The GW College Democrats hosted Senator Mark Warner on Tuesday night. Warner is a sitting Virginia Senator and GW alumnus who also served as Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006. Prior to his political career, he founded Columbia Capital, a venture capital firm, was an early investor in Nextel, and co-founded Capital Cellular Corporation.
“Senator Warner brings his experience in business to the Senate, as he focuses on getting things done, even if the solution isn’t always perfect,” said GW College Democrat first year representative Lauren Hoffman.
Senator Warner began the event by giving a brief overview of his early career, beginning with his internship for Connecticut Senator Abraham Ribicoff while majoring in political science at GW. He went on to attend Harvard Law School and following his graduation in 1980 served as a staff member to Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut.
In 2001, Mr. Warner successfully ran for Virginia governor and in 2008, Mr. Warner was elected Senator of Virginia and was appointed to the Senate’s Banking, Budget, and Commerce committees as well as the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2011.
Senator Warner stressed that a bipartisan coalition is crucial in making any progress with the current stagnant Congressional situation and admitted that, “It’s almost harder to be a Republican today than it is to be a Democrat because…the orthodoxy required on the part of the Tea Party members is a real challenge.”
Senator Warner left plenty of time for questions from students. One student asked whether he consistently feels proud to be a Democrat even when he does not totally agree with the stance the party takes on certain issues. “I have in my five years as a senator at times paid the price for trying to be bipartisan, but I am still really proud to be a Democrat,” Warner responded.
Other questions talked about the Senator’s views on climate change, where he referenced Governor Schwarzenegger’s analogy that if you take a sick child to 100 doctors and 96 of them say they need medicine, you should give the child medicine. The Senator also discussed Republican nihilism towards budget issues. He responded by saying that the answer is not for the government to take on new roles, they simply need to pay for what they are doing.
Warner suggested that instead of calling Republicans irrational for not wanting to raise taxes, Democrats need to consider if programs like Social Security and Medicare are currently functioning at their highest capacity considering that people are now living longer. “I don’t think government is a solution, I think government can ensure that everyone gets a fair shot,” said Warner.
Based on the large student turnout, it was clear that the event was one of the best this year. Both current students and alumni attended the event. “Senator Mark Warner was a phenomenal speaker. I really enjoyed hearing him speak about his experience as a businessman and the differences between being a businessman and a congressman,” said Hoffman.
The GW College Democrats and GW College Republicans are preparing to announce their spring speakers in the near future.