*In the Lt. Governor's race in 2005.
A few more points, in all seriousness:
1) Leslie Byrne endorsed Mark Warner and worked for him in 1996 after he defeated her in the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate contest.
2) In 1999, Warner, Dick Saslaw and other Democratic political leaders came and begged Leslie to run for the Virginia Senate. They felt she was the only one who could win the seat against a moderate Republican woman. The plan was that if Leslie Byrne won, it would make the state Senate 20-20. Then, if Democrats won the LG race in 2001, we would have some say in re-districting. Leslie won, but unfortunately, Sen. Stanley Walker lost. So, when the Republicans re-districted, Leslie was their first target. Finally, please note that Mark Warner endorsed Leslie Byrne and worked for her in this race.
3) In 2001, Mark Warner and Steve Jarding (before Jarding was announced as Warner's campaign manager) asked for a meeting with Leslie and Larry Byrne to seek Leslie's endorsement in Warner's run for governor. Warner told Leslie Byrne at that meeting that he believed she had never attacked him, only the process and the way it was handled by the party in 1996. Leslie endorsed Warner and did surrogate work for him, particularly among women's groups. The Warner campaign also asked Larry Byrne to run Fairfax county for them, which he did. In the end, the Warner campaign carried Fairfax by a margin of more than 26,000 votes. In comparison, Warner lost the county in 1996.
4) In 2005, Mark Warner did fund raising for Leslie Byrne and campaigned for her around the state when she ran for LG. The video above shows how Mark Warner really feels about Leslie Byrne, as opposed to the nonsense the Connolly campaign has put out.
5) What was Gerry Connolly doing all this time for his fellow Democrats, Mark Warner and Leslie Byrne? One thing's for sure, it couldn't have been less than what Connolly did for Jim Webb in 2006 or for Chap Petersen in 2007.
She has hit Mark Warner as "Republican Lite" (Baker, W. POST, 12/21).
"There's no specifics in his platform," Byrne said of Warner. "I've got a solid record on the issues. It's not lip service. It's something I've done over the last 10 years." "People feel they owe Mark," she said. "It's checkbook loyalty. Whether he wins or loses, they want him to write those checks again. I understand that. And I don't hold it against them." (Barker, Peter "Underdog Byrne Aims to Rise Again; Ex-Congress Member Touts Experience in Senate Bid." WAPO- B01 4/8/96)
But Ms. Byrne -- who is not known for grace in defeat -- is refusing to endorse Mark Warner. She is charging that his supporters effectively stole the election: that rules were twisted to prevent some of her delegates from voting in the caucuses, that supporters of Mark Warner were allowed to guard open ballot boxes and that some African-American delegates in Prince William County were grilled by a Warner supporter about whether they knew what they were signing when they filed for Ms. Byrne. (Editorial, W. Post 5/6/96
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a news release today headlined, "Mark Warner battles party division, ethics charges."
(Hsu, Spencer "Byrne's Continued Defiance Has Democrats Chafing, GOP Gloating." WAPO C01, 4/16/96)
ex-Rep. Leslie Byrne (D) accused Warner of "ducking debates and challenged him to three debates 'any time, any place, anywhere.' " Warner responded he would be "glad to debate Byrne and accused her of negative campaigning 'as usual.'" Byrne: "Mark Warner chose to miss yet another opportunity to discuss the issues with Virginians, after
assurances he would be there." ("Virginia: Byrne Hits M. Warner Over Forum No-Show." The Hotline- 5/20/96)
Times change, and the exigencies of the moment change.
Life is a lot harder than it has to be if you insist on recalling things from the dim past.
Whatever friction that may have been present in 1996 has clearly long since passed. Watch the video - Mark Warner and Leslie Byrne have moved on and are working together.
Which is more than we can say for the Connolly supporters who are living in the past, desperately grasping for something negative to say about Leslie.
Rep. Leslie L. Byrne, a Northern Virginia Democrat facing a tough battle for reelection this fall, is being criticized by a congressional colleague and several businesses and fund-raising groups who say she has inaccurately portrayed them as supporters of her campaign. The complaints focus on fund-raising packets recently sent to several Northern Virginia groups by Byrne,... The packets indicated that Byrne is supported by Rep. Helen Delich Bentley (R-Md.) and a range of businesses and political action committees. But Bentley and several of the groups listed say they are not committed to Byrne, or have endorsed Davis in the campaign in Virginia's 11th Congressional District.
In a letter this week, Bentley chided Byrne, saying that the Democrat had used out of context a laudatory comment Bentley had made last year. "It was never intended for that use, and I hope it will not be used so in the future," Bentley, a candidate for Maryland governor, told Byrne in the letter.
The Byrne packet also included a list of "Congressional Support and Endorsements." Among the groups listed were the Virginia Medical Political Action Committee, a branch of the American Medical Association that says it intends to support Davis, and the Greater Washington Board of Trade, which has not endorsed a candidate, representatives said. Sandra Peterson, a legislative assistant for the medical political action group, said it has told Byrne that she would not have its financial support or endorsement this election. "There was a letter sent to her," Peterson said. "She can't say we didn't notify her."
" Bentley's comments were included in a leaflet labeled "What Supporters Say About Leslie Byrne." Besides glowing quotes from editorials and comments from fellow Democrats, Byrne quoted Bentley as saying, "I've been impressed with her depth of knowledge and her grasp of issues." Bentley said the comment was included in a newspaper account of a trip she, Byrne and other representatives took last year to Mexico. "It was definitely not an endorsement,"
Regardless, should we expect quotes from the 1980's next?
Leslie Byrne endorsed Mark Warner and worked for him in 1996 after he defeated her in the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate contest.
This is more than a little disingenuous. Leslie Byrne ended her quixotic bid with more than a little acrimony and hardly ran to support Mark Warner initially. While she ultimately endorsed his candidacy, she hardly did so with grace or an eye to party unity, but rather in recognition of the fact that she had no other choice.