OT MARK WARNER -- HOLY MACKEREL, APPROVAL RATINGS OF 70%

[url]http://virginiapolitics.mgblogs.com/index.php/virginiapolitics/article/warner_gets_into_rough_and_tumble/[/url]


Warner gets into rough and tumble
BY Jeff E. Schapiro
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER



Before becoming governor in 2002, Mark Warner put his millions in a
blind trust.

At the time, some wondered if he did the same with his political
courage.

At least that was the line from fellow Democrats put off by Warner's
frequent accommodation of Republicans.

Now, almost four years later - and with an approval rating of about
70 percent - Warner is getting into the rough and tumble of politics,
even taking shots at Republican Jerry Kilgore.

Yesterday, Warner said on his monthly radio show on WTOP that Kilgore
must come clean on the abortion issue.

And later, Warner's office forcefully knocked down Kilgore's
criticism of the highway program.

Today, Warner is at the side of the Democrat he hopes will succeed him,
Tim Kaine.

They're in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads and at a Kaine
fund-raising reception in Richmond.

Kaine, of course, is running as Warner's logical heir; in effect,
saying, "If you like Mark Warner, you'll love me."