Current and former Virginia politicians are expected to play an influential role in national politics in the coming year.
Virginia’s voice is expected to be especially strong in the U.S. Senate. Democratic Sen.-elect Jim Webb, who has strong interests in foreign policy and military issues, is already a vocal critic of the Bush administration’s policy in Iraq. His opposition to the White House and his stunning upset over Republican George Allen have already put him in the national spotlight.
“Jim Webb is in an excellent position to become an influential senator very quickly,” said Larry Sabato, executive director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. Democrats “need a credible spokesperson on national defense and security.”
“I think you’re going to see the Senate reaching out to him because he took a seat they didn’t think he could get,” said Sean O’Brien, executive director of the Sorenson Center for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia. “It’s a real opportunity for him to assume a leadership position.”
Virginia’s senior senator, John Warner, is the ranking Republican on the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee. George Mason political scientist Toni Travis said Warner and Webb could form a strong team on military matters.
“Warner … will be respected, but he’s going to be in a minority position,” she said. “I would think between Webb and Warner, they could be formidable in shaping military policy. They’ve known each other since [Webb] was secretary of the Navy” in the 1980s.
Former Virginia Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore is also expected to be a player in national politics. He recently announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to look into a 2008 presidential run.
Sabato said Gilmore’s conservative credentials could endear him to the Republican base.
“There’s a slot open for the traditional Republican conservative,” Sabato said. “The anti-tax wing of the GOP is large; he has a natural constituency there. … He’s a true, blue anti-tax Republican conservative.”
