Virginians: Act NOW on Warner.

John Warner is wavering on the Webb amendment.  That is a big disappoinment.  And this matters for the whole course of the Iraq debacle: If he supported the amendment, as "Mr. Moderate Republican" he could give cover to a slew of other GOP senators to do so and perhaps pave the way for a veto-proof majority on the amendment.

I believe that Warner is persuadable.  All that we need is an avalanche of messages from Virginians telling him that he must support the Webb amendment.  Please be polite and respectful but forceful and passionate.

So, let's each of us who lives in Virginia:

(1) Call the office.  There are multiple locations, and you might as well call them all:

DC [phone]
Roanoke [phone]
Norfolk [phone]
Midlothian [phone]
Abingdon [phone]

(2) Fax a letter:
[phone]

(3) If you're in the neighborhood, drop by one of the offices.  That'll make an impression!

(4) Send an LTE to your local paper.  Here's the one I just sent to mine:

Our senior Senator has an impressive record of public service, from which he has announced he is about to retire, but Senator Warner now has a choice to make.  He must either show leadership on this disaster in Iraq, and be remembered for that, or cave in to Mr. Bush and his cabal, and be remembered for that.  His wavering on the Webb amendment is a disappointment; it looks like the craven act of a politician fearful of attack, rather than the principled stand of a real statesman. The Webb amendment would ensure that our troops have the rest they need between deployments.  This is the very least we owe to our troops, who are suffering from long, stressful, and repeated deployments, putting terrible strain on their families and marriages as well as military readiness.

We have always thought of Senator Warner as a leader who puts country above party, but if he closes out his career by selling out the troops to George Bush's stubbornness and vanity, that is not how he will be remembered.  Every Virginian should call him to remind him.

(5) Of course, send an email, though I gather that these have less impact:

http://warner.senate.gov/...

Please do something.  This could make all the difference.