Mark Warner is leaving nothing to chance, rolling out a list of endorsements from pretty much every elected Democrat in the Commonwealth of Virginia as he launched his 2026 U.S. Senate re-election bid on Tuesday.
I’m not overstating things there, either – the endorsers include all three members of the statewide ticket set to take office next month, all six U.S. House Democrats, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, 18 of the 21 Democrats in the State Senate, and 62 Democratic members or members-elect in the House Democratic Caucus.
If somebody was thinking of making a run at Warner from the left, you know, good luck with that.
The trick here will be: repackaging a guy with a net worth in the area of $250 million as being someone who is equipped to understand the concerns of average folks with respect to rising prices, declining wages, the lack of affordable housing, healthcare premiums going through the roof.
“Look, I’m a business guy. I started a cell phone company, Nextel, back when everyone was still using landlines. Trust me when I say, if you think we’ve seen massive technological change over the past two decades, you ain’t seen nothing yet,” Warner said in his announcement video, in which he acknowledged the affordability crisis that Donald Trump, a little later in the day on Tuesday, claimed is a “Democratic hoax.”
The two issues, as Warner laid out his case, not unrelated.
“Grocery and energy prices keep climbing. Rent is out of control, and it feels like you need a second mortgage just to send your kid to daycare. Meanwhile, the folks at the top are doing better than ever, while regular folks go to work each day wondering how they’re going to pay their bills, and the crowd running Washington right now hasn’t got a damn idea what to do about it, and the President doesn’t even seem to care,” Warner said.
ICYMI
- Mark Warner on 2025 results, shutdown, congressional maps
- Mark Warner: Politicization of intelligence endangers national security
- Warner visits political prisoner in Farmville: ‘America is a better country than this’
- Mark Warner on the Jeffrey Epstein files: ‘Let’s let the truth come out’
At least Warner did grow up middle class; that Trump guy was getting a $200,000-a-year salary at the age of 3 from his grifting father, who put his kids on the payroll to avoid having to pay taxes.
Those Trumpers: patriotic Americans.
Avoiding taxes, faking bone spurs.
Trump and his lot pay lip service to the working class and middle class by pretending that we can “turn back the clock,” as Warner described the MAGA approach – that side acting as if we can just snap our fingers and make, for instance, coal mining great again, which is never going to happen.
In reality, the people funding the MAGA movement – the oligarchs who bend the knee to Trump at the White House, shiny gifts in hand, expecting favor in terms of public policy, and public dollars, in return – are rendering those of us who make up the backbone of this country moot.
The oligarch way of thinking is that the billionaires can replace us with AI to improve efficiencies, not realizing that, if people don’t have jobs, and thus money, they can improve efficiencies all they want, but who will buy their crap, and keep them filthy rich beyond recognition?
“For a long time, when the stock market was booming and big American companies were succeeding, that meant jobs for working Americans,” Warner said.
Now, yeah, not so much.
“This moment calls for big ideas,” said Warner, who is never short of big ideas. “The tech companies that displace jobs with AI should actually help pay for the solutions we need, universal healthcare coverage and a complete overhaul of affordable housing and childcare.”
I’m listening.
“We need a vision to chart a new path and effective leadership to get it done. That’s why I’m running for re-election to the United States Senate. By winning in November, we can fight back against this administration and build a future where everyone has a fair shot,” Warner said.
Mark Warner: populist.
This might take a minute.
Video: Mark Warner announces re-election bid
Support AFP
Share
Chris Graham
