On paper Mark Warner looks fine, but I have yet to see whether he can make up the personality gap between Ds and Rs. I’d argue that this has been the deciding factor in the last couple of elections more than any issue (if this thing was solely on issues, Dems would have a clear advantage).
Unlike Hillary Clinton, or any of his other likely primary challengers almost all of whom are from the senatorial class Warner can talk about specific recent accomplishments: improving test scores, balancing the budget, and reforming the tax code. His central theme, “ensuring a fair shot for everyone,” lifts from being a mere standard progressive platitude when he talks about how he wants to guarantee that others have a chance to fail and succeed as he did. Since he made his fortune recognizing before others did that cell phones would be popular, he’s also smart to frame his campaign as “not so much about red versus blue but the future versus the past.”
