May 5th, 2008 | Riki Parikh
Governor Warner formally launched our campaign for the U.S. Senate tonight with a barbecue dinner in Southwest Virginia. It was the first event of a four-day, 11-city tour around the Commonwealth, where we hope to see folks from every corner of the state and embark on a long campaign to bring Virginia-style results to Washington.
Over 250 people came out to a barbecue dinner provided by Wayne Thomas, a.k.a. Uncle Odie’s BBQ, at E.B. Stanley Middle School in Abingdon. Several “Sportsmen for Warner” and “Abingdon is Warner Country” signs lined the wall as the local bluegrass band Wires and Wood provided the music. They even revived the 2001 “Warner” campaign song. Governor Warner was joined by his wife and two youngest daughters.
Governor Warner was introduced by Jessica Holbrook, who grew up in Russell County and now works for CGI, high-paying, high-tech company located Southwest Virgina. She talked about about the opening of CGI in Russell County, which Governor Warner often lists as one of his favorites days as governor, and said that it provided an opportunity she never thought she’d have growing up.
In his remarks, Governor Warner talked about the need to bring fresh thinking to the way things are done in Washington. Per the Virginian-Pilot:
“It is time for a new approach in Washington: results, not rhetoric; and progress, not delay,” Warner, a Democrat, told about 250 people from Southwestern Virginia attending a barbecue dinner at a local middle school.
“The old practices of left and right, or red versus blue will not work at a time when our challenge really is future versus past,” Warner, 53, said. “If we work together to get our nation fixed, I’m confident our best days lay ahead.”
WVEC talks about why we launched our campaign in Southwest Virginia, a region that holds a special place in Governor Warner’s heart:
The first stop … (that) kicks off his campaign in earnest was politically and sentimentally significant for Warner. Abingdon was the first event in his 2001 race for governor, a victory that broke a brief GOP stranglehold on political power in Virginia.
But it is also a region that Warner cultivated heavily when he was governor, pushing economic development projects into the depressed region and highlighting its Appalachian culture.
“Southwestern Virginia is a part of Virginia that often doesn’t get a fair shake from Richmond,” Warner told about 240 people gathered in a middle school cafeteria for a Sunday afternoon Democratic barbecue.
“I’ll work with anyone to make sure everyone gets a fair shot,” he said.
Another earmark of the rural strategy Warner used seven years ago to win over people who had usually favored Republicans in the 1990s were also there: a bluegrass band, Wires and Wood, played a toe-tapping ballad to Warner that became a campaign standard for Warner in 2001.
Warner also dusted off other familiar themes from his earlier run. He railed against partisan gridlock in Washington and promised to become a “radical centrist” in a sharply split Congress.
“Washington watched as jobs were shipped overseas,” he said to an ovation from a crowd drawn from a region that watched coal mining jobs dwindle in the 1980s and ‘90s.
The Washington Post spoke with some of the folks in the crowd, who talked about Governor Warner and his record as the state’s chief executive:
“He’s just done so much for everyone here,” said Shirley Hall, who came to the dinner with her husband, Jim, from Castlewood, 25 miles away. “He don’t forget us.”
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“He ran the state as well as it’s been run,” said John Blankenship, a retiree from Abingdon who said he has voted both for Democrats and Republicans.
Check back here throughout the next couple of days as we post reports from the field as Governor Warner makes his way around the state. And if you go to one of the 11 events across Virginia, please send us your pictures and video! You can email them to us at announcement@markwarner2008.com, or upload them to a photo-sharing website and send us a link.
We’re looking forward to see a bunch of you out there over the next couple of days!
After speaking to a crowd of 80 local Rotary Club members at City Tavern, Governor Warner joined State Sen. Chuck Colgan in awarding four high school students with $1,000 scholarships on behalf of the Rotarians. He also presented the 2008 Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher Awards to three great educators: Ann Kulakowski from Manassas City, Jeffery Florio from Manassas Park City, and Lisa Racine from Prince William County.
After walking down Main Street from Clementine to the Courthouse, supporters from all over the Valley cheered Governor Warner as he made his way through the crowd and onto the stage where local Grammy-nominated musician Scott Christopher Murray played ‘Shenandoah.’
“During his four years, there were 34 announcements of expansions, new jobs coming to Martinsville and Henry County,” Sen. Reynolds said. “When fully implemented, there will be 3,500 jobs in Martinsville/Henry County that weren’t there before his administration.” 
In Norfolk, numerous veterans were on hand, including Admiral Harry S. Train and Vice Admiral Alexander J. Krekich, both of whom participated in the program and introduced Governor Warner. Also on hand were over 50 elected officials from the Hampton Roads region, including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.