Warner, Gilmore walk parade route in Buena Vista

By Jay Warren
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: September 1, 2008

It’s the kick off to the fall campaign, an annual tradition signaling an election near. It’s the Buena Vista Labor Day Parade and from the looks of Monday’s campaign, you’d think the contest to fill retiring Senator John Warner’s seat was as tight as ever.

Democrat Mark Warner (of no relation to John Warner) was literally running from side to side of the parade route, frantically shaking every hand he could. He was acting as if he was fighting for his political survival.

“I’ll be knocking on doors and harassing people all the way to election day,“ Warner said.

And there was Republican Jim Gilmore, smiling, working the crowd, selling his message of drilling to help ease our energy crisis.

Gilmore proudly proclaimed, “Support here was better than I have seen in previous years.“

Much of this campaigning belies the current state of this election. Recent public opinion polls show Warner leading by as much as 20 points and financial disclosure forms show he has 50 times the campaign cash as Gilmore.

Still, Gilmore says, “We have to start this race now. We have to see how people feel when they begin to become informed about how Mark Warner stands and how Jim Gilmore stands.“

The crowd got a taste of that at the speeches given after the parade. This is where the gloves came off with both sides attacking as their opponent sat listening.

First, Gilmore said, “He [Warner] has pulled out of every televised debate. He does not want the people of Virginia to know his position on the issues. If they do, Jim Gilmore will be elected to the Senate.“

Warner criticized Gilmore’s attacks, before launching his own set of attacks.

“We just had one candidate that’s all about partisanship, all about attacks, all about tearing things down,“ Warner told the cheering crowd of 200. “I don’t know about you, but the last thing Washington needs is someone who couldn’t even pass a budget when his own party controlled the legislature.“

Hurricane Gustav provided a rare moment of agreement between the two candidates, as they both praised John McCain’s decision to scale back the first day of the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis.

Mark Warner called the move “appropriate.“ He added, “This is a time we have to put partisanship aside and have our thoughts and prayers with the people in the Gulf.“

Gilmore said, “We need to be focused on the people down there.“