on to flip a Republican Senate seat into Democratic hands, many think Warner’s name would have been more actively floated for the vice presidential nomination.

Still, some were surprised that Warner would be following in the footsteps of eloquent keynoters like Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton and Obama himself.

Warner’s true-blue fans say he cements Obama’s message of bipartisanship and “post-partisanship.”

Warner shares the spotlight Tuesday night with Sen. Clinton, Obama’s chief intra-party rival. Warner is prominent enough to share in the night’s headlines with Clinton without eclipsing her or antagonizing her supporters.

Commentators have noted that by putting Warner in the slot reserved for future stars, Obama has signaled to Clinton that should he lose, the Clintons don’t necessarily regain the helm of the party.

 Of course there are plenty of keynote speakers, even in winning years for Democrats, who haven’t delivered their states and whose stars have faded.

“Nobody remembers the keynote address,” University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said. “They’re picked because they have political skills, and it seems like such a big deal at the time.”