Endorsements, polls show big lead for Warner

Endorsements from interest groups define the U.S. Senate race between Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore as much as the polls that show Warner with a huge lead.

Backing from groups as diverse as business and labor showcase Warner’s ability to assemble a broad spectrum of supporters.

Gilmore, who like Warner is a former governor, once served as Virginia’s attorney general and has gathered his share of supporters, including law-enforcement groups and veterans.

Warner’s endorsements include Republicans.

Preston Bryant, who as a Republican represented Lynchburg in the General Assembly, is among several former GOP officeholders backing Warner.

Gilmore’s low standing in polls, most of which put him 25 to 30 points behind Warner, can be attributed partly to his campaign’s difficulty raising money for TV ads when the presidential race competes for donors’ attention and cash, said Wendell Walker, a leader among Lynchburg-area Republicans.

Too, Virginia has changed significantly since Gilmore served as governor from 1997 to 2001. Increasing numbers of Democratic voters have moved into Northern Virginia, Walker said.

Add in the fact that this year’s political winds seem to favor Democrats nationwide, and Gilmore faces and uphill climb, Walker said. “He’s fought as hard as he can to climb that hill.”

Warner, who finished his term as governor in 2005 with high approval ratings, knows no such problems.

But he does face challenges keeping his many supporters happy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO, often poles apart in their choices of candidates, have both endorsed Warner. He became a multimillionaire in the cell phone business and enjoys a solid political base in Northern Virginia’s technology community as well as the region’s changing demographics.

Warner gained the AFL-CIO support with a delicate balancing act, promising to support labor’s effort to organize in workplaces by simply having workers sign a union card. The “employee free choice act,” also called “card-check,” could become a work-around from the traditional government-sanctioned union vote in the workplace.

Virginia businesses say approval of the “card-check” signup would weaken the state’s right-to-work law, which allows employers to fire workers more easily than they could in union environments.

Warner explained his stance on the “card-check” issue during an interview with The News & Advance, saying he supports Virginia’s right-to-work law but thinks it has tilted in favor of management over the past eight years.

“I think there needs to be reform,” Warner said. “I think this needs to be debated and voted on.” He said he has concerns about the proposals, and wants to be sure both sides are informed when developments occur in the organizing process.

The Chamber of Commerce, Warner said, might not want any change in labor procedures. “But they might say that if there is going to be reform, you are the kind of person that can find a reasonable balance that doesn’t give unfair advantage to either side,” Warner said.

Presidential politics also are affecting Warner’s campaign, including his association with the party’s presidential nominee, Barack Obama.

“When I first met him, I didn’t want to like him,” Warner said. He expected their meeting to be brief and perfunctory, he said.

“But I was really taken with him. He’s bright. I was taken with the fact he seems a lot more moderate” than his voting record might indicate, Warner said.

When the two of them spent about four hours together as part of a campaign appearance in Martinsville and on a bus ride afterward, their conversation “got into energy, and how you can keep American business competitive without shackling it with regulations.”

Obama gave Warner the keynote speaker slot at the Democratic National Convention in August. Warner used the time to talk mostly about a need for centrist politics instead of culture wars.

“I’m more convinced today than I was eight or nine months ago” about Obama’s presidential qualifications, Warner said.

“I hope he is going to be a moderate Democrat” instead of a liberal one, Warner said.

Gilmore, in campaign tours around the state, pushed the “drill here, drill now” energy strategy developed by the Republican Party last summer, saying it offered both quick and long-term solutions to high gas prices.

When the nation’s economic and credit crisis surged to the forefront early this month, Gilmore capitalized on Congress’ initial refusal to approve a taxpayer bailout of Wall Street. He then blasted the bill that eventually passed, saying it was loaded with earmarks that benefited corporations.

During a debate with Warner, Gilmore called the financial-rescue bill a “travesty” and said he’d never have voted to let the mistakes of “Wall Street high-rollers” be paid for by taxpayers.

Gilmore hasn’t fallen short on bringing issues into the campaign, said Walker, a former chairman of Lynchburg-area Republicans.

“I worked with him when he was running for attorney general and governor, Walker said. “He’s a fighter, and you can trust him and depend on him.”

Nonetheless, Walker said, “Democrats have a lot of momentum this year, nationwide.”