WASHINGTON-Senator-elect Mark R. Warner sat alone with an aide in an ornate room inside the U.S. Capitol on the third day of a whirlwind orientation for new senators.
On top of going from businessman to governor to senator, Warner, 53, is amid another transition here: teacher to student.
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"Four years ago I was chairman of the National Governors Association and teaching the new governors how to get started. Now I'm back as senator number 98 or 97 and starting from scratch again," he said.
Orientation includes a lot of how-to's, ethical do's and don'ts, and some lessons on what can be hazy rules of Senate procedure. But with a pair of Senate races still undecided, this week did not include any decisions on office space or freshman committee assignments.
Warner has been mum about his desired committees, "in case I don't get all the choices that I laid out."
And while he's already hiring staff and getting up to speed through meetings with retiring Sen. John W. Warner, the experience of joining the world's most exclusive club has not been lost on the man who first worked in the Senate opening mail 35 years ago.
"There is some awe in terms of walking around in this historical setting," he said. "I still think of myself as the kid from college working here starting out and now trying to follow in the footsteps of John Warner -- it's a pretty heady experience."
But outside news during orientation week forces Mark Warner to focus attention beyond some of the basic training. Auto executives are in town seeking a Washington bailout and the U.S. Navy is threatening to move an aircraft carrier from Norfolk Naval Station to Mayport, Fla.
For the car companies, Warner's skeptical. "What are the guarantees for the taxpayers in terms of getting our money back?" he asks.
And on the carrier question, he's thrust into his first senatorial news conference, standing Thursday with his Virginia colleagues calling for at least a delay to the Navy's decision.
The incoming senator is trying to keep it all in perspective, seeing the Senate as a small town he needs to get to know.
"It's like a big high school and everybody knows everybody else. And how you get off on the right foot, how ...you make sure you forge these friendships that go across the partisan lines, I think these first six months are critical."
But as Warner, the consummate networker, looks to make new friends, he's got a bunch to take care of from his recent campaign as well.
"There are a lot of thank-you's to be made and a lot of inauguration ticket requests that have to be dealt with," he said.
(Contact Neil H. Simon at nsimon@mediageneral.com)
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