By Brian McNeill

Published: May 6, 2008

Charlottesville’s consumer electronics mogul — and lifelong Republican — Bill Crutchfield is backing former Gov. Mark R. Warner’s bid for the U.S. Senate because he says the Democrat has a record of success in government, understands business and technology, and is willing to work across the aisle.
“We don’t need more jihad politicians in Washington,” Crutchfield told a crowd of 300 at Warner’s campaign kick-off rally Tuesday on the Downtown Mall. “We need more bridge builders like Mark Warner.”
If elected, Warner said he would cobble together a coalition of 10 or 12 senators from both parties who are interested in finding solutions to problems such as the 48 million Americans without health insurance, the ongoing war in Iraq, the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and an exploding federal deficit. The coalition, he said, would be called the “bipartisan radical centrists.”
“There is nothing this country can’t do if we put our mind to it. But we’ve got to work together,” Warner said. “Good ideas don’t come with a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ attached to them.”
As Virginia’s governor from 2002 to 2006, Warner said, he fixed a fiscal mess left by his predecessor, Republican Jim Gilmore. Though he never mentioned Gilmore by name, Warner said he inherited a $6 billion budget shortfall that was four times larger than had been previously disclosed.
To close the shortfall, Warner cut services, most memorably by reducing operating hours and closing Department of Motor Vehicle service centers. In 2004, Warner also raised the sales and cigarette taxes while lowering the food tax. The tax reform package allowed a record investment in K-12 education, as well as increased spending on public safety, higher education and the cleanup of the Chesapeake Bay.
By the time he left office, Warner had turned Virginia’s budgetary shortfall into a
surplus. Forbes Magazine named Virginia as the “best managed state” in the nation.
“I tell you, it’s time for a little bit of the Virginia independence and a focus on results in Washington,” Warner said.
Gilmore is seeking the GOP nomination to run against Warner in the Nov. 4 contest. In a statement, Gilmore disputed Warner’s version of events, saying that Warner created the deficit himself by offering too-rosy revenue projections and allowing state spending to spiral out of control.
“This election is not about the past — it is about the future,” Gilmore said. “We need positive and uplifting plans to get America on the move again. I suspect that while they are struggling, the people of Virginia are going to get a little weary of listening to Mark Warner’s salute to himself for fixing Virginia’s budget.”
Gilmore went on to suggest that Warner would seek to raise taxes in the Senate.
“When Mark Warner says ‘invest’ — he’s talking about more of your tax dollars and spending them. More taxes and bigger government is the wrong answer for what’s happening to our economy. Like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Mark Warner’s answer to every problem is to take more of your tax money and give it to the government,” he said. “Maybe that’s because as someone who is worth $200 million, Mark Warner doesn’t worry about how to fill up his gas tank, how to put food on the table for his family or how to get his children through college.”
In addition to Gilmore, Del. Bob Marshall, a Republican from Prince William County, is attempting to win the GOP nomination in a convention at the end of May.
The candidates are vying to fill the seat vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. John W. Warner, a Republican from Alexan-dria. The winner of the race will join U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, an Arlington Democrat.
Warner’s Charlottesville visit was part of a three-day statewide campaign tour featuring stops in Richmond, Abingdon, Martinsville, the Eastern Shore, Alexandria, Harrisonburg and elsewhere.
At Tuesday’s rally, University of Virginia Medical Center cardiologist Dr. George Beller said Warner is the right choice for expanding health-care coverage and reducing the high costs of medical care, which threaten to put America at a competitive disadvantage with other countries. Beller’s late wife, state Sen. Emily Couric, is the namesake of UVa’s future clinical cancer center, a project funded in part by Warner’s administration.
“Sen. Warner will quickly emerge as a bipartisan leader in ensuring that every American will have access to high-quality, affordable health insurance,” he said.