04/20/2006

By MIKE GLOVER  / Associated Press

Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner said Thursday that voters endorsed his tenure by electing a Democratic successor and rejecting Republican attempts to sell voters on "hot-button" social issues.

"In Virginia, it's the Democrats who are the party of fiscal responsibility," said Warner, as he opened a two-day visit to the state where precinct caucuses open the presidential nominating season.

Warner met privately with legislators and leaders of the state's teacher union before attending a fundraiser for Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa. Friday, he planned to visit northwest Iowa as he continued testing the state's political waters.

Limited to a single term as governor, Warner said a tax reform package he pushed through a Republican-controlled Legislature has had long-term economic benefits for the state.

In the last campaign, Warner campaigned hard for his replacement, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, and now says the election of the Democratic governor was in essence a referendum on his tenure. It also showed that even in the South, Democrats can stand up to a Republican attack on emotional social issues, he said.

"The Republicans were big on trying to whip up a frenzy on the hot-button social issues," Warner said. "Virginians overwhelmingly rejected that."

In testing the waters for seeking the Democratic nomination, Warner casts himself as a moderate southerner with a business background and a track record of managing a state successfully.

"What I did was I cut more than any governor in Virginia history" in dealing with that state's budget crunch, he said. "In Virginia, we were able to make cuts."

Republicans said Warner quickly resorted to increasing taxes.

"Mark Warner has a history of flip-flopping on taxes," said Cullen Sheehan, executive director of the Iowa Republican Party. "Despite a campaign promise not to raise taxes, while governor of Virginia he supported raising billions of dollars in taxes time and time again."

Most polls have shown President Bush's approval ratings low, with a similar standing for Republicans in Congress, leaving many to argue that Democrats will fare well in this year's midterm elections.

Warner said Democrats can't simply count on Republican weaknesses.

"Democrats not only have to criticize, but lay out specific proposals," he said. "We need to not only point out this administration's failure, but how we would right the ship."

Warner said he won't make a decision about his political future until after the next election.

The campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in Iowa is complicated by the possible candidacy of Gov. Tom Vilsack.

"Should he decide to run, he'll be a powerful force not only here in Iowa but across the country," Warner said.

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Editors: Mike Glover has covered politics since 1982, when he began covering the Iowa Statehouse.