A Real Shame

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Don't make'm like this anymore. A truly sad day for U.S. Politics.

what's even worse is I can't think of any young contemporary that even comes close to Warner, but who knows, maybe we should give the "Tammy Duckworths" a chance to come up.

Warner to retire from Senate

* Story Highlights
* Sen. John Warner to retire after 30 years
* He's a former U.S. Navy secretary
* Lawmaker is a respected voice on military and national security issues

(CNN) -- Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, said Friday he won't run for re-election.

"I say that my work and service to Virginia as a senator will conclude upon the 6th of January, 2009, when I finish ... my career of a then 30 years in the United States Senate," said Warner, 80.

Warner announced his retirement during a news conference at the University of Virginia, his alma mater.

Warner's retirement puts Senate Republicans in a bigger bind as they try to recapture the chamber from the Democrats in next year's election.

Virginia was once a solid red state, but Democrats have won most of the major state wide elections in recent years.

A former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former U.S. Navy secretary, he is one of the most respected voices in the Senate on military and national security issues.

Warner served in the Navy during World War II, enlisting at the age of 17, according to his Web site. He also was in the Korean War as a U.S. Marine. He worked in the Department of the Navy for five years during the Vietnam War and was secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974.

Warner was first elected to the Senate in 1978 and has been re-elected four times. In addition to the Armed Services Committee, he is on the Intelligence Committee, the Committee on the Environment and Public Works, and the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

Last week, Warner called on President Bush to start the process of bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq in September.

Warner opposed Bush's January decision to send nearly 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq. But he has so far also opposed Democratic efforts to force Bush to start bringing U.S. troops home.

He and the current Armed Services chairman, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Michigan, recently returned from a visit to Baghdad with harsh words for Iraqi Prime Minister's Nuri al-Maliki government.

Levin said last week that Iraq's parliament should throw al-Maliki out of office and replace his government. Warner said he would not join that call. "But in no way do I criticize it," he added.

According to the most recent filing with the Federal Election Commission, Warner's campaign committee had $734,494 on hand as of June 30 and had raised a little more than $72,000 in the second quarter of 2007.

Warner has endorsed Sen. John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 race for the Republican presidential nomination.

In April, Warner told reporters that he is going to "take it easy" and "approach the next year carefully and thoughtfully and do what is best for the state" in deciding whether to run again, according to The Washington Post.

"The state knows me pretty well. I don't need 18 months to get up and stand up on every soapbox in every little town. They either like me or they don't like me," he said, the Post reported.

Shanna Flowers, a columnist for The Roanoke (Virginia) Times, described Warner last year as "a conservative with a moderate enough bent that he appeals to voters across the political spectrum."

"He is known in Washington for forging compromises, demonstrating political integrity, exerting influence on national security matters and speaking truth to power," Flowers wrote.

[DanielDudley]

They don't make conservatives like they used to, that's for sure.

[Hugh R]

Wasn't he married to Elizabeth Taylor for a while?