Warner Stumps Loudoun; Joins Kaine At Dems' Dinner
By Samatha Bartram (Created: Monday, April 21, 2008 1:40 PM EDT)Former Virginia Governor Mark Warner brought his U.S. Senate campaign to Loudoun Friday, meeting with business leaders and attended the Loudoun Democratic Committee’s annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner along with Gov. Tim Kaine.
Warner’s day began with an appearance at the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce’s “Technology 2014: Online Business Networking” workshop at George Washington University, where he addressed tech-based reforms implemented in Virginia during his tenure as governor. Warner addressed the room full of small-business owners, touching on everything from IT resources to energy independence. He explained that coming to politics from a venture capital business background gave him a valuable perspective on how government could be more efficient and responsive to its constituents. This perspective allowed Warner and his team to implement technological reforms that earned Virginia the title of “Best Managed State in America.”
“We proposed radical changes to the IT resources in this state and have saved upwards of $230 million since these reforms were started,” Warner said. “It’s all about talking to the Virginia government and rationalizing our IT services so there isn’t all this inefficiency.”
Warner continued to champion high-speed Internet and broadband technologies as key infrastructure to promote economic growth in other parts of Virginia. “We want to use technology to transform communities,” Warner said. “Not all the great jobs have to be in Northern Virginia or Richmond or Alexandria. We can deploy some of these jobs to more rural parts of the state.”
Following the chamber seminar, Warner joined state Senator Mark Herring (D-33) at a luncheon held at the Lightfoot restaurant,. He then toured downtown Leesburg, entering shops along King Street and talking with business owners about his senate campaign.
By the time Warner had made the trek along King Street from Market Street to Loudoun Street, it was clear he would have his work cut out for him as merchant after merchant commented on the challenging economic conditions.
“How’s business,” Warner would ask as he entered each shop; “Bad,” was the common refrain. Several merchants joked, “I bet you wish you hadn’t come in here.”
Warner good-naturedly replied, “If I wasn’t prepared to hear this kind of stuff, I shouldn’t be running for Senate.”
A record crowd attended the LCDC’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner Friday night at Lansdowne Resort, where Warner promised to work in a bi-partisan manner to improve the nation’s financial controls while focusing on health care, infrastructure and education as top priorities.
Several local Democratic leaders were given special recognition during the dinner. Lou Etta Watkins was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Patricia Morrissey was presented with the Profile in Courage Award. Electoral Board Secretary Dianna Price received the Outstanding Public Service Award. T. Dean Reed was presented with the Legacy Award.