Mark Warner - U.S. Senate

On to Culpeper, Orange, and Greene

Governor Warner is continuing our Hometown Days with a visit in Greene, Orange, and Culpeper Counties, as he revisits old friends, makes new friends, and checks in on the progress that’s been made since his administration.

Tonight, he’s stopping by the Lafayette Inn in Stanardsville, meeting with business leaders and elected officials. Tomorrow, he will be in Orange for a breakfast at the Not The Same Old Grind coffee shop on Main Street before touring the Orange County Nursing Home.

Then he’s on to Culpeper to visit the Daniel Center for Advanced Technology at Germanna Community College. Governor Warner was instrumental in getting Germanna the funds it needed to build the tech center.

The Culpeper Star-Exponent previewed his visit today by highlighting Governor Warner’s work:

Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006, Warner, a Democrat, made investment in the state’s community college system a priority during his tenure and worked with Culpeper leaders for the better part of a decade on erecting DCAT.

“We wouldn’t have been able to build it if he hadn’t done what he did for us,” said Culpeper resident Connie Kincheloe, past president and current member of the State Board for Community Colleges.

Culpeper attorney John J. “Butch” Davies III, a former state delegate and longtime member of the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation board, said there are few who have done as much for public education as Warner.

“Mark utilized bond issue funds from consolidation of the unspent funds at other community colleges to come up with about $1 million additional to help cover the shortfall and to ensure that Germanna could begin its construction,” he said in a Jan. 22 letter to the Star-Exponent. “It was the first community college bond issue project which moved forward under his administration.”

After a lunch reception, Governor Warner will tour the Powell Wellness Center, a state-of-the-art rehabilitation and preventative care facility that partners with the Culpeper Regional Hospital.

Check back here tomorrow for updates of his tour.

Warner pushes health care at grassroots event

Governor Warner was a keynote speaker at today’s Families USA “Health Action 2008” conference in Washington. About 700 grassroots health care advocates from across the nation gathered for the three-day conference.

“It’s great to be here today with so many people who “get it,” who understand and appreciate the need for broad reform in health care,” Governor Warner said.

He talked about his experience in health care reform: as a private citizen before he was governor, he helped found the Virginia Health Care Foundation, a public-private partnership that promotes access to primary health care and helps fund a range of innovative programs.

“The Foundation has helped provide hundreds of thousands of people with access to health care. It has formed creative partnerships with drug companies to provide low-cost – sometimes even NO-cost – medications to seniors and those in need. The Virginia Health Care Foundation is something that I’m very proud of.”

Governor Warner also talked about the Web-based information and referral network called SeniorNavigator, a non-profit organization that provides free information about health and aging resources in order to easily share medical information:

“You see, my mom has Alzheimer’s. And as my family looked around for useful information, for available services, even for a simple list of local support groups for my dad and her, we were baffled that there was so little useful information gathered in one place for caregivers. ...

“It was this background in IT and telecommunications that prompted me to offer myself for public office in the first place. And as Governor of Virginia, we had success in bringing business-like reforms to state government on a broad level. And no public policy area in American government cries out more for a comprehensive and technology-based solution than health care.”

Before delivering his keynote address, Governor Warner took part in a radio round table with talk radio hosts from across the country. You can listen to the interview below or by clicking here.

UPDATE: 1/25/07: David Lerman posted this story on the Governor’s appearance on the Daily Press’s “Shad Plank”.

If he wins a U.S. Senate seat this fall, Democrat Mark Warner says, he plans to form a group of 8 to 12 moderates from both political parties to craft bipartisan solutions on tough issues like health care reform.

His name for the group? The ``Radical Centrists.’‘

Our take on the name? Sounds like a rock band.

But Warner, who steered a middle course as governor of a conservative ``red’’ state, stressed his eagerness to find common ground as he spoke to a friendly crowd of health-care advocates in Washington on Thursday.

``Health care reform should not be a partisan issue,” he said.

The Virginia Record

We’re introducing a new addition to our website today that shares the record of success that we brought to Richmond in 2002.

The Virginia Record outlines our successful efforts to transform the Commonwealth into a better place to live and raise a family, with a government that is focused on accountability and results for the citizens it serves.

Washington is in desperate need of this approach, too. I trust The Virginia Record will give you a good idea of the type of change and the bipartisan approach we hope to bring to the U.S. Senate.

In its pages, you can see how we restored Virginia’s fiscal integrity, built a stronger and more diverse economy, made major investments in public education and health care, secured our communities and protected Virginia’s natural and historic resources. Each of these accomplishments required a bipartisan, business-like approach – the same common-sense values I want to take to Washington.

Crowds greet Warner at JMU

Governor Warner continues his tour of the Shenandoah Valley today, as he makes his way through Harrisonburg. Kevin Hall sent us this update from the road this morning:

In Harrisonburg, Governor Warner received a briefing on the SRI project -- the non-profit think-tank that recently announced plans to partner with James Madison University and other Virginia colleges through a a major biomedical research facility. Governor Warner was involved in early discussions that ultimately resulted in SRI's decision to set-up shop in Harrisonburg.

Later, about 100 JMU students gathered for an informal talk from Mark Warner. He was introduced by JMU President Linwood Rose, who told the students, "I hope you realize many of the improvements we've seen to this campus in recent years were the result of Governor Warner's leadership."

"I came because I heard he was a big deal," JMU senior Pete Lester told the Harrisonburg Daily News Record.

Governor Warner ended the day with brief remarks at the annual meeting of the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association.

Today, the Governor tours the Rockingham Memorial Hospital, visits Bridgewater College, and walks down Main Street in New Market.

UPDATE: JMU student Sean Lowry made this video of the Governor's speech to the students of JMU. Here's what he took away from the speech:

The most important part of Gov. Warner's speech focused on solving America's energy problem. He did an excellent job on trying to show how many of America's problems can be solved with aprudent energy policy. I was impressed to see that he was both humble (admitting that he didn't know what would be the utopian alternative energy source) and informed on the ongoing debates concerning which alternative fuel is best.

Here is his video:

Revisiting Harrisonburg

Another update from Kevin Hall:

We've had a great day in the Valley on our first "Hometown Days" trip.

More than 100 friends joined Governor Warner for breakfast in Harrisonburg. Once again, it was standing-room-only, and the Governor enjoyed visiting with friends and acquaintances.

Afterwards, the Governor toured the site of the new Rockingham Memorial Hospital, scheduled to open in 2010.

At Bridgewater College, the Governor spoke to a political philosophy class and then met with students and faculty about Bridgewater's unique public service requirements.

The Governor then traveled to Hinton to get an update on operations at the Virginia Poultry Growers Coop, the locally-owned and operated turkey processing plant purchased from Pilgrim's Pride in 2004. Governor Warner played a big role in helping local folks put the financing package together.

We ended our "Hometown Day" trip with an update on the exciting efforts to redevelop downtown New Market.

Touring Luray

Kevin Hall, our communications director, is traveling with Governor Warner today through Luray and Harrisonburg, Virginia, in the first stops on our "Hometown Days" tour. He took some pictures and sent us this report from the trip:

Governor Warner visited the Town of Luray in Page County today. He is traveling in the upper Shenandoah Valley as part of his "Hometown Days," visiting friends and community leaders and revisiting programs he launched while he was Governor.

Business leaders detailed their remarkable Main Street revitalization effort, including a very popular greenway project -- a jogging, hiking and biking trail alongside a creek.

At the nearby Lord Fairfax Community College's Page County facility, President John "Ski" Sygielski introduced Governor Warner as a true friend of public education. While serving as Governor, Mark Warner initiated the single largest investment ever made in our public schools. He also launched a series of academic and workforce development reforms that have made our community college system the "workhorse" of higher ed.

Community and business leaders attended a sold-out lunch gathering at the beautifully restored Mimslyn Inn on Luray's Main Street. Extra tables were brought in to accommodate the overflow crowd.

Stay tuned for more updates (and pictures) from the "Hometown Days" tour. Governor Warner will visit the JMU College Democrats this afternoon before going to Harrisonburg tonight and tomorrow.

Coming to a town near you...

Beginning this week, Mark Warner will be back on the road, visiting with friends and community leaders across Virginia and revisiting many of the major projects and initiatives launched during his successful term in Richmond.

We’re calling these road trips “Hometown Days” and the first one is set for Harrisonburg and the upper Shenandoah Valley on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday morning, Governor Warner will take a walking tour of downtown Luray, where local business and community leaders will update him on their downtown redevelopment projects. He’ll then meet with the president of Lord Fairfax Community College, and take a quick tour of their Page County campus. Early in the afternoon, he’ll stop by James Madison University for a tour of the exciting new SRI lab project. Thursday night, he’s been invited to speak at the Valley Builders Association annual dinner.

On Friday, Governor Warner will speak at a breakfast of community leaders, then he’ll get a tour and an update on Rockingham Memorial Hospital’s expansion plans. Around lunchtime, he’ll visit a healthy lifestyles program for the students and staff at Bridgewater College, and mid-afternoon Friday he plans to meet with executives from the Virginia Poultry Growers Co-op in Hinton for an update on their progress since acquiring the processing facility from Pilgrim’s Pride in 2004.

Let's Go Hokies!

Governor Warner is in South Florida today supporting the Virginia Tech Hokies as they prepare for their Orange Bowl game with Kansas. After UVA’s heart-breaking 31-28 loss to Texas Tech on a field goal in the final 10 seconds earlier this week, the Governor is rooting for the ACC champions to complete a remarkable season with a victory.

Governor Warner is no stranger to Hokie football. Since his first VT game – a 1999 night game against Miami – Mark Warner has been a strong supporter of the Hokie Nation, and he played a key role in 2003 when Tech entered the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Here’s an interesting clip from the documentary film “Hokie Nation” provided courtesy of Horse Archer Productions.

Go Hokies!