WASHINGTON — In a surprise decision that reconfigures the race for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner announced Thursday that he would not run, saying he was unwilling to put his family second to a presidential campaign.
Warner, a centrist Democrat from a Republican-leaning Southern state, was considered by many Democratic strategists to be the strongest potential rival to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), the early front-runner for the nomination.
His decision opens the field for other candidates hoping to present themselves as centrists, including Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
"The great dynamic in this race is: Who are the one or two others in the pack who can break out and challenge Sen. Clinton?" said Simon Rosenberg, founder of the New Democrat Network, an organization that promotes progressive candidates.
"This benefits all the people who are going to be challenging Hillary."
Warner's stature among Democrats was based less on his nationwide visibility -- he polled in the single digits -- but more on the centrist record he built as governor.
He left office earlier this year with high approval ratings from Democrats and Republicans.
"The idea [is] that the way that Democrats win the White House is to nominate somebody who has won election in a red state," said Jennifer Duffy, a political analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "He had a very successful term. He had a lot to brag about."
Warner dismissed speculation that his decision was based on any liabilities he would have had as a candidate.
"I can say with complete conviction, 15 months out from the first nominating process, I think I would have as good a shot as any of the potential candidates in the field," he told reporters in Richmond, Va.
Instead, Warner, 51, said that after four years of putting his personal life on hold as governor, he wanted to spend more time with his three teenage daughters.
"While politically this appears to be the right time for me to take the plunge, at this point I want to have a real life," Warner said. "And while the chance may never come again, I shouldn't move forward unless I'm willing to put everything else in my life on the back burner."
The announcement surprised many Democrats because Warner had been working assiduously since he left office to build a campaign war chest and political organization.
