Warner stumps for Democratic candidates in Ottumwa

By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer

September 18, 2006 11:10 pm

— OTTUMWA — The former governor of Virginia is not a Democratic candidate for president — yet.
“It’s a big decision,” Mark Warner told The Courier following an event at the Hotel Ottumwa Monday. “I’m definitely considering it.”
He said he’ll decide after November.
Warner’s purpose in coming to Iowa, however, was to support Democrats running for seats here in the House, Senate and, of course, the governor’s office.
State Rep. John Whitaker, D-Hillsboro, and state Sen. Keith Kreiman, D-Bloomfield, looked on as state Rep. Mary Gaskill, D-Ottumwa, introduced Warner, who made sure to mention them during his speech to about 40 supporters.
Gaskill introduced Warner as the man who co-founded Nextel before running for office, where, in 2005, Time magazine named him one of the top five governors in the United States. Virginia has a term limit of one term. After his term was up this past January, he began traveling the country in an effort to support fellow Dmocrats; whoever gets the job as president is going to need the support of all Democrats or those willing to put aside partisanship and vote to strengthen the country, he said.
“You’ve got to offer hope. You’ve got to do more than criticize the [current] president. It’s going to take big change,” Warner said.
Especially in rural areas.
“If everybody in rural America has to move to the urban areas, this is going to be a different nation,” he said.
Part of the hope that needs to be offered in areas like Ottumwa is that “your kids shouldn’t have to leave their hometown” to find a job and raise a family. In fact, that’s what Warner said he wants to offer everyone as his version of the American Dream — a chance to succeed.
“We can’t guarantee you success, but everyone should get a fair shot,” Warner said.
Rural areas need things like improved education to bring their resources up to the level of more affluent areas; they need economic incentives to be more attractive to business; and they need to be brought into the 21st century with the high-speed “broadband” Internet connections companies are finding indispensable to doing business.
Nationally, major changes need to be made.
“We need to cut our dependence on foreign fossil fuels. We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from countries that don’t like us,” he said. “Alternative fuels can cut our dependence on [oil] and, if done right, create jobs.”
He said the minimum wage needs to be higher, but that health care needs to be available to more Americans, and that there must be better reimbursement from government programs so hospitals and doctors are not driven out of business. Another idea is to separate “long-term care” from “health care.”
He said he’d support leaving Iraq, but getting out without a plan is as bad as going in without a plan. At this point, he said, the war may be producing as many terrorists as it kills or captures.
He said President Bush has a 19th century world view based on “might makes right.
“We divide our friends and unite our enemies,” Warner said.
“This administration has been a great example of the politics of fear,” he said. “It’s not an American birthright to live in the most prosperous country in the world. We’ve got to earn it.”
Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.

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