U.S. Sen. Mark Warner and former Virginia Sen. Tommy Norment talked about the need for more bipartisanship in American politics during a discussion Thursday hosted by Greater Williamsburg Chamber of Commerce.
The gathering with local business and government leaders, held at Colonial Heritage, was the first in a new chamber series called Capitol Connections.
Warner first became interested in public service as an eighth grader in 1968, a year similar to today’s political climate with protests over war and civil rights. He later went on to work for politicians such as L. Douglas Wilder, the first Black person elected governor of a U.S. state before being elected governor of Virginia in 2001. At the time, Norment and other Republican leaders set their political differences aside to assist Warner, a Democrat, with digging the commonwealth out of a financial disaster.
“They took me under their wings,” Warner said. “If I didn’t reach across the aisle, we would not have gotten anything done.”
“We were in a pretty significant recession at the time, and there was a lot of pressure,” Norment added.
Due in part to tax reform, Warner and the General Assembly were able to turn the economy around. At the end of Warner’s tenure in 2006, Virginia was named the best managed state in America, the best state to do business and the best state in which to receive a public education.
“By 2005, people felt good about the state,” Warner said. “We had fixed the problem and were actually working together to get stuff done. People took pride in that.”
Warner recalled some Democrats were mad he collaborated with Republicans, but “I had to build that trust,” he said, calling the era he served as governor of Virginia “a remarkable time.”
When he was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2008, Warner sought to bring his bipartisan political ideals with him to Washington, but he immediately found it challenging.
“Harry Reid (a Democratic senator from Nevada and Senate Majority Leader) did not agree with me,” Warner said.
Warner and Norment also touched upon affordable housing and affordable healthcare during their conversation, as well as the rise of Artificial Intelligence. Warner noted politicians need to work together to come up with solutions to potential dangers associated with AI. He said he fears it is likely without protocols in place, AI machines may be able to take over hospitals, banks or water systems and “wreak havoc.”
“There is no issue I am more interested in right now,” he said.
Brandy Centolanza, bcentolanza@cox.net